Norse Mythology: Tales of the Gods, Sagas and Heroes

by Abbie Farwell Brown, Sarah Powers Bradish, Mary E. Litchfield

Many of the stories from Norse mythology have been handed down through the centuries in the oral tradition and most derive from Iceland. This thrilling collection of tales will transport readers to the realms of Asgard, where the gods such as Thor, Odin and Freya live, and Midgard, the home of humankind. Together, they form the cosmological tree of Yggdrasil.

Genres: Mythology

336 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2019

About the author

Abbie Farwell Brown was born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 21, 1871. Her family resided in New England for ten generations, and Brown spent her entire life living in the family's home. She was the oldest of two children. Her sister, Clara, was also part of the literary world; she became an author and illustrator, using the pen name of Ann Underhill.

In 1886, Brown received the honor of valedictorian of the Bowdoin School. When she went on to the Girls' Latin School, she was one of the founders of the school newspaper, The Jabberwock. Still being published by the school, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the United States. From Girls' Latin School, Brown went to Radcliff College in 1891.

It was during her time at Girls' Latin School that Brown began contributing her writing pieces to magazines, launching her career. In 1900 she published her first children's book, The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts. In addition to stories, Brown also produced poetry for children. Her poetry for adults was not as successful. Writing song lyrics was also part of her accomplishments. The official song of the Girl Scouts of the USA, "On the Trail," was written in part by Brown.

Literary life was important to Brown, and she became a member of various literary clubs and did editing work.

Brown passed away on March 5, 1927 from cancer. She was 55 years old.

from https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poe...

Reviews

[Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tales of the Norse Gods are good, though they don't seem to be in order in some cases. For example, Thor has his hammer in a few tales before the origin of the hammer is told. Oddly enough, Ragnarok is presented as a prophecy of Odin's rather than an actual event. I suppose this makes sense since who'd be around to tell the tale once it has happened.

The second half of the book is less good. The stories are fine, but it seems to read more like a history. X was a good king, had many sons, went out to conquer, was smitten with maiden Y and married her, had more sons who were brave; lather, rinse repeat. And everyone seems to be named Thor-something or Sigurd. Important in the overall Edda, I'm sure, but not much in the way of exciting storytelling.

[Anoek Pastoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading the edda stories in this book and everything about the gods and the goddesses. It was the first book I read about norse mythology. I couldnt really go through the last part of the sagas. Many stories were very long and I couldn't figure out all the names and it felt very confusing sometimes to remind them. But over all it's a good book when you want to learn more about the mythology.

[Marilyn Vermeulen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying the stories and am wondering about my Norwegian roots. The book is intriguing and inspiring me to read more Scandinavian books.

[Alan Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference work, but is a little tedious reading, not as interesting as such a colourful subject could be.

[Mackenzie Semig ☻ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to learn about mythology and religion so this book was perfect for me!

(80% of this was Loki tweaking out and messing everything up)

[Nathalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t get myself to finish this one. The first part was good but the last part was tough to get through. Some stories were also told in a non chronological order which made it unnecessarily confusing. Maybe I’ll try and finish the last 100 pages next year or so.

[Harper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me quite the time to unravel the intricacies of the not-so-modern English of this book.

📷my ig