Popular Tales from Norse Mythology (Paperback)

~ George Webbe Dasent (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Full of giants, trolls, heroes, and beautiful princesses, these 42 folktales include such favorites as "Dapplegrim," "Tatterhood," "Katie Woodencloak," and "Soria Moria Castle," plus many less known, such as "The Werewolf," "Such Women Are," "The Three Dogs," "Temptations," "King Gram," "The Magician's Pupil," "Legend of Tannhauser," "The Outlaw," "Toller's Neighbors," "The Widow's Son," "The Three Sisters Trapped in a Mountain," and "The Goatherd" (the origin of Washington Irving's story of Rip van Winkle). The volume also includes instructive variants of the same story, such as "The Blue Belt" and "The Blue Riband," and "The Seven Ravens" and "The Twelve White Peacocks." Another plus is a substantial critical introduction by the author.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Dover Ed edition (August 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 048641812X
• ISBN-13: 978-0486418124
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,045,131 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Popular Tales from Norse Mythology, April 17, 2002

By	James Latimer (CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Just a warning to those fooled by the title: Don't expect to find any mention of Odin of Thor in this book. Rather than mythology, the stories in the book would be more appropriately described as folktales or perhaps even fairy tales. Most involve a fair maiden in distress who is rescued by a "once-was-a-peasant-found-a-magic-belt-or-met-a-troll-and-became-a-knight" type of hero.

Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed the book. As the author says, the folktales in _Popular Tales from Norse Mythology_ are overall good reading. They are full of excitement and adventure and a great deal of humour. These factors probably made it possible for the stories to survive as Scandinavian oral tradition until they were finally written down in the last century.

Although the book rarely mentions Norse gods directly, a number of characters can be identified as one of the old gods, particularly Odin, slipping into an overall Christianized story. I found that interesting.