Wagnerian Epics

Wagnerian Epics is a full retelling of all the stage-songs of Richard Wagner, wrought anew in clear, strong Anglish. Shorn of heavy loan-words yet far from crabbed or quaint, the tongue of this book seeks to give the reader what Wagner himself sought on the stage: tale, blood, fate, and fire—set forth plainly, and with might.Here are the whole cycles and lone works alike: gods and giants, lovers and outcasts, oaths sworn and broken, gold won and lost. The lore of the North and the deep well of Germanic myth are brought together in a single telling, fit for the hearth as well as the scholar’s desk. No knowledge of music or opera is asked of the reader. These are tales meant to be read aloud, heard inwardly, and remembered.The book is richly bound with fifteen newly wrought paintings, made for this work alone, each one setting forth a key sight or turning point from the epics. They do not merely adorn the page, but stand as windows into the world of the tales.Written with care for faithfulness yet with an ear for living speech, Wagnerian Epics offers a fresh road into one of the great story-hoards of the West—ancient in root, yet ever new in its telling. Read more