At a time when they were little appreciated William Morris, working with his teacher Eirikr Magnusson made translations of many of the Icelandic Sagas which fascinated him. Presumably Magnusson worked literally and Morris poetically. Of the great writers of fantasy Morris most closely rivals ER Eddison's skill with language. Eddison, who himself translated Egil's Saga recommended in that volume to read Morris's translations where possible. The map below first published in Morris's Grettir the Strong in 1869 is identical in design to those Eddison used in his novel Mistress of Mistresses of 1935.
Morris also wrote two novels of lasting magnificence, The Well at the World's End (1896) and The Water of the Wondrous Isles (1897). I discovered Morris for myself late, only after my interest the Icelandic tales took me beyond the central pillars Egil's Saga & Njal's Saga. I decided to try The Water of the Wondrous Isles on my Kindle free from gutenberg.org and frankly was stunned that I had dismissed or ignored such a powerful writer in my favourite genre for so long. I think I winced. I sought out a first edition because I wanted a decent hardback copy and I quickly noticed that these typically came with deteriorated spine and boards. By chance I stumbled on a copy someone had seen fit to rebind in such a fashion that it is the smartest looking book I possess.
The Water of the Wondrous Isles – 1897 – Longmans, Green, and Co. 1897
The Well at the World's End – 1896 – George Prior Publishers 1979
Grettir the Strong – tr. 1869 – George Prior Publishers 1980
The Story of the Volsungs – tr. 1888 – Walter Scott 1888
(It would be hard to name a single work which influenced both Wagner and Tolkien more than The Story of the Volsungs)
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