"English readers have long been indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Howitt. They
have now increased our obligations by presenting us with this most
charming and valuable work, by means of which the great majority of the
reading public will be, for the first time, made acquainted with the
rich stores of intellectual wealth long garnered in the literature and
beautiful romance of Northern Europe. From the famous Edda, whose origin
is lost in antiquity, down to the novels of Miss Bremer and Baroness
Knorring, the prose and poetic writings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and
Iceland are here introduced to us in a manner at once singularly
comprehensive and concise. It is no dry enumeration of names, but the
very marrow and spirit of the various works displayed before us. We have
old ballads and fairy tales, always fascinating; we have scenes from
plays, and selections from the poets, with most attractive biographies
of these and other great men. The songs and ballads are translated with
exquisite poetic beauty."--_Sun._
"We have most cordially to thank Mary and William Howitt for their
valuable contribution to our knowledge of the literature of Northern
Europe. They have effected a public good. They have offered to all
classes of readers a work abounding in original and entrancing interest,
overflowing with varied matter--of criticism, biography, anecdotes,
sketches, and quotations, all tending to exhibit new treasures for the
gratification and enlightenment of a vast circle of minds. Our authors
have described to us in copious and entertaining detail the romance and
the poetry, the writings and the imaginations, of the Scandinavian
races, interspersed with abundant and well-selected specimens of the
historical, romantic, legendary, chivalric, ballad, dramatic, song, and
critical literature of Northern Europe. They have brought to light the
treasures of the illustrious poets, historians and bards of Scandinavia,
in a work of astonishing interest."--_Sunday Times._
"This work teems with information of the rarest and most curious
character, and is replete with interest to the scholar, the philosopher,
the antiquarian, and the general reader. The subject has the charming
freshness of novelty. There is not any other book in the English
language, which presents so vivid, so interesting, and so accurate a
picture of the manners, customs, opinions, and superstitions of our
Scandinavian forefathers."--_Morning Post._
"A standard work on the whole subject."--_Globe._
"A valuable addition to our literature."--_Daily News._
"A book full of information--and as such, a welcome addition to our
literature. The translations--especially of some of the ballads and
other poems--are executed with spirit and taste."--_Athenaeum._