Queen Hynde
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Queen Hynde (1825) is an epic poem in six cantos (nearly 9000 lines) by James Hogg. Set in western Scotland in the sixth century, it tells the story of the defeat of an invading Norwegian army by forces loyal to Queen Hynde, advised by Columba, and of the winning of her hand by the legitimate claimant of the throne Eiden. It is mostly in octosyllabic couplets.
The setting of Queen Hynde had its origin in a late spring holiday in Argyllshire which Hogg enjoyed in 1816.[1] He probably began to compose the poem in 1817, but when he had nearly completed the third book he put the poem on hold following the poor reception of his Dramatic Tales published in February that year.[2] Paradoxically, it seems to have been further failures six years later that prompted Hogg to take up and complete his epic poem: his novels The Three Perils of Man (1822) and The Three Perils of Woman (1823) did not meet with success, prompting him to offer Queen Hynde to Longman, who accepted it on 12 February 1824. Composition was completed on 10 July.[3]
Editions
Queen Hynde. A Poem, In Six Books. By James Hogg, Author of The Queen's Wake; Poetic Mirror; Pilgrims of the Sun, &c. &c. was published in London by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, and in Edinburgh by William Blackwood. It appeared on 18 December 1824, dated 1825.[4]
A critical edition of the poem, edited by Suzanne Gilbert and Douglas S. Mack, appeared in 1998 as Volume 6 in the Stirling/South Carolina Research Edition of The Collected Works of James Hogg published by Edinburgh University Press. This is based on Hogg's manuscript and restores some short passages cut for the first edition.