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Norse Myths & Tales
Lively, stark and formidable, the imagery of Norse mythology storms through this classic collection. The fierce glory of Odin, Frigga, Heimdall and their fellow gods of Asgard shines here, with all the great adventures, from Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, to the legends of Loki. And from the fabled Bifrost to the forging of Thor’s hammer, each Viking legend is riven with a vitality that speaks to us still. Here you’ll find out how Odin lost his eye, how Tyr lost his hand and read the terrible punishment meted out to Loki. Included too is the Sigurd Saga with its sleeping warrior maidens, treasures and glorious, heroic battles. This wonderful collection finishes with The Death of Balder, the Revenge of the Gods and, fittingly, Ragnarok.
479 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 25, 2018
I have always been a fan of Norse mythology. Dr. Brittany Schorn does a remarkable job with this great collection of stories. She has a wonderful writing style, the ability to tell a story while adding in historical/mythological factoids, and the book balances between being a collection of stories and a good historical background on these myths.
This book is full of stories from Norse mythology. Starting with the "Creation Myths" it goes onto the "Legends of Odin and Frigga"; "Legends of Loki"; "Legends of Thor"; "Freyia and Other Gods"; "Giants, Dwarves and Elves"; "The Sigurd Saga"; "The Story of Frithiof the Bold"; "The Story of Gunnlaug The Worm-Tongue and Raven the Skald"; "The Story of Grettir the Strong"; "The Laxdaela Saga"; and "The End of the World".
Coming in at nearly 500 pages- Dr. Schorn weaves a wonderful mix of the great Norse myths, as well as some of the lesser-known stories. Well written and easy to read, this book still transmits a great deal of interesting information. This is an unusual skill and she deserves credit for writing an eminently readable work that is also scholarly. This is not easy to do.
If you have no background or are a huge fan of the Norse mythological world, either way, you will love this book. It will have a welcome place in my collection of mythological books. Easily one of the best collection and translations of the amazing world of Norse mythology.
This book is full of stories from Norse mythology. Starting with the "Creation Myths" it goes onto the "Legends of Odin and Frigga"; "Legends of Loki"; "Legends of Thor"; "Freyia and Other Gods"; "Giants, Dwarves and Elves"; "The Sigurd Saga"; "The Story of Frithiof the Bold"; "The Story of Gunnlaug The Worm-Tongue and Raven the Skald"; "The Story of Grettir the Strong"; "The Laxdaela Saga"; and "The End of the World".
Coming in at nearly 500 pages- Dr. Schorn weaves a wonderful mix of the great Norse myths, as well as some of the lesser-known stories. Well written and easy to read, this book still transmits a great deal of interesting information. This is an unusual skill and she deserves credit for writing an eminently readable work that is also scholarly. This is not easy to do.
If you have no background or are a huge fan of the Norse mythological world, either way, you will love this book. It will have a welcome place in my collection of mythological books. Easily one of the best collection and translations of the amazing world of Norse mythology.
May 25, 2018
This book covers Norse myths in detail. However, it repeats sections verbatim -- whole chapters. Also, the part about Norse Legends is written in ye olde Englishe style and is indecipherable without looking up words that are no longer used. So it's hard to recommend this book. Look elsewhere.
December 23, 2021
Norse Myths & Tales is a marvelous collection of old mythology. It repeats many of the same stories over and over, but I don’t mind that. The publisher divides the book into chapters, each of them focused on a particular god or goddess. Most of the repeat stories feature Loki.
The book talks about how Odin is so wise, how Thor obtained his hammer, Mjolnir, how Loki gets banished from Asgard, and many more stories.
The only problem is that Marvel and it’s Cinematic Universe ruined the characters for me. Trying to imagine both Thor and Loki as red-haired men is a bit taxing on my imagination.
I wrote this on my phone, so please forgive any egregious errors. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.
The book talks about how Odin is so wise, how Thor obtained his hammer, Mjolnir, how Loki gets banished from Asgard, and many more stories.
The only problem is that Marvel and it’s Cinematic Universe ruined the characters for me. Trying to imagine both Thor and Loki as red-haired men is a bit taxing on my imagination.
I wrote this on my phone, so please forgive any egregious errors. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.
March 2, 2021
This is perhaps the most complete collection of Norse mythology and legends I have encountered, however the sagas the collector chose remain... odd. The book is essentially three books in one. Two are collection retellings of the Norse myths found in the Eddas, whereas the other is a collection of sagas from "Three Northern Love Stories and Other Tales."
We'll start with the myths as those are what many are familiar with. Since the text is essentially copying and pasting these stories from two books, why not go with the original two sources? Why pick two adaptations when you can fit in the original tales of the Prose and Poetic Eddas in the same amount of page space? If they were really ambitious, they could even combine the tales in a mix of prose and poetry to avoid retelling stories. Instead, they retell all of the stories and chose a version that seriously diminishes Loki's character. In most stories, Loki is the cause of everything bad, but also the solution. He just wants to have fun. In this they try to connect the tales by explaining his gradual fall from benign trickster to betrayed and bullied god who wants vengeance. BUT literally everyone knows exactly what Loki is doing, unless he is blatantly said to have tricked them. The best example is when he transforms into a fly to slow down the dwarves as they forge their gifts for the Aesir. In this retelling, the head dwarf knows the fly was Loki and tells his worker to avoid Loki. The Aesir also immediately know he killed Baldr and was the giantess who refused to weep, instead of him confessing to his murder and shocking the Aesir in a state of drunken rage as seen in the Poetic Edda. In short, while they had all but two stories here, it seems odd which order they chose and how they told the stories.
Now onto the sagas. The Volsungs Saga is abridged in the Eddas and is told here, also in an abridged form. This is odd as the other four sagas in this collection are told in their fullest and they are not nearly as famous. Of the four remaining sagas, Grettir and Strong and Laxdaela's Sagas are both famous and overlap with a number of other sagas, especially Laxdaela where side characters have sagas of their own. The remaining two are lesser known, which is great as this can give them more spotlight. But as a fan of Norse mythology, I can't help but wonder why these were chosen over the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok. While the saga choices make sense in the "Three Northern Love Stories" collection, as each center around love (except Grettir), they are an odd choice for a generalized collection of tales. Why have Frithiof the Bold instead of Ragnar, Egils, or even Njals or Eyrbyggja Sagas? Some are more famous, while others are connected in the way Laxdaela and Grettir have overlap. Heck, you could add another saga for a few hundred pages. Would it cost more? Probably, but I'd pay more. I like big books. #fantasyfan
All that being said, these are purely nitpicks. This is easily the best collection of Norse tales I have encountered. Is it perfect? No. Is it complete? Holy crap, no! It is near impossible to have all of the Nordic Sagas in a single volume. The fact that this included all but two mythology tales from the Eddas and five different sagas, four in their completeness, it very impressive. I only wish they gave me more. More, give me more. Give me more! If you want a complete collection of Norse mythology, this won't be it, but it is the closest thing I have encountered and is worth checking out for that alone. While the choice of sagas and questionable portrayal of the Aesir are odd (not Arrow-Odd), it is a great collection of tales with a beautiful cover to boot.
Final note: the translations used are older, so the language can be hard to grapple with, especially within Grettir's Saga. Sagas are also very hard to get through. Picture the Silmarillion on steroids.
Also if there is a complete English language collection of Nordic sagas, let me know! I want it!
We'll start with the myths as those are what many are familiar with. Since the text is essentially copying and pasting these stories from two books, why not go with the original two sources? Why pick two adaptations when you can fit in the original tales of the Prose and Poetic Eddas in the same amount of page space? If they were really ambitious, they could even combine the tales in a mix of prose and poetry to avoid retelling stories. Instead, they retell all of the stories and chose a version that seriously diminishes Loki's character. In most stories, Loki is the cause of everything bad, but also the solution. He just wants to have fun. In this they try to connect the tales by explaining his gradual fall from benign trickster to betrayed and bullied god who wants vengeance. BUT literally everyone knows exactly what Loki is doing, unless he is blatantly said to have tricked them. The best example is when he transforms into a fly to slow down the dwarves as they forge their gifts for the Aesir. In this retelling, the head dwarf knows the fly was Loki and tells his worker to avoid Loki. The Aesir also immediately know he killed Baldr and was the giantess who refused to weep, instead of him confessing to his murder and shocking the Aesir in a state of drunken rage as seen in the Poetic Edda. In short, while they had all but two stories here, it seems odd which order they chose and how they told the stories.
Now onto the sagas. The Volsungs Saga is abridged in the Eddas and is told here, also in an abridged form. This is odd as the other four sagas in this collection are told in their fullest and they are not nearly as famous. Of the four remaining sagas, Grettir and Strong and Laxdaela's Sagas are both famous and overlap with a number of other sagas, especially Laxdaela where side characters have sagas of their own. The remaining two are lesser known, which is great as this can give them more spotlight. But as a fan of Norse mythology, I can't help but wonder why these were chosen over the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok. While the saga choices make sense in the "Three Northern Love Stories" collection, as each center around love (except Grettir), they are an odd choice for a generalized collection of tales. Why have Frithiof the Bold instead of Ragnar, Egils, or even Njals or Eyrbyggja Sagas? Some are more famous, while others are connected in the way Laxdaela and Grettir have overlap. Heck, you could add another saga for a few hundred pages. Would it cost more? Probably, but I'd pay more. I like big books. #fantasyfan
All that being said, these are purely nitpicks. This is easily the best collection of Norse tales I have encountered. Is it perfect? No. Is it complete? Holy crap, no! It is near impossible to have all of the Nordic Sagas in a single volume. The fact that this included all but two mythology tales from the Eddas and five different sagas, four in their completeness, it very impressive. I only wish they gave me more. More, give me more. Give me more! If you want a complete collection of Norse mythology, this won't be it, but it is the closest thing I have encountered and is worth checking out for that alone. While the choice of sagas and questionable portrayal of the Aesir are odd (not Arrow-Odd), it is a great collection of tales with a beautiful cover to boot.
Final note: the translations used are older, so the language can be hard to grapple with, especially within Grettir's Saga. Sagas are also very hard to get through. Picture the Silmarillion on steroids.
Also if there is a complete English language collection of Nordic sagas, let me know! I want it!
March 7, 2024
The first time I’ve read this was well over 3-4 years ago and to this day it remains the most “complete” collection of Nordic tales I have ever encountered/heard of. So for that alone I appreciate it a lot, it’s essentially 3 books put into one. And the prose itself is very magical. But do I have some bones to pick with this now, mainly the bias the narrative has against Loki, while I do recognise and respect the fact that he is the most nuanced of the deities and hence peoples interpretations on him differ, I find it utterly ridiculous that the narrative tries to paint him as a big bully to the gods.
So yeah, star down for that lol. Otherwise great, recommend! (Also this book might come across as repetitive at times because the author chooses to repeat some of the stories, which I didn’t personally mind, but it can annoy some people)
So yeah, star down for that lol. Otherwise great, recommend! (Also this book might come across as repetitive at times because the author chooses to repeat some of the stories, which I didn’t personally mind, but it can annoy some people)
May 18, 2020
This was my first Norse mythology book, up until now I have read several books on Greek and Roman mythology, epic poems etc. (partly due to majoring in it in University). So I was interested to see how the Norse myths and tales would compare to them. I found the god's myths fun and interesting, however the epic tales not as interesting or attention grabbing. Also it can be a bit of a difficult read if you are not used to how it is written or the language used. Overall it was a good introduction to Norse myths.
March 21, 2020
Traditional stories. So fun to start. But the middle section is not well written, and I was not able to grind through it. Some good stuff.
May 21, 2023
The tales about the Norse gods, their existence and adventures was a very fun read. The latter part of the book contains the stories: The Story of Frithiof the Bold, The Story of Gunnlaug the Worm-Tongue and Raven the Skald, The Story of Grettir the Strong and The Laxdaela Saga. These stories (with the exception of Laxdaela Saga), are written in archaic English and a real drag to read. The makes of the book really could have done a better job to translate it more into modern English. I missed half of the stories cause I had no freaking idea what was going on. If you understand Ye Olde English, you might get some enjoyment out of this. These are 281 pages to read of these stories. The pages are bigger than your average paperback and the lettering is much smaller than many books also.
If you can easily DNF books, I would recommend this. If you need to read everything like my autistic brain does, you might want to skip this one. I hear Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman is a good read.
If you can easily DNF books, I would recommend this. If you need to read everything like my autistic brain does, you might want to skip this one. I hear Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman is a good read.
January 14, 2024
This is a bit more of a reference book than a story, and I will admit to having only read about two thirds of the book. However, I loved the sections on Thor, Odin and Loki. Norse gods and myths have so much character to them, and it was very enjoyable to read about Loki's trickery. I also gained a feeling of superiority from reading this book, because now I know where movies and shows go wrong with depicting norse mythology. My 0nly complaint was that the organization of the book was somewhat poor and it was hard to see how the different stories and gods connected when the stories were only separated by the main character in them.
June 27, 2019
Tras 9 meses de lectura medio interrumpida, finalmente termino la saga nórdica.
Es sorprendente la cantidad de referencias a novelas épicas (desde el señor de los anillos a juego de tronos, pasando por Harry Potter) que se encuentran. Incluso, para el ojo avisor, se pueden encontrar referencias a historias clásicas del cristianismo.
Realmente un libro fantástico de sagas fantásticas.
Es sorprendente la cantidad de referencias a novelas épicas (desde el señor de los anillos a juego de tronos, pasando por Harry Potter) que se encuentran. Incluso, para el ojo avisor, se pueden encontrar referencias a historias clásicas del cristianismo.
Realmente un libro fantástico de sagas fantásticas.
August 5, 2024
This should have been a DNF but I was too stubborn to not finish it. The first bit was interesting as it told the tales of the Norse gods, but the latter half was stories written in Old English. It was incredibly dry and a pain to get through. The book gets points for doing a thorough review of Norse mythology, but I just did not enjoy it.
May 18, 2025
I was really excited for this collection because I loved Norse mythology, but the way that it was written to my bitter disappointment, was immensely dry. I did really get into the last section"The End of the World" though and some other myths were quite intriguing but unfortunately not enough to make up for how boring the rest was.
April 26, 2019
I thought the mythological tales were good, but reading the more 'realistic' tales after the Sigurd Saga was about as dry as reading a religious text like the christian bible or muslim qu'aran. Still worth reading.
August 8, 2021
I became a fan of norse mythology because of this book. Beware that this is a summary of norse legends and it contains old English poems that requires a bit of time to be able to comprehend well.
P.S I became a more indulge in norse mythology especially after reading vinland saga.
P.S I became a more indulge in norse mythology especially after reading vinland saga.
February 7, 2022
⚔️A real viking needs a good viking book ⚔️
A good book to read norse mythology.
In this book, there is a nice flow to learn about Norse mythology. From the beginning of the world, who made the world to ragnarok(the end of the world) . You learn a lot about the gods in the Norse. My favorite god is Loki and his children / beasts. 🐺
A good book to read norse mythology.
In this book, there is a nice flow to learn about Norse mythology. From the beginning of the world, who made the world to ragnarok(the end of the world) . You learn a lot about the gods in the Norse. My favorite god is Loki and his children / beasts. 🐺
September 13, 2022
Would have preferred more source material for the mythology and more context for the included sagas. Could use another pass through the editing process, there are many grammatical errors, a few content errors, and sentences that just stop in the middle.
Read
June 25, 2019Innacurate rubbish!
June 28, 2019
Badly written, some of the sentences didnt make sense and at times it was hard to follow. A real shame as I do enjoy the stories from Norse mythology just not in this book
January 4, 2020
DNF about 15% due to a shit font that gave me a headache
I liked the stories, but I just couldn't actually make myself want to read a book that made my head hurt!
I liked the stories, but I just couldn't actually make myself want to read a book that made my head hurt!
June 8, 2020
These books are very dry. Only about half of the stories are interesting, hoping this isn't a trend for all of the myths books.
October 6, 2020
This was excruciating to go through.
May 22, 2025
Very well written and engaging. Mythologies of the gods were interesting, but where the book shined was in the tales such as the Laxdæla saga and the story of Grettir. Dense as all get out.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews