Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

[FenrisUlf]

I'm asking this here because this stuff seems to be as much fantasy-related as anything.

 

Is anyone else here fond of/a reader of what used to be referred to as "epic poetry"? I mean stuff like The Iliad, The Aeneid, or The Tain. I also mean books like most of the Norse Sagas (Grettir's Saga and Hrolf Kraki's Saga are particular favorites), medieval chivalric literature like the Nibelungenlied or the Song of Roland, the Shah-Nama AKA Persian Book of Kings, or even the Ramayana.

 

It strikes me that these books can sometimes contain some useful if at times bizarre material that can be used in the right sort of fantasy campaign - the Tain seems tailor-made for a Tuala Morn campaign - and some of them can just be enjoyable in their own right.

 

So... any other epic poetry fans out there, and if so, what were your favorites?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

When I'm in the right mood I can definitely go for it. Most of the classics you mention can be ponderous in sections, but some passages are majestic and inspiring. In many cases they quintessentialize the myth and folklore of their respective cultures.

 

I guess my personal favorites of the "folkloric" poems are those of the Northmen, particularly the Elder Edda and the Vollo-spa. Their starkness and raw energy appeal to me. OTOH I also enjoy some of the more colorful poems which utilize Christian themes and imagery, like Dante's Inferno.

 

My personal favorite would likely be Milton's Paradise Lost. Overall it's a strong narrative with vivid, evocative imagery, and a lot of energy, although it loses much steam in the middle. But the opening scenes of Lucifer's rallying the fallen angels and his escape from Hell, and the flashback to his failed rebellion in Heaven, absolutely crackle.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

yeppers.

 

Dig me some epic poetry, and my Epic Celt game long ago drew heavily from the Tain Bo Culange. I'll also pimp Grettir's Saga for Norse Undead killin' goodness, The Kalevala for general magical weirdness, and the Mabinogion for REAL Arthurian adventuring (See the 12 page list of heroes who assemble to go hunt a pig. See the piglets PWN said heroes...)

 

I'm sure more will come to me after I've slept

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

They are incredibly useful, especially if you get them translated.

 

Thanks to Jeannie

 

QM

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

I can get into a "Good Parts Version" of most epics, but some of them wander off into strange places and lose relevance from me.

[culhwch]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

I've read The Tain, The Mabinogion, Chretien de Troyes Arthurian Romances. All good stuff, but I do have to be in the right mood to read it as it takes a bit more "brain power" to read than most modern fiction.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

I've read The Tain' date=' The Mabinogion, Chretien de Troyes Arthurian Romances. All good stuff, but I do have to be in the right mood to read it as it takes a bit more "brain power" to read than most modern fiction.[/quote']

 

Yes, most of them should be re-written (like Beowulf was a few years gone, the Heany translation) for modern audiences. I remember that the book became a best-seller; it's pretty good when a story is still getting fans over 1000 years after being first told.

[Steve Long]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

Sure, I'm a big fan of that stuff -- it's how I got into Fantasy, and thence eventually into gaming. In theory I suppose you could trace my entire game writing career back to a copy of D'aulaire's Norse Gods And Giants that I found in my elementary school's library. I'm drawing on the general "epic" feel while writing The Atlantean Age, though the main inspirations there would be Greek/Roman/Mediterranean rather than the Elder Edda or the Tain.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

Sure' date=' I'm a big fan of that stuff -- it's how I got into Fantasy, and thence eventually into gaming. In theory I suppose you could trace my entire game writing career back to a copy of [i']D'aulaire's Norse Gods And Giants[/i] that I found in my elementary school's library.

 

I read and loved that book when I was growing up.

 

I'm drawing on the general "epic" feel while writing The Atlantean Age, though the main inspirations there would be Greek/Roman/Mediterranean rather than the Elder Edda or the Tain.

 

Good news! I know that I'm eagerly awaiting its release.

[Markdoc]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

So... any other epic poetry fans out there' date=' and if so, what were your favorites?[/quote']

 

Huge fan. I really like the Red Branch cycle and the early proto-athurian tales from the The Mabinogion, but my favourites were - and are - the Norse sagas. Grim, brooding, bloody, with heroes alternately tricky, honourable and rampaging: what's not to like?

 

Long long, ago, when I first discovered them, I hastily pencilled a faux-Iceland into my gameworld specifically as a result and we had an excellent mini-campaign (Snøtgøbblerson's saga) which really did grow along saga-like lines - a dispute over a sheep pasture turned into a saga of lawsuits, exile and bloodfeud that left everyone involved dead apart from one of a trio of brothers.

 

The player of Bjarni Snøtgøbblerson (Sir Ofeelya) is also on these boards.

 

These days, I have a fairly hefty collection of heroic tales and I've even held some of the original work in my hands, thanks to a friend who works at the national museum here (Grettir's saga, specifically).

 

cheers, Mark

[Snowcat]

Re: Epic Poetry, Sagas, and the like: any fans?

 

the Kalevala, finland epic poem is a great read