Binding

Poetic Edda & Volsüng Saga front cover – Download full size image

I’ve bound this book using information from J.A. Szirmai’s The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding to recreate a 9th-century Carolingian binding. The cover features light brown vegetable-tanned leather, with Coptic stitching for the endbands. A handmade brass clasp keeps the book shut. Due to difficulties in sourcing oak wood, I’ve substituted the boards with MDF.

The book measures 12 centimeters wide, 18 centimeters long, and 4.5 centimeters thick. The bookblock consists of 14 quires, each containing 16 pages, totaling 224 pages (excluding the flyleaves). It weights just over 700 grams.

Contents

Inerior showing part of Volsüng Saga – Download full size image

This book features open source versions of both the Poetic Edda and the Volsüng Saga, which I’ve sourced from Project Gutenberg:

  • The Poetic Edda is a 13th-century collection of Old Norse poems, many dating back earlier. It covers mythological stories about gods like Odin, Thor, and Loki, along with other heroic tales that shaped Norse mythology and Viking culture.
  • The Völsunga Saga tells the story of the Völsung family, focusing on the hero Sigurd. It details his slaying of the dragon Fafnir, his tragic love for Brynhildr, and the family’s downfall. The saga has influenced later works, including Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

I’ve typeset these texts after Carolingian examples, using a font similar to Caroline Minuscule designed by dr. Pfeffer. The capital letters are Roman SD from Dafont. The continuous text is fully justified and drop caps indicate new chapters.

Gallery

The gallery below offers a detailed overview of the book, showcasing both the interior and exterior from various angles.