Illustrated Norse Myths

by Alex Frith, Louie Stowell (With), Matteo Pincelli (Illustrator)

A brand-new collection of Viking myths that tell the story of the Norse gods from creation to the story of how the world will end, including Odin's quest for wisdom, the battles of Thor the thunder god, and the tale of Sigurd the Dragonslayer and the curs

Beautifully bound with head and tail bands and a ribbon marker, Illustrated Norse Myths features dynamic artwork by Matteo Pincelli brings to life the exciting, strange and sometimes dangerous world of the Norse gods.

Genres: Mythology, Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Picture Books, Research, Collections

280 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

Alex Frith has been a children's non-fiction author since 2005. Working exclusively for Usborne Publishing, he has written over 50 books covering almost any subject you can think of, from the origins of the Universe to the meaning behind world religions, from extinct animals to prototype AIs, and from Japanese legends to Norse mythology. Two of his books have been shortlisted for the Royal Society Young's People's Book Prize: See Inside Inventions (2012), and 100 Things to Know About Space (2017).

Alex grew up in a house surrounded by comics and graphic novels, and has a lifelong passion for the medium. Beyond the comics he photocopied and passed around the playground of his primary school, he wrote the 4-part series 'Digital Graffiti' with artist Gez Fry in 2003, and has had short story comics published in FutureQuake and the Asteroid Belter.

Reviews

[Andrea Zuvich · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely epic book that ends with a bang! Great illustrations with Norse myths tailored to make a superb children's book. Now I'm ready to ready the Poetic Edda, among others! A brilliant intro to these myths.

[Gary Ross-Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent format with good illustrations.The stories were interesting and keep the original feel but aimed at children's understanding. All in, very good indeed

[Odette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een fijn en goed geschreven boekje. Wat droge humor soms van de goden, en ik zie de samenhang tussen de verschillende verhalen. Mooie illustraties en het leest fijn. Aanrader!

En ik kwam dus niet door de hervertellingen van Gaiman heen, maar dit vond ik erg fijn en leuk lezen!

We gaan aan het eind van de zomer naar Noorwegen dus ik ben me een beetje aan het inlezen :)

[Ellie Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A genuinely enjoyable read!

Really accessible retelling of Norse myths with lots of additional info on Viking beliefs. Was pleasantly surprised by the quality and vocabulary level too - will be a great model text for writing alongside a Vikings unit.

[Gullis lästips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Följ med till vikingatiden och läs om fängslande och spännande sagor om hjältar som dräper drakar och gudar som slåss mot jättar.

Vikingarna berättade sagor för varandra som eldade på deras fantasi och kämpaglöd. Så småningom skrevs en del av berättelserna ner.
Sagorna var både spännande och roliga och utspelar sig i nio magiska världar som hålls samman av ett enormt träd, asken Yggdrasil. Människorna bor i Midgård, medan de andra världarna befolkas av gudar och gudinnor, jättar och dvärgar, drakar och många andra fantastiska och fruktansvärda varelser.

I "Fornnordiska myter och sagor" kan du läsa om några av de spännande äventyr som Tor, Loke och de andra som bor i Asgård var med om. En beskrivning av mytologins världar, världsträdet Yggdrasil och myternas ursprung.

Det här är en otroligt välgjord bok som slutade med en smäll!

Detta är en väldigt tjock bok med ca 300 sidor, men med sina korta berättelser som är skrivna med luftig text och välgjorda och underhållande illustrationer i färg är det en passande bok för högläsning under SO-lektionerna om man arbetar med vikingatema, asagudarna och skaparberättelsen men passar lika bra som godnattsagor.

Det är även en passade bok om man har läst bokserien ”Magnus Chase” av Rick Riordan som handlar om den nordiska gudavärlden som du aldrig sett den förut.

”Fornnordiska myter och sagor” är helt klart spännande läsning för såväl stora som små!

Här kan du läsa den fullständiga bokrecensionen: https://www.gullislastips.se/2021/06/...

Om du som lärare ska arbeta med tema vikingatiden och asatron så passar denna bok samt att jag även har skapat ett vikingatipspromenad med 30 frågor samt ett vikingaprov med färdig poängsättning och ett utan poängsättning med 50 frågor som riktar sig till åk 4 till åk 9. Samt ett vikingatema där tipspromenaden och vikingaprovet är samlat.

Allt material finns på mitt Skolmagikonto som finns i länken, allt material kostar: https://www.skolmagi.nu/store/gullis-...

[Kasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had higher expectations for this book and I didn’t realize it was targeted for younger kids. However, I really liked reading this and being able to relate back to the Magnus Chase series which I read this year. All of these little stories made sense to me when relating back to Rick Riordan’s books. I hope more and more YA fiction is to come of Norse Mythology because I find it very very intriguing.

[WIZE FOoL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book with my son.
We loved it!
It captures the essence of each story but is suitable for all ages!
Humour to be found in most stories and the pictures help to break up the pages of text.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Enjoy.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great illustrated book of Norse myths for kids (mine were 6 & 8 and really enjoyed it)

[R.M. Archer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I'm already familiar with Norse mythology, this book wasn't super impressive to me personally. However, it would be effective for its intended purpose--introducing Norse mythology to a younger audience--and it was an easy refresher on myths I'd forgotten about.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good intro book to Norwegian myths, although it seems incomplete. I understand the need of making it compact, but when important characters are missing seem a bit bad.

[Brendan Coster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it 3 stars -- I think it gets a kid 5 star rating. Frith does a decent job at writing some really freaking weird and violent myths and making them kid accessible. At 6, it's not too often I can clear a 300 page book with him, but this worked. While illustrated, I would say only 1 in 3 or 4 pages actually have images on them, so, maybe any younger then 6 and it could be less effective. Also, I haven't read some of these in over a decade.... so it was fun remembering them.

Personal note: a little sad this is the first book I finished for 2016.... but one does not get a new console and fallout 4 every year...

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found some grammatical errors (than/then confusion, etc), that should have been caught in editing since it's a children's book.
That said, it was still a great introduction to Norse mythology. The epilogue is a little disingenuous in stating that no one today worships the Norse gods - heathenry is a nationally respected religion in Norway.

[Aarezo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh this was such a fun read 😌
Would make a great choice for children’s bedtime stories about Norse mythology.
I especially loved how all the characters and myths tied into each other and the cascade effect of Loki’s trickery.

The similarities between Tolkien’s universe and Norse mythology is insane! Why am I just noticing this?

🏹 Midgard — Middle Earth

🏹 the cursed golden ring that had the family killing each other over it featured in the Otter’s Ransom — it’s giving the One Ring 💍

🏹 the sorcerer’s son Fafnir obsessed with the ring and gold turns himself into a dragon and flies to a cave to reside with his treasure — literally Smaug 🐉

🏹 Sigurd the Dragonslayer, speaking to birds — Thorin

🏹 Sigurd in the forest on his way to slay Fafnir coming across an old man. Odin “raised his arms and a gold light began to shine around him.” — Gandalf is that you?? 🧙‍♂️


🏹 Odin telling Sigurd: “One more thing. To slay the dragon you must use the sword your mother gave you before she died” the broken sword… that Sigurd then has reforged — Aragon’s sword Andúril forged from the shards of Narsil, for our boi Isildurs heirrr 🗡️

🏹 Realm of dwarves - skilled craftsmen who love gold and jewels 🪓

🏹 Realm of elves 🧝‍♀️

Norse myths 🤝 LOTR
Twas a fun read

[Sudeshna Banerjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The First Thing That Caught My Eyes Is The Cover Of This Book. I Bought This Book From Crossword Book Store For About INR 499. This Is An Usborne Illustrated Book And Has A Collection Of Viking myths that tell the story of the Norse gods. It Is An absolutely epic book that ends with a bang. Though It Is A Book For Children Even Adults Can Read This Book. Due To The Good Illustration Of This Book I Feel It captures the essence of each story but is suitable for all ages. This Book Is Good For People Who Want To Have A Basic Understanding Of The Norse Gods And The Places (Odin, Thor, Loki, Asgard, Bifrost, Nidavellir). This Book Has About 279 Pages. Overall I Feel It Is Was A Great Read And Worth Its Price.

[W.B. Habsburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great bedtime reading for introducing concepts of mythology to a six year old boy. The stories are the perfect length for bedtime reading.

I was raised as irreligious within a somewhat christian nation. My son is being raised as somewhat christian within a somewhat communist nation. It's important to me that he has a wide sense of religious stories from a range of societies. Reading this has helped get across the notion that other societies have had different concepts of what a 'god' was/is.

He loved the stories about Loki and has continued talking about him months afterwards. He was a clear memory of the stories. Expect we'll probably return to read this in a couple of years time after also going through the Ramayana etc.

[Gordon Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with my dragon-curious eight year old, who enjoyed the illustrations very much and mostly stayed with the stories, particularly enjoying anything involving Thor and Loki.

The myths, most of which I was at least vaguely familiar with, are simplified and moderately sanitised for a younger audience, but retain the warmth and humour present in longer versions. The Norse, to their great credit, seem to have taken their gods a whole lot less seriously than other civilisations.

Far from a definitive edition, but an enjoyable, nicely paced child-friendly introduction to Asgard and its denizens.

[Foxlynx · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know that there are demons in actual Norse mythology, so I edited out those words, as well as the extremely negative words describing Hel. Oh and I fixed that whole, "No one worships the Norse Gods today" ignorant BS. Other than that, pretty good for kids. Loki wasn't compared to Satan and there wasn't any N*zi crap in it either.

[Elizabeth Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would read a story from this book to my 3 year old son so he can learn about the Norse gods and traditional stories of Asgard with quests taken on by Odin and Thor, or the tricks that Loki would play. He loved hearing about the different realms, frost giants, dragons, and other mythical characters.

[Jenny Hansson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fylld av forntida myter, gudasagor och hjältedåd! Högläsningsbok tillsammans med åttaårige sonen som satt som klistrad. Barnanpassad (även om den nog inte passar de allra yngsta, de gamla sagorna innehåller en del våld) så funkar perfekt ihop vuxen - barn. Som vuxen får man också lite allmänbildning i de gamla sagorna och de mest välkända gudarna.

[Karin Riedel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, in the hope that its illustrations would help me keep the challenging names, multiple characters, and their complicated relationships straight. Well, it did! I urge you to read this first, to set your mind up for a greater enjoyment and understanding of Gaiman's book.

[Nightshade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another wonderful collection of stories. I love the characters in the Norse Myths and how all the stories are related to each other. They also have a very interesting set up of the world with different realms.

[Yasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book. It's a pity it didn't say who Bor married, but if it was a giantess wouldn't that make Odin the same as Loki or else he was the grandson of a giantess. I mention it because in one of the stories Loki's giantess heritage is mentioned but not Odin's.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good entertainment and education for children

[Renee Heenan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to the Viking Sagas. Dramatically written so makes a good read aloud.

[Erik Koster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary of the Norse myths. Written and illustrated for kids but I still found it an interesting enough read.

[Aria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why did I read this book???

It’s fun to read, and a good way to start learning about Norse mythology, and the illustrations are great.

Still. I have so many other books on my TBR...

[Jodie Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this as a resource in viking topic at work. It was easy to read for lower readers but didn't contain many stories about female Norse gods.

[Quinnus · Rating 4 out of 5]

They changed a few of the actual norse names to make them easier to pronounce. But still enjoyable.

[Mrs Boyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like it a lot because there a lots of different stories and characters. Thor and Odin are some of my favourite characters. (IC Y8)

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely my favorite Norse mythology book for kids!