"Five Pieces of Runic Poetry translated from the Islandic Language" by Snorri Sturluson and translated into English by Thomas Percy

Printed for R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-mall, London, 1763 first UK edition - 15cmx13cm - condition: very good, rebound in leather binding with minor wear to edges, name to ffep, complete.

First edition of the earliest collection of verse from the Eddic and skaldic traditions translated into English. This book set out to prove that Norse mythology and culture were more than than their reputation in England as barbarian raiders. Editor Thomas Percy talks of the Vikings' "amazing fondness for poetry. cherish[ing] it with all possible care" (preface). It contains five samples of Norse poetry, including the first English translations of the HAKONARMAL from the HEIMSKRINGLA and THE DEATH-SONG OF RAGNAR (which contained a famously misinterpreted line leading readers to believe Vikings drank from the skulls of their defeated enemies). Percy would go on to published a collection of old English ballads, RELIQUES OF ANCIENT ENGLISH POETRY, that became a major influence on Romantics like Scott, Coleridge, and Wordsworth