The Poetic Edda & The Younger Edda [DerHammer]

The Poetic Edda
By Lee M. Hollander

The Poetic Edda comprises a treasure trove of mythic and spiritual verse holding an important place in Nordic culture, literature, and heritage. Its tales of strife and death form a repository, in poetic form, of Norse mythology and heroic lore, embodying both the ethical views and the cultural life of the North during the late heathen and early Christian times.

Collected by an unidentified Icelander, probably during the twelfth or thirteenth century, The Poetic Edda was rediscovered in Iceland in the seventeenth century by Danish scholars. Even then its value as poetry, as a source of historical information, and as a collection of entertaining stories was recognized. This meticulous translation succeeds in reproducing the verse patterns, the rhythm, the mood, and the dignity of the original in a revision that Scandinavian Studies says "may well grace anyone's bookshelf."

---

The Younger Edda
By Snorri Sturluson

Beautifully designed and carefully proofed for digital publication, this edition includes:
* 12 unique illustrations relevant to its content;
* Table of Contents with Quick Navigation.

The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda (Icelandic: Snorra Edda) or simply Edda, is an Old Norse compilation made in Iceland in the early 13th century. Together with the Poetic Edda, it comprises the major store of pagan Scandinavian mythology. The work is often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson around the year 1220.

---

Information:
The Poetic Edda
Format: ePub (2.0)
File Size: 913 KB (original) 1 081 KB (this edition)
Print Length: 375 pages
Language: English
ASIN: B00CEIGZ3M
ISBN: 978-0-292-76499-6 (printed edition)
Publisher: University of Texas Press (July 5, 2010)

The Younger Edda
Format: ePub (2.0)
File Size: 937 KB (original) 881 KB (this edition)
Print Length: 224 pages
Language: English
ASIN: B00NCCEJ6O

---

Comment:
Despite ePub/Mobi being wonderful formats with great potential, most - even premium releases - leave a lot to wish for, when it comes to quality.
Speaking of "The Poetic Edda" ePub by Lee M. Hollander, there had been some poor attempts to make visible certain non-standard (UTF-8) glyphs, but still they were never there in the original file. But as usual, what [DerHammer] touches - turns into gold. And now they're there. At least if you use some more advanced eReader, like Aldiko. Worked with a couple of "stock eReaders" I've tried too, anyway.
Some eReaders let you download and install fonts to use with your documents, and again (as with Heimskringla) I used Noto Serif (Open Source font, which can be downloaded here: https://code.google.com/p/noto/https://code.google.com/p/noto/). There are other fonts that can handle these few problematic glyphs as well, but I know this one usually works great. It has been embedded and subset into the ePub file.

Further on, for both these files, I improved image quality (washed away that sad compression junk, which is always there when idiots compress JPG's too much), and lowered image file size. This time, for once I actually slightly increased file size for one of them (The Poetic Edda), because I had to embed a font family. In return, it actually works now, and looks way better.

As for the Younger Edda, it was originally called "Edda (Illustrated)", but that was just stupid. Except for the cover, none of the original illustrations were there, so I took the liberty to rename the file to avoid disappointment. I'm not sure who made this translation, you might find out yourself if you care.

Share and seed until Ragnarök!