The Norse king's bridal : Translations from the Danish and old Norse, with…

These are the songs that Vikings sang around fires when the North Sea howled outside their halls. Smith-Dampier gathered fragments of an ancient tradition, Danish and Old Norse ballads passed down through generations, then did what bards have always done: she added her own voice to the chorus. The result is a collection that feels less like translation and more like excavation. Love that blooms in the shadow of the sword. Fate that no mortal can outrun. Heroes who ride toward doom with their names already on the wind. The language has the plainness and punch of folk verse, but beneath that surface runs something darker and deeper, a world where the gods are cruel, women wield power through cunning, and every victory carries the taste of ash. These are not gentle tales. They are the original brutal romance, the raw material that Wagner transformed and Tolkien dreamed about. For readers who crave the untamed roots of Northern fantasy, who want their myths straight and undiluted, this collection offers something rare: the chance to hear the old stones speak.