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... the first books I read by myself was a beautifully illustrated book of Norse mythology (I was seven)
on March 25, 2017
One of the first books I read by myself was a beautifully illustrated book of Norse mythology (I was seven). I heard the stories again in third grade from Mr.Carl Hoffman, the most magical teacher I ever had. The images have stuck with me all these decades, idealized and static. Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology reawakened these stories and gave them a new depth. The characters are darker, not quite so noble as I remembered, but much more interesting.
on March 6, 2017
I never had much interest or knowledge about norse mythology, but the stories in this book are really enjoyable, and humanizing tales of the aesir gods. If your only knowledge about norse myths comes from marvel stories, then this book is a perfect starting ground for the true stories.
on February 21, 2017
I loved this book so much that I decided to purchase the audiobook so I could go through it again.
The author starts with an introduction describing his background on Norse mythology, describing himself as a young boy reading the Marvel comics involving Thor, only to later discover Asgard was nothing like the high-tech superhero realm found within the comics.
Several stories are covered, some of them being the most common and well-loved stories such as Odin’s dealing with Mirmir, how the gods got a wall built around Asgard, the origin of the Mead of Poetry, and of course the death of Baldur, the imprisonment of Loki, and Ragnarök itself.
Even as someone who has read versions of these myths before I was very happy with Gaiman’s interpretations, keeping a very wry and humorous disposition when addressing the myths. His way of telling the stories is what compelled me to purchase the audiobook for a second-go-through of the material, and hearing his delivery is well worth it.
Overall I highly recommend this book, even if you have experience with Norse mythology, I still feel this is a unique and worthwhile presentation, and if you aren’t familiar - I feel this is a great book to introduce you to the Norse myths.
The author starts with an introduction describing his background on Norse mythology, describing himself as a young boy reading the Marvel comics involving Thor, only to later discover Asgard was nothing like the high-tech superhero realm found within the comics.
Several stories are covered, some of them being the most common and well-loved stories such as Odin’s dealing with Mirmir, how the gods got a wall built around Asgard, the origin of the Mead of Poetry, and of course the death of Baldur, the imprisonment of Loki, and Ragnarök itself.
Even as someone who has read versions of these myths before I was very happy with Gaiman’s interpretations, keeping a very wry and humorous disposition when addressing the myths. His way of telling the stories is what compelled me to purchase the audiobook for a second-go-through of the material, and hearing his delivery is well worth it.
Overall I highly recommend this book, even if you have experience with Norse mythology, I still feel this is a unique and worthwhile presentation, and if you aren’t familiar - I feel this is a great book to introduce you to the Norse myths.
on May 7, 2017
I love Norse Mythology and I love Neil Gaiman's work so picking up the best of two worlds was a no brainer.
I was disappointed that this wasn't a retelling of the myths with a master writer's creative flare in novel form. It belongs on the shelf that fits other myth retellings. This is a good rendition and it is a quick and pleasant read. It reads easy enough to be used as a bed time story book.
I loved it and would recommend it but it isn't exactly ground breaking. It isn't even a new and improved version. It is exactly what it says it is: Norse Mythology as interpreted and retold by Neil. I am proud to add it to my collection of Norse and Anglo-saxon books.
I was disappointed that this wasn't a retelling of the myths with a master writer's creative flare in novel form. It belongs on the shelf that fits other myth retellings. This is a good rendition and it is a quick and pleasant read. It reads easy enough to be used as a bed time story book.
I loved it and would recommend it but it isn't exactly ground breaking. It isn't even a new and improved version. It is exactly what it says it is: Norse Mythology as interpreted and retold by Neil. I am proud to add it to my collection of Norse and Anglo-saxon books.
on March 27, 2017
I haven't read any other Neil Gaiman books, so I didn't have the expectations that others appear to have had. I found the stories familiar and enjoyable. I was delighted to read them in contemporary writing as one would hear a story told around a campfire. I even read out loud the story of The Mead of Poetry to others and they thoroughly enjoyed it. If you are tired of old translations or just wish to hear the tales told in a more modern verbiage then I think you will love this book as much as I have.
on June 20, 2017
I became interested in reading this book because I love the show Vikings. It helped me understand their beliefs and why they loved sharing these special myths. There is a lot of humor that was unexpected, as well as lessons learned. I'm also fascinated by how these myths came about, and the idea of giants. I didn't realize they were such a part of their myths. The ending was really cool. Fun to read!
on February 15, 2017
I've studied Norse Mythology for 20 years. However, I know that the academic texts that are so interesting to me are very hard to get into and could be described by many as 'hella dry.' For my friends and family, I've been searching for a telling of the myths that was approachable, respectful of the source material, well-written in a more modern style, but adjusted the myths to reflect the best academic ideas and opinions about them. Basically, I've wanted a telling of the myths as they most likely had been told before being butchered by those who meant to demonize the gods, but written in such a way as to entertain a modern audience. I had hoped that this book would be just the thing I've been looking for.
Neil Gaiman made a lovely introduction that hinted that he'd done all that I could have asked for. My eyes lingered on a typo of a Goddesses's name, but I forgave it and moved on. He spoke about his research and I was excited about that even if I felt he'd come to some very different conclusions than I had.
And then I read his 'cast of characters.' My spirits sank. Thor, Odin and Loki are not the main gods! There is some argument among the academics, but the usual suspects are always Thor and Freyr, with either Odin and Freyja, or Odin and Frigga rounding it out (and sometimes Odin doesn't even make the cut.) Loki might be a key player, but he's a supporting character and shouldn't be considered the main cast as the Norsemen saw it. Peeved, I moved onto the first myth. Not only was it sadly short and lacking in many of the details that have been teased out by academics, it was straight up wrong in places. Gaiman lifted phrases from other translations, which is perfectly fine in the academic sense, but not what I expected to see here. I expected his very own words, not reading words that I could nearly recite from having read them so often.
I skimmed a few more of the chapters and found them to all have the same fundamental issues -- all the Christianization was still present, no effort had been made to clean up any of the known apocryphal additions to the myths. Sometimes things were just plain wrong. It seems that Gaiman didn't realize that certain things were not the same things, so sometimes I'd find myself confused because two distinct ideas had been conflated into one. The gods, who are often very deep characters in the myths, had been rendered very flat and entirely unlikable. After Neil's lament about so many of the the tales of Goddesses being missing in the introduction, I found it odd that he decided to make Freyja a one-note woman. Another thing I noticed is that the book slid from one spelling to another for proper nouns. I realize that there are multiple acceptable spellings for these very old words, but I prefer when a book sticks to one (perhaps acknowledging the others but saying which one it will use.)
Far from the promised modern retelling of the myths, which is sorely needed, this book is junk. It's wrong, it's lacking known details that would have done a lot for this rather short book. It takes a very out-of-date approach to the material, and doesn't present it in an entertaining way. These myths were meant to be told and retold and made lush with detail by the poet or storyteller presenting them. Gaiman should know this if he did the research he claimed he did. But here are the same old words that have been used forever. As much as I love these arc words, they were exactly what I didn't want in this work.
In conclusions, this lacks all that it claims it's got. It's a shiny cover (with the wrong shape for the hammer, by the way....) and a spiffy intro.... and the rest is just not worth the money. Get Kevin Holland's book, or even a copy of the Eddas and read them instead. This offers no advantages over either.
Neil Gaiman made a lovely introduction that hinted that he'd done all that I could have asked for. My eyes lingered on a typo of a Goddesses's name, but I forgave it and moved on. He spoke about his research and I was excited about that even if I felt he'd come to some very different conclusions than I had.
And then I read his 'cast of characters.' My spirits sank. Thor, Odin and Loki are not the main gods! There is some argument among the academics, but the usual suspects are always Thor and Freyr, with either Odin and Freyja, or Odin and Frigga rounding it out (and sometimes Odin doesn't even make the cut.) Loki might be a key player, but he's a supporting character and shouldn't be considered the main cast as the Norsemen saw it. Peeved, I moved onto the first myth. Not only was it sadly short and lacking in many of the details that have been teased out by academics, it was straight up wrong in places. Gaiman lifted phrases from other translations, which is perfectly fine in the academic sense, but not what I expected to see here. I expected his very own words, not reading words that I could nearly recite from having read them so often.
I skimmed a few more of the chapters and found them to all have the same fundamental issues -- all the Christianization was still present, no effort had been made to clean up any of the known apocryphal additions to the myths. Sometimes things were just plain wrong. It seems that Gaiman didn't realize that certain things were not the same things, so sometimes I'd find myself confused because two distinct ideas had been conflated into one. The gods, who are often very deep characters in the myths, had been rendered very flat and entirely unlikable. After Neil's lament about so many of the the tales of Goddesses being missing in the introduction, I found it odd that he decided to make Freyja a one-note woman. Another thing I noticed is that the book slid from one spelling to another for proper nouns. I realize that there are multiple acceptable spellings for these very old words, but I prefer when a book sticks to one (perhaps acknowledging the others but saying which one it will use.)
Far from the promised modern retelling of the myths, which is sorely needed, this book is junk. It's wrong, it's lacking known details that would have done a lot for this rather short book. It takes a very out-of-date approach to the material, and doesn't present it in an entertaining way. These myths were meant to be told and retold and made lush with detail by the poet or storyteller presenting them. Gaiman should know this if he did the research he claimed he did. But here are the same old words that have been used forever. As much as I love these arc words, they were exactly what I didn't want in this work.
In conclusions, this lacks all that it claims it's got. It's a shiny cover (with the wrong shape for the hammer, by the way....) and a spiffy intro.... and the rest is just not worth the money. Get Kevin Holland's book, or even a copy of the Eddas and read them instead. This offers no advantages over either.
on March 7, 2017
I like the book overall (but I enjoy books on Northern mythology), but to me this was simplified too much.
But at the same time it could be a great first step into the world of Northern mythology.
It would work great for kids.
But at the same time it could be a great first step into the world of Northern mythology.
It would work great for kids.
on July 1, 2017
I did not know what to expect. I appreciate the story telling. Some of the stories I will read to my kids But honestly, I struggled to get into it at first and read it a few pages at a time. What I like is how it incorporates some ideas of Myth and religion. For example, Odin hanging from a tree....and his side was pierced with a spear.....hummmmm, as a Christian, interesting a strong parallels to my Faith as a Christian. What Can I say the apostle Paul was a Very Clever man!
If you look at the advertisement Video on Amazon Neil Gaiman does a clever job marketing the book.....especially with the new Thor movie coming out which made me want to buy this book. Check it out.
If you look at the advertisement Video on Amazon Neil Gaiman does a clever job marketing the book.....especially with the new Thor movie coming out which made me want to buy this book. Check it out.
