Volsunga Saga – Sagas from the Sea

“No Man Am I, You Look Upon a Woman”: Women in the Northern World

I was 14 when I saw The Two Towers in the cinema, and I never forgot it. The narrative leads inexorably to the Rohirrim, who even then I recognised as something from England’s ancient past. They wore mail, fought with spears and round shields, lived in wooden halls and had fantastically Old English soundingContinue reading ““No Man Am I, You Look Upon a Woman”: Women in the Northern World”

Review: JRR Tolkien, The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún

A confession; I have never cared for the music of Wagner. When I was younger, it stirred no emotion in me and I thought it over-wrought and melodramatic. Tolkien however, was a different matter. I found his works beautiful, sweeping and emotional, as well as much more grounded in the forest and the mountainsContinue reading “Review: JRR Tolkien, The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún”