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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A fun read but not even close to accurate.,
By Spence the Elder (East TN, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Norsemen: Myths and Legends Series (Hardcover)
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 the two 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
5.0 out of 5 stars
Satisfied!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Norsemen: Myths and Legends Series (Hardcover)
The book that I purchased was in exceptional condition. There were no quality issues or concerns. It was also delivered to me within days.
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