SOURCE: Anderson, George K. “Introduction.” In The “Saga of the Volsungs”: Together with Excerpts from the “Nornageststháttr” and Three Chapters from the “Prose Edda,” pp. 21-53. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1982.

In the following excerpt, Anderson explores the dating, literary sources, and cultural origins and permutations of the Volsunga Saga.

I

The unique parchment manuscript containing the Völsungasaga, henceforth called the Saga, was given to King Frederick III of Norway and Denmark in 1656 by Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson of Skalholt, Iceland.¹ It was accepted at the Royal Library in Copenhagen and was then mislaid on the wrong floor of the Library. Not until 1821 did it receive its proper place and formal registration in the Library, where it is at present. As manuscripts of such age go, it is today in relatively good condition, and is known officially in the “New” collection as Ms Ny kgl. Saml...