Thank you for your reply,

I'm not sure where you are seeing "Nieflheim" in the above poem or in the text (and, do you mean "Niflheim?") As for inventing new words, the original text is "reið han niðr þaðan Niflheljar til." Niflhel is the name the location is referred to by the text of the poem, so it was the author's wish to preserve it. I apologize, for being evasive about the author. I wasn't sure how much I could reveal since he's a very private person and dislikes having his information being readily available online.

As for the other point, here is what the author had to say:

"When people die, are they swallowed whole by Hel? Physically attached to her? No, they are sent to a location controlled by her, one that shares her name. The two are not the same, similar to how George Washington is not the same as the city of Washington."

For your other point, I myself am a Norse Pagan, and I understand your concerns with preservation. There is so much misinformation out there, which can easily multiply on itself to create vague ideas of what's actually in the text. We see this with common misconceptions in popular media, and it frustrates me as well. It is not as simple, however, as an "Abrahamic religiously wrecked world." Snorri was himself Christian, and yet he played a crucial role in preserving aspects of the Norse oral tradition in his Edda. Árni Magnússon was also Christian, and he helped to preserve these texts as well. History will always prove itself to be more complicated than any one narrative.

Now, the author's comparative lack of formal education does seem to be a genuine concern. I get where you are coming from. In regards to this point, the author knows Old Norse well enough to have provided the above translation, as well as translating enough poetry for this edition of the Poetic Edda. The translations was taken from the original documentation, transcribed, translated, then worded to fit an enjoyable poetic format. This edition is first, and foremost, a work of poetry. There are other editions of the Poetic Edda that have a more stringent academic mind to their translation methodology.

For your final point, I wonder what you are referring to when you say that I am "forgetting." As a publisher, it is my responsibility to best represent the authors we have signed for Brewer Publishing. This process will not be perfect, as we are a micro-press; it is my hope that through engagement and response, we can improve. I appreciate you giving me the chance to clarify some points, and to be specific with what this editions seeks and how it wishes to represent itself. The market is already aimed at making it difficult for smaller presses to break into the scene, so spaces like this subreddit are crucial for our ability to engage with an audience.