Customer Reviews

Myths & Legends: The Norsemen

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Beware this book.

It is apparently written for older children, but is based much on unidentified sources or the author's own imagination, and is filled with careless, factual errors.

Guerber often refers vaguely and randomly to "some mythologists", "old Northmen", "ancient Northern nations", "Northern races", "the Scandinavians", "some authorities", "some accounts" as sources, only once actually mentioning Snorri Sturluson under the odd misspelling "Snorro - Sturleson". She presents unsourced desciptions and information found in no extant medieval texts. A typical example, one of many, concerns Ęgir:

"He was supposed to occasion and quiet the great tempests which swept over the deep, and was generally represented as a gaunt old man, with long white beard and hair, and clawlike fingers ever clutching convulsively, as though he longed to have all things within his grasp. Whenever he appeared above the waves, it was only to pursue and overturn vessels, and to greedily drag them to the bottom of the sea, a vocation in which he was thought to take fiendish delight."

The writing is good and makes Ęgir come alive. But every detail is modern invention, whether invented by Guerber or some literary source from which Guerber took it without attribution. Guerber continues with more bogus information that Ęgir married his sister. Such passages abound. This might be reasonable in a work which presented itself as a retelling and reworking of Norse mythology (yet even retellings for younger children mostly stick closer to the originals). Who "supposed" Ęgir to be as Guerber presents him? What does "generally represented" mean when no representation of Ęgir has ever been found? Ęgir was "thought to take fiendish delight" by whom? The very passages which are least traditional are often those which Guerber most decorates with wordings that falsely suggest the information comes from extant medieval sources.

Here can be found many other unathentic details: that Bragi was son of Odin by Gunnlod, that the god Uller married Skadi, that Loki's first wife was Glut, and so much more. That last bit of information arises from Victorian scholarly speculation that Loki and the fire-giant Logi may have originally been the same. But the Loki and Logi are quite separate in surviving mythological texts. The name Glut provided by Guerber is not even Norse, but is the modern German word ''glut'' 'glow', presumably coming to Guerber via some contemporary German source as a possible translation of ''Glöš'', the genuine Old Norse wife of Hálogi or Logi (not of Loki) in Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar.

Amusingly, though Guerber does not baulk at retelling accounts of incest, she yet turns almost every male/female liason into a wedding.

The tales themselves, when Geurber does not intrude explanations, are well enough told as tales. The writing generally has a convincing and scholarly feel to it, which makes it easy for the reader to be taken in by it, knowing no better. If all you want is a good read, and do not care that large portions of this account of Norse mythology are not taken from Norse mythology and that many interpretations presented baldly as fact are either disputed or generally deprecated, then you will find nothing wrong here. But though the majority of individual statements are true enough in respect to the source texts, so much is inaccuarate or invented that the reader should take care not to cite anything found here as though it were genuine Norse mythology without first checking more reputable sources.

For those who do want to learn something about genuine Norse mythology, there are good, readible translations of the two ''Eddas'' (the major primary sources) and good, readible translations of the Völsunga saga. There are also other more modern scholarly books. And there are accounts which are more obviously children's books and which are less complete in what they attempt to present but are more generally accurate in what they do give and more openly presented as containing invention.

Guerber provides a trove of misinformation. Her analysis of the similarities between graeco-roman and norse mythology jumps between the obvious and the inaccurate. Her explanations of what the myths mean are mostly the long discarded and arbitrary solar-theories of Max Müller and his disciples, already on the wane when Guerber wrote.

This book gives you something other books on Norse mythology do not. It contains 64 superb black and while illustrations which, for those who love mythology, are worth the price of the book alone. Also, this volume contains the most dramatic and compelling retelling of Ragnarok I have ever found.

In this book, the myths are partly stories and partly explanations of what stories and their characters mean. So it does not feel that you are actually reading tales. For a more "direct" reading of the tales I use Crossley-Holland's "The Norse Myths."

Also, I thought that too much was made of similarities between Greek and Northern mythology at the end of this book. Some comparisons feel artificial and strained. But one should keep in mind that this book was originally written in the 1920s, when linguists were very impressed, some would say "scandalized," by the apparent common origin of most European and some Asian languages. These languages, which today include all but three European languages, belong to the so-called Indo-European or Indo-Aryan group. It does appear that a number of characters in the Greek and Northern myths had a common Indo-Aryan prototype, but as already said, some similarities are farfetched and artificially constructed. The book contains a comprehensive index.

The original publcation date of 1909 would explain why many of the tales are watered down and a Victorian morality imposed on them. The style is charming and readable, and there's a wealth of information to pursue. Guearber does some editorializing here and there, and the final chapter which attempts to draw parallels to Greco-Roman mythology was a waste of time. One clue that Guerber did not spend much time doing actual research is that she used Roman names for the "Greek" gods in that final chapter. I'm not familiar enough with Norse mythology to point out errors there, but several reviewers here on Amazon were outraged by Guerber's inaccuracy ... I consider this a good book to start a study of Norse mythology; it's an easy read, and if nothing else at least it tells you what to look for as you continue your reading elsewhere. This should NOT be your _only_ book about Norse myth. Definitely further research is needed since Guerber is not a completely reliable source herself.

Having basic knowledge of Norse mythology, I found this book to be an abysmal excercise in disinformation. Not only it provides an overly simplified view of a very complex religion, it also censores many myths, not providing the full picture of characteristics of the gods. It seems like this book is aimed at younger audiences which could not handle adult subject matter, and is used to the iconic perceprion of mythology in general.
If you are seriously interested in this subject, I would stay away from this book.

This book has got to be one of the most (if not THE most!) informative books on Norse mythology currently available.Each chapter went into great detail about Odin, Thor, Freya, etc. to the point that if you buy just one Norse mythology book for your library, this should be it. I'm going to read it again shortly just because there is so much excellent information in this tome. The highest recommendation!!

Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas
by H. A. Guerber

The errors in this work are fairly typical for the period that it was written. Romanticizing the Norse and Arthurian Myths seemed to be a very legitimate pastime for numerous Victorian era authors. While most of the book is in clearly and well written prose, at best it should be consider along the lines of a, "Historical Novel", or as a semi-serious children's text on Norse mythology. There are just too many errors and outright fabrications for serious study. Additionally, while there might be a small amount of justification for an academic and scholarly comparison between Norse Mythology and Greek Mythology, what is presented in the last chapter of this book is not one. Guerber's unsupported and exceptionally vague reference's to non-identifiable ethereal sources is very frustrating. Let's face it, there are not an infinite number of sources for this information, different translations are one thing but changing the myths and alluding to, "other", unspecified sources of wisdom is quite unacceptable. I am of the opinion that many of these sources were contemporaries of Guerber's and she was sighting them in this work. It would be like me using Harrison's, "The Hammer and The Cross", as a validation for what I thought the true meaning of the Edda's were and then publishing it as a fact.

O.K., now that I've slammed this work and author fairly hard let me lay out two or three reasons why I think anyone interested in the Norse and Germanic Myths should own a copy, or in my case two copies, (one paperback and one hardback). Firstly, the illustrations are very well done. Granted that they are seldom historically accurate and very Victorian or Wagner like, but well done none the less. Surprisingly, to me anyway, the illustrations in my 1992 paperback are sharper and clearer than those in my 1993 hard cover edition. Unfortunately, the illustrations in both copies are a bit on the dark side, I am attempting to obtain an early 1900's copy to compare the differences.
Secondly, if you are interested in other non-historical writings on the Norse Myths this book is a treasure trove of quotes and poetry . The vast majority of the authors listed may have been fairly well known a century ago, today however, many border on the obscure. It's an interesting and informative look into the past to see how these authors perceived the Norse Myths and makes me wonder how today's modern works will be viewed in another hundred years. Another thing I liked about the paperback edition was the larger type face used, it's probably about 14 pt., much easier to read than the hardback edition.
Because of these reasons I have rated this book with two stars, after all it was much better than, "Rites of Odin".

In Frith,
Spence The Elder

"Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc"
M. Addams

I suppose that a pagan trying to use this book as a catechism might find doctrinal errors, depending on their particular denomination. Whether or not the book provides a proper interpretation of the original sources, it is a good read, a trove of information, and a particularly interesting analysis of the similarities between greco-roman and norse mythology.

It is not an engaging read, in the sense that it is not presented as a saga itself, and thus the demarcations between subjects are dramatic. I suppose that this book falls somewhere between "encyclopedia of norse mythology" and "norse mythology for beginners."

I could not put this book down once I started reading it. Great stories, well told, and a few wonderful illustrations to boot. One thing that irritated me greatly, however, was the author's use of "ignorant people" to refer to the Norsemen, in reference to their religion. It is completely unnecessary to bring your own views in a manner such as this when you're retelling stories (IMO, anyway).

This publication is an excellant compilation of the Nordic World-View. It describes many beings, events, and items and then references them with their original sources. A particularly enjoyable aspect of the book is that is uses an older, more scholarly language. A wonderful addition to any Norse collection!

A fantastic, east-to-read, and inspiring book concerning Norse Mythology and beliefs and customs of the Northern peoples. This book covers almost all the gods and goddesses of the Norse pantheon, along with comparison of Norse and Greek Mythology and illustrations. I recommend this book to people who follow the Northern pagan path (Asatru), it will introduce you to gods/goddesses, and many pagan customs of our ancestors. Guerber also covers many pagan customs such as the Yule-feast, the Yule-log, and Easter, however, does not go in depth. Trust me, you will not be dissapointed!!