The politics of neil gaimans norse mythology the atlantic. This book contains 32 tales from norse mythology, ranging from tales of the gods to tales of the monsters they slay. If i wanted to learn about greek mythology, what would be the best book to read. Norse myth is complicated in that nothing was written down during the actual viking age, so our. Go beyond god of war with these norse mythology books ign. In fact, gaiman seems born to write or rewrite myths. Norse mythology is a series of stories of myths of the norse gods. Norse mythology is a series of retellings of traditional norse myths. Gaiman, a writer of fantasy novels and comic books.
After all, norse myths arent all gods and ragnarok. Taking a few modern liberties with the stories, gaimans norse mythology delights in the gods petty machinations as much as their heroics. Rather, this is an anthology of folk tales, similar to the grimm brothers, or campbells popular tales of the west highlands. With its inclusion of the latest groundbreaking research in the field, the viking. Epic tales gothic fantasy and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. Though the world came to know of the norse and their legends through roman interaction about the time of christ, most of what we came to know were handed down from captivating stories of the. Norse mythology is a series of traditional stories from ancient norse mythology as retold by author neil gaiman.
The stories of the norse gods, passed down for generations throughout scandinavia, feature remarkable characters from a forgotten time and express. Norse mythology for smart people the ultimate online. The 10 best norse mythology books norse mythology for. These stories include the theft of thors hammer, the binding of fenrir and other tales about the aesir. I was delighted to hear about this book and enjoyed learning more about nordic mythology. These are the tales that viking poets recited in dimly lit halls to the captivated attendees of grand feasts, and which fathers and mothers told to. Neil gaiman reads a story from norse mythology youtube. Each book in this fully illustrated series is fun to read with entertaining rhymes. And what most of us know of norse mythology only scratches the surface. These are the tales that viking poets recited in dimly lit halls to the captivated attendees of grand feasts, and which fathers and mothers told to their children around roaring hearthfires on long winter nights. Even this new book can be seen as publicity for an upcoming tv series based on gaimans american gods, a novel suffused with norse mythology. We devoured this strange and wonderful book packed with stories about intimidating giants, messedup gods, and shamanism.
Loki, god of fire and mischief, steals sifs beautiful golden hair. Love in the norse tales was often accompanied by murderous passions, and treachery was commonplace. Norse mythology explores the magical myths and legends of norway, sweden, denmark, iceland and vikingage greenland and outlines the way the prehistoric tales and beliefs from these regions that have remained embedded in the imagination of the world. Neil gaimans suspenseful and surprising norse mythology. The book gives equal weight to the nonfiction, historical material and the stories. In norse mythology, neil gaiman retells the norse stories about the forming of the world, the creation of yggdrasil and the nine worlds, how odin lost his eye, how the gods got their treasures, lokis children, thors journey to the land of the giants, the death of balder, ragnarok, and more. The outline of norse mythology ii is included here so that you can see how the stories unfold. Neil gaimans remarkable new book has triggered a debate about who, exactly, owns pagan tales. The basic unit structure is that you will tell that is, read or tell. These myths revolved around gods and goddesses with fascinating and highly complex characters, such as odin, thor, freya, and loki. An introduction to norse mythology and religion by daniel mccoy. The poems tell the creation and destruction myths of the norsemen, along with tales of giants, gods, battles, and the story behind wagners ring.
The book begins with an introduction from the author, followed by chapters dedicated to background information and the norse creation myth. Norse mythology, by neil gaiman gaimans no stranger to norse gods see. Celebrated author neil gaiman came to the boston public library to talk about his works norse mythology and american gods. The ancient myths humans once embraced were, at their heart, epic stories involving magic, immortals, and quests, so its no surprise tales like.
This book is going to be the first release in a series of norse mythology books. Stories survive for some of the gods, preserved in the poetic edda, the prose edda, and other icelandic manuscripts. Neil gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales. Thank our lucky stars that neil gaiman chose to do something with his keen interest in norse mythology. Norse mythology introduces readers to a deeper world, rooted in the traditions of northern story telling. There are many stories about the gods, but the first one that should be told is the one about the building of their city. The fierce glory of odin, frey, loki and their fellow gods of asgard are featured here with all the great adventures, from yggdrasil, the tree of life, to the endings of ragnarok.
About norse mythology cliffsnotes study guides book. In norse mythology, gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major norse pantheon. The book is gaimans retelling of several stories from norse mythology. In storytime 31, thor ends up duelling with a giant with a stone skull. Gaiman somehow manages to faithfully recreate these ancient tales while weaving the various narratives into. Odin, thor, loki the gods of the vikings had many wonderful adventures which have inspired the likes of wagner. Many gods and goddesses are named in norse mythology. Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc. Norse mythology is a collection of stories that explain in detail important concepts and foundations of the north germanic people. Gaimans book serves as a welcome point of entry to a new generation of readers. Despite the starkness of this picture the norsemen took intense pleasure from such things as friendship, drinking and eating, making love, outwitting strangers, avenging wrongs, and. So far in storytime, weve featured several norse myths, including a few thor stories. Back in issue 3, one of my favourites, thors stolen hammer in which thor is tricked by loki into crossdressing to retrieve his hammer from the giants. This is a good short book on norse mythology for people who are curious about asgard, but dont want to delve too much into it.
Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning. In doing so he enrages sifs powerful husband, thor. Also its kinda funny that uncle rick managed to write some of those stories into the plot of his books. The 10 best norse mythology books norse mythology for smart. The centerpiece of that religion was what we today call norse mythology. With norse mythology, neil gaiman attempts to update such tales for the modern era.
If i wanted to learn about norse viking mythology, what would be. And the legends of the norse gods provide a revealing glimpse into a fascinating ancient culture. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Odin also makes an appearance on an eightlegged horse. The daulaires book of norse myths by ingri and edgar parin daulaire. Norse mythology neil gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. The main reason why im not giving it five stars is because it starts off with a heavy christian influence. Although with the uprising of christianity, most of the literature and scriptures have been lost but a few passed on works have still survived through the concealment of the gods as kings and princes so as to appease the christian rule. The gods had made their way up to the top of a high mountain and there they decided to build a great city for themselves that the giants could never destroy.
Norse mothers tales are life lesson short stories for young children to establish familiarity with people, places, and animals from norse and viking history. Norse mythology by neil gaiman, the sword of summer by rick riordan, the hammer of thor by rick riordan, the. They are the original fairy tales of humanity and, given the timeless fairytale quality to gaimans writing, it seemed to follow that he would be the perfect writer for a book of norse mythology. Read norse mythology free books online norse mythology. You learn about odin, thor, loki and many others, how they all came to be. American gods, highlighted below, but in his new book, hes not simply picking apart old myths and using the parts to build new stories hes actually recasting them and retelling them with a modern approach. Stories of norse gods and heroes by annie klingensmith consists of 20 chapters, each a story from norse mythology. The body of stories that we today call norse mythology formed one of the centerpieces of the pagan norse religion. Lively, stark and formidable, the imagery of norse mythology storms through this classic collection. The book is written in the thirdperson and in past tense, except for the final chapter, which is written and the present and future tenses. Master storyteller neil gaiman presents a dazzling version of the great norse myths.
The stories are translated from the original source, the icelandic eddas, which were compiled in the century from much older written and orally transmitted material. This book gives an overview of norse mythology, telling some of the stories of the gods, giants and other creatures of that lost era before history began. The world here is a hard, cold, bitter place in which to live. They would call the city asgard, which means the place of. For the book by neil gaiman, see norse mythology book. Each book will take a path to a different part of vikings lore and explore myths, stories, and legends from the norse cosmos. Most of the stories we have, however, concern two gods, odin and his son thor, and odins blood brother, a giants son called loki, who lives with the aesir in asgard. A plump pancake manages to escape being eaten by 7 children.
Thank thor its thursday norse myths for kids storytime. Please find this book by brian branston i have looked at other collections of norse myths and this one is by far the most superior. While the illustrated edition costs 60% less, it has significantly improved. Best mythology books for kids and teens at some point during their grade school years, lots of kids go through a big mythology phase they cant get enough of stories about gods, goddesses, and other mythological creatures. Neil gaiman reanimates the norse mythsand loki, once again. In norse mythology, neil gaiman retells the norse stories about the framing of the world, the production of yggdrasil and the nine worlds, how odin lost his eye, how the divine beings got their fortunes, lokis kids, thors excursion to the place that is known for the mammoths, the passing of balder, ragnarok, and the sky is the limit from there. Thor, odins son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods. Norse mythology is actually one ive always been less familiar with. Although the plots of the stories are generally the same in this book as in traditional versions of the myths, the style in which the stories are told is original.
501 773 1183 43 1512 708 1392 727 1035 247 901 1249 1018 700 584 539 448 451 389 1016 1089 232 890 1503 515 943 737 729 237 485 1331 492 1054 53 1049 526 269 638 1015