Pre-Christian Epics of Northern Europe

Whether Beowulf was composed in the 8th or the 11th century, it is interesting to compare its themes, language, and style to other epics from pre-Christian Northern Europe. If Kiernan's research is correct in dating Beowulf as an 11th century composition, it is even more important to be aware of its antecedents in Ireland and Scandinavia.

Ireland

Táin Bó Cúalnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley) is the longest tale in The Ulster Cycle, and the most comparable to Beowulf. When searching for materials on this work, be sure to use variant spellings, such as: Tain Bo Culainge, Táin Bó Cúailnge, and Táin Bó Cúalnge, as well as the English translation of the title.

The Cattle Raid of Cooley - Patrick Brown.

Táin Bó Cuailnge, The Cattle Raid of Cooley - Legendary Tours.

Irish Folklore: Táin Bó Cúalnge - The Cattle-Raid of Cooley - Dara Tierney 

Táin Bó Cúalnge: Recension I - Electronic Text from CELT (Corpus of Electronic Texts), University College Cork

Scandinavia

The Eddas

The Nordic Mythology - A brief introduction to Norse mythology.

Norse Mythology - Includes a section on Norse Sagas.

Edda - Encyclopedia article from TheFreeDictionary.com

The Poetic Edda - Translated by Henry Adams Bellows, 1936.

The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlson - Translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, 1916.

The Eddas - Available as text or PDF files. Northvegr.

J.R.R. Tolkien - the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun
The epic stories of Sigurd the Völsung and The Fall of the Niflungs retold in English narrative verse. The introduction is drawn from one of J.R.R. Tolkien's own lectures on Norse literature. Christopher Tolkien provides commentary and notes.

This book will appeal to readers familiar with Old English style and hardcore Tolkien fans. Read the reviews, then decide if it's for you.