the work as the story itself. The feminine rhymes, occurring in fifteen of the
twenty-four cantos, are so melodious that no one who had heard the original,
even if he did not understand a word of it, could be quite satisfied with a
version which does not reproduce them. The feminine rhymes and the
alliteration of Canto XXI have presented obstacles which no single translation
has hitherto overcome.

The original measures the feminine rhymes and the alliteration of "Ring's
Drapa," are, in our estimation, essential features of a good rendering of the
poem, and if we have done our work well we do not fear that any one will think
there are too many translations.

For a fuller history of "Fridthjof 's Saga" than can be given in this note, we
refer the reader to Anderson's "Viking Tales," where the sagas on which this
story is founded appear in full.

The preparation of this translation has been a home work which has brightened
for us the firelight of many a pleasant evening. We publish it in full faith
that it will have a like happy effect in whatever home it may be read.

October, 1876.

CONTENTS.


Canto I. Fridthjof and Ingeborg
-

Canto II. King Bele and Thorstein