Viking Folktales

The World's Greatest Myths and Legends

by Jake Jackson (Editor)

Character-forming moral fables, Viking and Nordic folk and fairy tales take the magic of the natural world and combine it with the practical common sense of the everyday. Good folk are rewarded for their hard work, the honest and the faithful are valued by the treasured tales from Hans Christian Andersen, such as 'The Little Match Girl', and less well known stories such as 'Katie Woodencloak' (a Norwegian Version of Cinderella) by Asbjørnsen & Moe are some of the heartwarming pieces in this new selection for the modern reader.

FLAME TREE 451 : From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and robots, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales, ancient and modern gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic.

Genres: Mythology

256 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2021

About the author

SF and dark fantasy author but also a writer/creator of practical music books - Beginner's Guide to Reading Music, Guitar Chords, Piano Chords, Songwriter’s Rhyming Dictionary and How to Play Guitar. Other publications include Advanced Guitar Chords, Advanced Piano Chords, Chords for Kids, How to Play the Electric Guitar, Piano & Keyboard Chords, Scales and Modes and Play Flamenco. Also editor of Mythology books 

Released EP Jakesongs on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, LastFM, etc and on CDBaby. Lifelong passion for fantastic worlds of any kind, from movies to fiction, art to music, posters, album and paperback book covers.

Jake Jackson is the artist name for Nick Wells, Publisher of Flame Tree Press / Flame Tree Publishing.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of folk tales and fairy tales. From the title I was expecting a greater focus on the Norse gods or tales involving vikings, but the vast majority of stories are standard fare for any collection of European folktales. Even among those, it seems like there was almost no screening process- several virtually identical stories are included, sometimes one immediately following another. This would be fine if there was a commentary justifying their inclusion or an explanation of the differences (i.e., why is it significant that story x started this way and story y this way but both followed roughly the same track the rest of the way). The editorial sections themselves are brief, which is neither a pro nor a con.

There are a handful of good and/or unique stories in this set, but since the vast majority can already be found in larger collections I can't recommend it unless you're just starting out in the fairy tale world.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book as it was Scandinavian cultural fairytales.
I learned that Scandinavian brownies are called nisse.
I found all of the stories new, although there was mention of the Brothers Grimm. I found I enjoyed most of the stories. I did switch off after 150 pages as the stories were very similar to one another.
As with all myth or fairytales there was a human element, and a rule of three. Also the illogical logic of characters following set rules in order to being about events. I feel that as all the character, prince or pauper had to be human rather than god which contrasts with Norse myths, in the same series.
The Lindworm story was grotesque and marked a turning point.

What I had thought might happen is that the geographical origin of the story would be distinguished, as in Celtic fairytales. However, this book was published in 2021. I hope to learn more about Scandinavian myths and tales.

[Jonn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not recommend this book. While I only made it about 1/2 way through, I recognized many of the stories from having read them other places; and the “translation” is REALLY bad and incomplete sentences. The translations are horrible, it is difficult to understand in several places and I would not know what they were trying to say if not for the fact I have read many of these else where- horrible writing, do not recommend at all.

[mads hockmuth · Rating 1 out of 5]

ok you know what i didn’t even get 100 pages in but i’m marking it as read because THE EDITOR IS INCOMPETENT AND PASSAGES GET REPEATED OVER AND OVER WORD FOR WORD. it’s just so messy and convoluted i felt like i was having a stroke everytime i picked it up. i understand why this book was like $3 oh it’s garbage. it’s unfortunate tbh

[Dean Patient · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this, at all. It wasn't necessarily the book's fault, but as someone who isn't nordic, I didn't resonate with the stories at all. They all seemed to follow the same pattern (some boy leaves his family, meets a princess or witch that tells him to do some thing, cuts the head(s) off some giants, repeat 3 times and marry the princess and get the kingdom. So yeah, not a fan

[Rebecca Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! The stories were familiar and I loved the intro to each chapter—well done! Much better than the Egyptian book!

[Sean Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok