Norse Mythology: Great Stories from the Eddas [Paperback]

Hamilton Wright Mabie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2002

Imaginative retellings of 17 ancient Norse tales, ranging from the creation of the world to the death of the gods. Included are Odin's trip to Mimer in search of knowledge, the making of Thor's hammer, the loss of Idun's wondrous apples, and the task of securing the dreaded Fenris-wolf.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (April 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486420825
• ISBN-13: 978-0486420820
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #697,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Folklore & Mythology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Depends on your purpose., February 24, 2005

By 

Christa Daniel "WingTail" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Norse Mythology: Great Stories from the Eddas (Paperback)

It's an alright book, nicely written and does indeed have stories from Norse Mythology. It may or may not be for you though.

If you just want to read the stories cause you like mythology and folktales, then by all means buy it. It's written in with sentences and paragraphs instead of the poetic forms these stories were originally created. To me it seems to be more for a younger age then your average adult, but that doesn't necessarily subtract from the book.

If you were looking to read it for research or personal studies, I'd get a different book. The Eddas may be a little difficult to read at first because of the style of writing, but they are better in terms of research sources. My copies of the Poetic and Prose Edda not only have more details for stories found in this book, but also have stories not put into this book. They also have background notes, definitions of words, and anthropological notes.

As far as I'm concerned it's purpose was more towards entertainment then heavy-duty research.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well told stories for All, March 27, 2008

By 

Spence the Elder (East TN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Norse Mythology: Great Stories from the Eddas (Paperback)

Norse Stories Retold from the Eddas (1901, 1902, 1908 & 2006)

a.k.a. Norse Mythology Great Stories from the Eddas (2002)

By Hamilton Wright Mabie

This review will be covering several editions of this work, while the text is the same in all the editions their presentations vary greatly.

A well written book covering seventeen of the more popular Norse Myths from the Eddas. Mr. Mabie had a very engaging style that is palatable for adults and will still hold the interest of children.

Now, having said this, it must be remembered that this work was originally written in 1882. This was a time when children were not as sheltered from the realities of life and death as they are today. A time when being politically correct meant that you voted for the winner. A time when cholera, small pox and numerous other diseases ran rampant through the population. Children were quite a bit tougher back when this work was written. So if you have a wimpy, sheltered child you may want to find another book for story time. Or try something mindless and milk toast like the Disney Channel.

All the stories are faithfully translated into a readable and entertaining format. While this work can not be considered scholarly, it does convey the spirit of the Norse Era quite well. As a testament to the books quality, few works of any type continue to be published for over a century.

This edition of, "Norse Mythology, Great Stories from the Eddas", 2002, was, (to me anyway), a bit of a disappointment. While the text remained the same as the older editions, the illustrations or lack of them has not. The early 1900's editions are lavishly illustrated with Nordic style gilt work on every page and simple, but powerful water color's throughout the book. The cover was graced with a depiction of a powerful Viking God, (probably Odin), looking proud and imposing. The 2002 paperback editions cover depicts a beardless, nude, neo-Greek Thor battling Jormungand, from the Chapter 9 story, "Thor Goes Fishing". While the cover art is well done, (the 1788 Henry Fuseli painting), this style would be better served on a book of Greek or Roman Myths. The interior illustrations and gilt work of the 2002 edition are nonexistent. This lack of interior illustration transforms a very good book with eye catching pages that add life to the myths into just another paperback.

All and all a nice retelling of the tales but if you can get a copy of the older editions or the 2006 paperback it's well worth it.

In Frith,

Spence

"Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc"

M. Addams

For clarification, I have rated this version at 3 stars vs. the 4 stars I've rated the older hardback editions. This has nothing to do with the written content. This drop in my recommendation is based on the presentation and lack of interior illustrations and poor choice of cover art.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars NORSE MYTHOLOGY by Hamilton Wright Mabie, July 27, 2010

By 

thepaxdomini "The Book Review" (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Norse Mythology: Great Stories from the Eddas (Paperback)

Norse Stories, Retold from the Eddas, also known as Norse Mythology: Great Stories from the Eddas, is an 1882 book on Norse mythology by Hamilton Wright Mabie. While never explicitly stated, this book is obviously geared toward a young adult audience.

Norse Stories reads like something of a greatest hits of Norse mythology. There's so much missing: many of the mythos's best-known tales are here, but ripped from the context needed to fully understand them. What is here, though, is well done. Mabie tells the stories well, and he provides some wonderfully rich descriptions. But feels like Mabie went through the Eddas and just ripped out whole pages without making the slightest effort to link things together. He was sloppy, too; an example: here we get "Odin's eyes began to flash" six pages after he trades one for wisdom at Mimir's Well.

In its degree of violence and pessimism, Norse mythology is unmatched throughout the world. Yet Norse Stories has a distinctly positive tone, perhaps due to the book's younger audience. Whatever the reason, this book doesn't really provide the true mood or tone of Norse mythology.

Ultimately, Norse Stories is a collection of well-told stories severely hampered by their lack of context and other limitations. If you're well-versed in Norse mythology, you may enjoy what Mabie does with the stories here. If not, you aren't going to get a coherent understanding of it from Norse Stories. But it shouldn't be difficult to find half a dozen better books on the topic.