A. Dictionaries | B. Encyclopaedias | C. Texts | D. Translations
E. Historical Background | F. Literary Criticism
J. Fritzner, Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 3 vols. (Kristiania, 1883-96), with a supplement by F. Hødnebø, Rittelser og tillegg (1972)
Fritzner is still the standard dictionary of Old Norse, unless the word you're interested in falls at the beginning of the alphabet, in which case see
Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A dictionary of Old Norse Prose (Copenhagen, 1989-)
of which two volumes have been produced, from a - da. Until the Copenhagen dictionary is completed, the most useful dictionary for English speakers is
R. Cleasby and G. Vigfusson, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1957)
which is indispensable, but only of limited use if you're looking up non-Icelandic (i.e. Norwegian, in practice) word forms.
If you'd like to own an Old Norse dictionary for use at home, University of Toronto Press has recently reissued
G. Zoëga, A Concise Dictionary of Icelandic (Oxford, 1910; repr. Toronto, 2004) [ISBN: 0802086594]
which has the singular advantages of being (relatively) cheap - £20 - and portable: ideal for bedroom or bathroom. Zoëga is also available on-line, at http://www.northvegr.org/zoega/.
Skaldic poetry has such an esoteric vocabulary that the standard dictionaries can prove frustrating: see rather
Finnur Jónsson, Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog, oprindelig forfatter Sveinbjörn Egilsson, 2nd ed. (Copenhagen, 1931)
Readers of German may also find the following dictionary useful for determining the origin of Old Norse words:
J. de Vries, Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (Leiden, 1962)
B. ENCYCLOPAEDIAS
Your first port of call should be
P. Pulsiano et al., ed., Medieval Scandinavia: an encyclopedia, Garland Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages 1 (New York, 1993)
Once your modern Scandinavian languages can handle it, the standard reference work for all aspects of medieval Scandinavian history, literature, language, and culture is
Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder fra vikingetid til reformationstid, 22 vols. (Copanhagen, 1956-78)
C. TEXTS
Texts for translation in class will be provided. If during the course you need to look at other Old Norse texts, the following editions are standard and should be used wherever possible.
The Íslendingasögur [Sagas of Icelanders / 'Family Sagas'] should be consulted in the Íslensk fornrit series (Reykjavik). This series also includes the majority of Icelandic þættir [short stories] and historical sagas like Heimskringla, Íslendingabók, etc.
The Poetic Edda: G. Neckel, ed., Edda. Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern, 5th ed., rev. H. Kuhn (Heidelberg, 1983) to be used in conjunction with B. La Farge and J. Tucker, Glossary to the Poetic Edda: based on Hans Kuhn's Kurzes Wörterbuch (Heidelberg, 1992). You should also look at U. Dronke, ed., The Poetic Edda (Oxford, 1969-), of which the first two volumes (of five) are currently available.
Snorra Edda: in the edition by Anthony Faulkes: Snorri Sturluson. Edda, 4 vols. (Oxford / London, 1982-98)
Skaldic Poetry: The standard edition is Finnur Jónsson, ed., Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning, udgivet efter handskrifterne af Kommissionen for det Arnamagnæanske Legat, 4 vols. (Copenhagen, 1912-15). The 'A' volumes contain the manuscript readings; the 'B' volumes have Finnur's normalised texts together with his Danish translations (both of which should be taken with a pinch of salt).
D. TRANSLATIONS
The Íslendingasögur have now all been translated into English:
Viðar Hreinsson, ed., The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, 5 vols. (Reykjavik, 1997). Penguin have begun to publish some of these translations in paperback. As a rule of thumb, Penguin Classics that have not been translated by Magnus Magnusson (off the telly) are the more up-to-date and accurate versions. There is also a selection of the sagas available in Penguin entitled simply The Sagas of Icelanders (2000), with a preface by the novelist Jane Smiley. This is well worth owning, but is currently out of print in this country. Snap up a second-hand copy if you see one.
C. Larrington, trans., The Poetic Edda (Oxford, 1996), is not perfect, but it's much better than the alternatives.
Snorri Sturluson, Edda, trans. A. Faulkes (London, 1987)
E. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Books on 'the Vikings' are legion: the following are some selected English-language highlights.
G. Turville-Petre, The Heroic Age of Scandinavia (London, 1951)
J. Brøndsted, The Vikings (Harmondsworth, 1965)
P. Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings, 2nd ed. (London, 1971)
P. Brent, The Viking Saga (London, 1975)
P. Foote and D. Wilson, The Viking Achievement, 2nd ed. (London, 1980)
D. Wilson, The Vikings and their Origins, 2nd ed. (London, 1980)
F. Logan, The Vikings in History (London, 1983)
G. Jones, A History of the Vikings, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1984)
J. Graham-Campbell, et al., The Viking World, 2nd ed. (London, 1989)
J. Jesch, Women in the Viking Age (Woodbridge, 1991)
B. Sawyer and P. Sawyer, Medieval Scandinavia from Conversion to Reformation, circa 800-1500 (Minneapolis, MN,1993)
C. Batey, et al., Cultural Atlas of the Viking World (New York, 1994)
P. Sawyer, ed., The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings (Oxford, 1994)
E. Roesdahl, The Vikings, 2nd ed. (London, 1998)
J. Byock, Viking Age Iceland (London, 2001)
P. Cavill, Vikings: Fear and Faith in Anglo-Saxon England (London, 2001)
E. Christiansen, The Norsemen in the Viking Age (Oxford, 2002)