Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs

ABC-CLIO’s Handbooks of World Mythology

by John Lindow

Norse Mythology explores the magical myths and legends of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Viking-Age Greenland and outlines the way the prehistoric tales and beliefs from these regions that have remained embedded in the imagination of the world.

The book begins with an Introduction that helps put Scandinavian mythology in place in history, followed by a chapter that explains the meaning of mythic time, and a third section that presents in-depth explanations of each mythological term. These fascinating entries identify particular deities and giants, as well as the places where they dwell and the varied and wily means by which they forge their existence and battle one another. We meet Thor, one of the most powerful gods, who specializes in killing giants using a hammer made for him by dwarfs, not to mention myriad trolls, ogres, humans and strange animals. We learn of the ongoing struggle between the gods, who create the cosmos, and the jotnar, or giants, who aim to destroy it. In the enchanted world where this mythology takes place, we encounter turbulent rivers, majestic mountains, dense forests, storms, fierce winters, eagles, ravens, salmon and snakes in a landscape closely resembling Scandinavia. Beings travel on ships and on horseback; they eat slaughtered meat and drink mead.

Spanning from the inception of the universe and the birth of human beings to the universe's destruction and the mythic future, these sparkling tales of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, gods and heroes will entertain readers and offer insight into the relationship between Scandinavian myth, history, and culture.

Genres: Mythology, History, Nonfiction, Religion, Reference, Folklore, Paganism

365 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Professor specializing in Scandinavian medieval studies and folklore at the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for anyone interested in Norse mythology. It will be a great reference book for my old norse and viking modules next year. The only thing I didn't like, was that it was organised alphabetically rather than through themes such as gods, monsters, terms or poems which would have made it easier to navigate rather than reading through and having to jump from one thing to another.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well written, but not organized as I would like it to be. It's an encyclopedia of concepts and deities, rather than a narrative account of Norse Mythology (which is what I wanted).

However, it was definitely useful for me as I was reading the Edda. Whenever a word or name came up that I was unfamiliar with, I could just look it up in the handbook. I think that's primarily what this book is for: a supplementary text for reading the prose or poetic eddas. It's not meant to be read on its own.

[Bettie]

pub 2001
non-fic
link from Neil
summer 2013
ref book

Scandinavian mythol-
ogy was, with virtually no excep-
tion, written down by Christians,
and there is no reason to believe
that Christianity in Iceland was
any different from Christianity
anywhere else in western Europe
during the High Middle Ages.

As is also uttered about Enkidu: 'Poor Snorri!'

excellent as reference, thanks Neil. You can find it too: ftp://s208.math.msu.su/286000/674cf5e...

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

👍👍👍

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

It isn't as comprehensive as Simeck's (sp?) dictionary, but it is an excellent, concise yet adequatetly thorough handbook of the major elements of Norse Mythology by perhaps the leader in the field today (okay, I'm a bit biased, being at Berkeley. How's that for alliteration, by the by?) I typically require or strongly recommend this book for my own students. It's been said (by whom, I'm not sure, though I suspect there are many) that Old Norse mythology (or literature) is a mythology of names, and that is certainly the case. My students invariably start the semester frusterated and confused at all the names which are thrown at them by the texts without the handy explanations 21st century Americans find necessary in every area of life. After all, we are reading a text from 800 years ago which was written about a mythological system which was dominant 200 years before that-- there is bound to be some confusion when the texts continue to take for granted a basic competence in the mythological population. John Lindow's book does an excellent job filling in the gaps with an appropriate amount of cross referencing. The first 2 chapters also serve as accesible and thorough introductions to the cultural and historical context, as well as some of the attempts to clarify the timeline and the perception of time in Old Norse mythology.

[William Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not your typical book of mythology stories. This is a scholarly take on understanding the whole of Norse mythology, and as such it is invaluable for those who try to integrate this mythology into their lives or just want a deeper understanding of interesting stories.

[Jas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good intro to the Norse gods, few stories and more interesting backstory than other Norse books.

[Paul Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs by John Lindow is a fairly well written collection of everything we know about the beliefs of the ancient Scandinavian Pagans. Throughout the beginning the book Lindow covers many of the Scandinavian Pagans ritualistic practices and how their societies functioned in cooperation with their religious beliefs. It also then gives a rundown of their traditional stories, characters, and gods. I think this book does very well with the information that we have retained from ancient times to explain as much as it can about its the beliefs of the Pagans of ancient Scandinavia. The amount of depth and detail that is delved into within this book is a nice change of pace from the depth usually given in the stories you are told in a basic mythology class or as a child. To no fault of the author, I wish their was more things we could truly know about their beliefs, and while reading this book it really makes you feel this. It is obvious that some of the things we are told even within this book are missing or have been modified from Christian influence. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to delve deeper into the stories they were told about as a child.

[Hey Choom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard for me to rate. A useful reference book but certainly not something to sit down and read through, as everything in each of the three sections is divided alphabetically. I feel weird giving it three stars but it just wasn't what I was expecting or wanted.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norse Mythology is fierce and beautiful. The gods are heroic and the heroes are god-like. I suppose this is not surprising for the Norse.

[Marko Vasić · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word - epic. Illustrations and annotations are great and comprehensive.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensable guide for anyone interested in Norse myth - one of the best ever written. Wasn't sure what to put as the "date read" since I refer to this book multiple times a year.

[Prue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love non-fiction books, especially ones that are centred around mythology. I've been reading a bit more Norse mythology lately, and unfortunately I didn't get on so well with Lindow's work.

With hindsight, the book is a guide (it even says so in the title), but I hadn't anticipated it would be laid out like a dictionary from A-Z of texts and mythological figures that focus on Norse mythology. The approach was incredibly formulaic, and much less about the telling of the myths rather than looking a little deeper into analysing them. What I mean is, it was more like a textbook rather than a re-telling of the myths like Stephen Fry's Mythos.

One of the biggest issues of laying the book out A-Z meant there was a lot of repetition. For example, one of the texts Lindow looks at is Lokasenna, which focuses on the trickster god Loki. However, pretty much all the deities appear in Lokasenna, so Loki's interactions with each god are written under the Lokasenna entry, Loki's entry, and then the respective god's entry. In other words, you could easily read the same paragraph, with a few words slightly changed, three times throughout the novel. This doesn't just apply to this example, but for all mythology covered, which didn't make for the most entertaining read.

However, Lindow has put a lot of research into this book and it shows. He himself has translated passages of Nordic and Icelandic texts, and he clearly knows the myths like the back of his hand. The book, therefore, is very academic, and is probably very useful for someone who is writing about Norse legends, and uses the book as a dictionary - a guide - to read up on any terms and figures that are useful to what they are writing about. As someone who was looking for an entertaining read of Norse legends, it was not so useful, and as I read it all in one go, the repetition in different passages was a little frustrating.

If you are a student studying Norse mythology, then this book may be quite useful for referring to terms and deities and giants and others, as well as a source for further reading, as Lindow very accurately records every source he used when writing this book. I'll say this again - it is a guide, so you can look up terms and learn about them in the book. It's not a novel, and I'm not even sure it's the most detailed explanation of what occurs in Norse myths, but it is a suitable guide and briefly touches on the most important myths and legendary figures.

[J.L. Slipak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been using a lot of Norse Mythology books over the years for many reasons. The first being my research into my genealogy. Since discovering I'm a descendent of Eric The Red, a historical Viking, I've been engaged in finding everything I possibly can both about those fated Norsemen of old and how history connects to my heritage. Secondly, I've used various mythologies, as substance for my own writing for the last twenty years and finding excellent resource materials is always a personal goal.

That is why I'm so excited about this particular book! It's full of incredible information and perfect for any writer on the subject. I can't gush enough about it! Sure, I've found many books over the years that didn't quite add up to what I'd call a good resource and read more like fiction than non-fiction with little evidence to back up the content. THIS book does and does it really well.

I highly, highly recommend John Lindrow's work. Check it out!

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Norse Mythology: A Guide... is the best reference on Norse gods, their relation to one another, and specific facets of Norse Mythology as a whole that I have found yet. If you are looking for a book containing the legends themselves or a historical account of this time or of Norse Mythology, this will not meet your needs. However, this book would make a FANTASTIC companion piece to any other work that does include the Norse myths. Use it as a dictionary to look up the names you come across. It is INCREDIBLY thorough. I will say, it was a tough read on its own (similar to how it would be if you just decided to read the dictionary), but you CAN get through it due to the comprehensive knowledge of the author and his writing style, which is far from the dry academic tone you would expect from a reference material such as this. Would recommend!

[Ocean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been reading this book as a reference book for years, but I now feel like I've read "enough" of it to put out an informed review. This text is a great resource for anyone interested in the figures of the Norse Myths. It has far more about various mythological figures than it does about Heroes, Rituals, or Beliefs, so maybe the book's content doesn't quite reflect the title, but as far as figures in the myths, it is quite extensive. I think this resource is great for both beginners and those with an advanced understanding of Norse Myth because even though the entries are short and not necessarily comprehensive, they do contain a ton of information and Lindow has found a great balance between brevity and informative. Excellent resource that I will continue to be referencing for years.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice and incredibly informative review of the mythology of the Scandinavian countries. One of the things I liked was that Lindow listed, at the end of each entry, additional reading sources on the topic just discussed. The only downside to that is a solid half, if not more, of the sources are in one of the Scandinavian languages, or German. Which does make sense, since that is the geographic area the mythology originates from, but it is just disappointed a little, since I can read none of those languages.

[R. Moores · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhaustive encyclopaedia of the goddesses, gods, poems, villains, hero's, horses, trees, and key concepts of Norse mythology. An excellent reference point. The introduction explaining how the medieval Christian worldview influenced the early translations of Norse poetry and myths was particularly useful to contextualise how and why these stories are understood at a scholarly and lay level.

[Ciaran McLarnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it would be a very useful reference book for research. Has a lot of useful information, but it reads like scientific report; frequently repeats ideas and sometimes exact phrases. Don't expect real stories, but I found it interesting.

[Polly Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best part about this book is it actually cites it's sources very well, you are never left wondering where information came from. I would prefer if that information was better organized, but it's still very useful and well written.

[Jonathan Jedrasik · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dictionary on Norse mythology terms and there etymology. By itself, its like reading a ordinary dictionary and can be quite bland, when paired with the poems themselves, can help get into the nitty gritty detail of the lore around Norse mythology.

[Charlie Whelan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting read and comprehensive overview, but the structure didn’t work for me. Felt it could have been more engaging. Works well as an encyclopedia type reference book but not much of a flow

[Jan Dillard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't use this as a reference. I wanted it for a history of how Norse mythology has played into Scandinavian history .

[Plarmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. Confusing genealogy 😂

[Audrey Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably would be a better read than audio.

[joseph whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read

While far from an expert on Norse mythology, I did find this book quite informative and entertaining as well as thorough with good resource material.😊

[Brittany Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful book with primary sources. However, it is not particularly suited for those learning basic norse myth.

[Heather Forensky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I have some more material to read.

[Jason Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introductory resource to concepts and deities in Norse myth and religion. This book serves as a good reference to find additional resources for specific items of interest.

[Frerin · Rating 4 out of 5]

wheres megingjord :(
but great book!! <3