What do you think?
Rate this book
Ash: Poems from Norse Mythology
In Ash, acclaimed poet Jeff Mann has created a haunting and intense examination of Norse mythology, extending from the creation of the universe to its end in the flames of Ragnarok. Here are many All-Father Odin, bound to the World Tree; Thor, the protector of mankind and battler of monsters; Balder, the gentle god treacherously slain; Sigurd, killer of a gold-hoarding dragon; Brynhild, love-sick and vengeful Valkyrie; and Surt, the demon who burns the earth and sky to ash. Here are many a seething snake-pit, a burning mead hall, an open tomb, Valhalla s vigorous feasting and lovemaking, fir forests and Nordic snows. These poems range from the speech of gods and heroes to autobiographical lyrics that use myth as an entry into eternal human love, hate, loss, death, and rebirth.
- GenresPoetry
136 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2011
5 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Mann
105 books89 followersJeff Mann’s poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in many publications, including Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Laurel Review and The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide. He has published three award-winning poetry chapbooks, Bliss, Mountain Fireflies, and Flint Shards from Sussex; two full-length books of poetry, Bones Washed with Wine and On the Tongue; a collection of personal essays, Edge: Travels of an Appalachian Leather Bear; a book of poetry and memoir, Loving Mountains, Loving Men; and a short fiction volume, A History of Barbed Wire, which won a Lambda Literary Award. He teaches creative writing at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 4, 2025
UPDATE: I just reread this in the fine new and very beautiful hardback edition from Rebel Satori Press, which I do not find here on Goodreads. Highly recommend seeking out that edition, it is truly a marvelous reading experience of these poems for the ages.
Wonderful to read this just after finishing Beowulf. Beautiful retelling of Norse mythology, in a way that instantly draws the reader in and connects to our modern lives. I loved every poem in this book, but perhaps one of my favorites is "Hope", a retelling of the tale of how the river Van has its source in the slaver that runs from the mouth of the bound and gagged Wolf, and which ends thus:
" For Northmen,
hope's a river running from a chained wolf's mouth,
the stream
these fingers stroked, in Switzerland, one summer day
a decade ago, the clear glacial run-off I cupped in my hands,
poured out onto stone - wolf's appeasement - the cold
with which I anointed my lips, my brow, my beard.
A man kneeling in the grass, composing prayers to ice."
"Idunn and Bragi" is also particularly fine, to my view - a haunting meditation on "the larceny of decades, the erasure of hours".
As usual in Mann's writing, attention to and love of the natural world is on display, as is admiration for fine men's bodies.
The theme of longing vs. satiety is woven throughout the volume as well.
Mann thoroughly inhabits each actor, each point of view, in the saga he is retelling, so that the reader feels as if she is hearing each one speak his or her piece. A particularly lovely example of this is the pair of poems "Njord Rejects the Mountains" and "Skadi Rejects the Sea".
Time and again I would find a phrase or line or several lines in a poem that called out to me, seemed to speak directly to our times, to the struggle of living itself, like a fine jewel set on a ring of red-gold. It was a true pleasure to read these poems.
Wonderful to read this just after finishing Beowulf. Beautiful retelling of Norse mythology, in a way that instantly draws the reader in and connects to our modern lives. I loved every poem in this book, but perhaps one of my favorites is "Hope", a retelling of the tale of how the river Van has its source in the slaver that runs from the mouth of the bound and gagged Wolf, and which ends thus:
" For Northmen,
hope's a river running from a chained wolf's mouth,
the stream
these fingers stroked, in Switzerland, one summer day
a decade ago, the clear glacial run-off I cupped in my hands,
poured out onto stone - wolf's appeasement - the cold
with which I anointed my lips, my brow, my beard.
A man kneeling in the grass, composing prayers to ice."
"Idunn and Bragi" is also particularly fine, to my view - a haunting meditation on "the larceny of decades, the erasure of hours".
As usual in Mann's writing, attention to and love of the natural world is on display, as is admiration for fine men's bodies.
The theme of longing vs. satiety is woven throughout the volume as well.
Mann thoroughly inhabits each actor, each point of view, in the saga he is retelling, so that the reader feels as if she is hearing each one speak his or her piece. A particularly lovely example of this is the pair of poems "Njord Rejects the Mountains" and "Skadi Rejects the Sea".
Time and again I would find a phrase or line or several lines in a poem that called out to me, seemed to speak directly to our times, to the struggle of living itself, like a fine jewel set on a ring of red-gold. It was a true pleasure to read these poems.
Displaying 1 of 1 review