283 pages
English language
Published Nov. 30, 2018
The great Norse myths, which have inspired so much of modern fiction, are dazzlingly retold by Neil Gaiman. Tales of dwarfs and frost giants, of treasure and magic, and of Asgard, home to the gods: Odin the all-father, highest and oldest of the Aesir; his mighty son Thor, whose hammer Mjollnir makes the mountain giants tremble; Loki, wily and handsome, reliably unreliable in his lusts; and Freya, who spurns those who seek to control her.
From the dawn of the world to the twilight of the gods, this is a vivid retelling of the Norse myths from the award-winning, bestselling Neil Gaiman.
Good, well built, and entertaining collection of northern myths and gods. I love Gaiman's writing in it. Super helpful, when you get confused by all the gods in American Gods (like me). I wish there was more of this.
This is mostly not a continuous story but single chapters of the norse sagas retold in modern language. I read the (beautiful) hardcover version which hopefully explains the lack of quotes even though there’s a lot of quotable fun in it (and I often found myself swishing across the page with my finger annoyed I couldn’t mark the passages down for later use).
Most stories feature Thor and/or Loki since those two are the most well-known gods of the Norse pantheon - probably thanks to the comics and movies.
It was a short fun read but it kind of made me wonder: nearly all the stories are about the gods (mostly Loki, but Thor and Odin aren’t much better) tricking someone into doing something or giving them something to trick someone else with. Loki especially has a talent for getting into trouble and causing more by trying to get out …
This is mostly not a continuous story but single chapters of the norse sagas retold in modern language. I read the (beautiful) hardcover version which hopefully explains the lack of quotes even though there’s a lot of quotable fun in it (and I often found myself swishing across the page with my finger annoyed I couldn’t mark the passages down for later use).
Most stories feature Thor and/or Loki since those two are the most well-known gods of the Norse pantheon - probably thanks to the comics and movies.
It was a short fun read but it kind of made me wonder: nearly all the stories are about the gods (mostly Loki, but Thor and Odin aren’t much better) tricking someone into doing something or giving them something to trick someone else with. Loki especially has a talent for getting into trouble and causing more by trying to get out of it. The stories are brutal, bloody, full of lies, deceit and death.
The language of course - that was the point - is modern, and one can see quite a few passages where half a sentence is used to express what was probably a long boring episode explaining how Thor got mad at Loki. I like how Thor’s first reaction at trouble is to suspect Loki....
For fans of Loki: highly recommended. For fans of Thor: well, he isn’t the smartest pea in this pod either but he does have a few moments of witty brilliance.
Of course, it all ends with Ragnarok but in a Shyamalan way.
No surprise that I'm a fan of Neil Gaiman. This is a wonderful way to make Norse religion both accessible and a pleasure to read, giving an insight into a series of dramatic, ridiculous, serious, humorous and tragic tales that make what we can verify of Norse myths. It was a delightful read the first time & I'm about to devour it a second time.
Audio book by neil gaiman highly recommended
Neil Gaiman's retelling of these Norse stories certainly has its charm (especially if one listens to the audiobook version and hears Gaiman's alluring voice), and his love the for material shines through, but it's ultimately an easy, breezy read.
Grāmata ir dažādu teiku un leģendu salikums, kas kopā izveido tādu kā stāstu. Pārsteidzoši, ka iekļautie stāsti, ko iepriekš jau biju dzirdējis, šķita jauni un svaigi. Visticamāk tas tā bija tāpēc,ka autors teikām ir iedevis mazliet no sevis: mūsdienu valodu, attieksmi un humoru. Kopumā var teikt, ka šī ir viegla, īsa lasāmviela, kas var tikt izbaudīta vairākās daļās mēnešu garumā vai, kā manā gadījumā, aprīta 24 stundu laikā. Domāju, ka abos gadījumos lasītājs būs apmierināts.
Pretty much exactly what I expected. The beginning got me a bit worried it would be all names and things, but the events started happening soon enough. I wish there was a bit more of it, but so it goes with all nice things. Probably better to be left wishing for more than getting too much of a good thing.
Kinda dry but interesting
An excellent book! This is the Norse companion to D'Aulaires Greek Myths that I've been looking for since I was 10 years old. Lots of hijinks from Loki and Thor, with the same droll sense of humor Gaiman brought to the characters in Season of Mists. This is a very fun book; highly recommended.
A very lovely retelling of the Norse Myths. Though when comparing it to my very distant memory of Kevin Crossley-Holland's book, I kind of wonder if there are a few myths missing?!
