The Norse myths loom up through the winter mists, cold and grim and wondrous. They are bleak, fatalistic tales of gods who not only are doomed but know their doom: they know exactly how they will die, and the only question is when Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods, will occur. Perhaps that is part of why the Norse myths have such power: the Norse gods live in the constant knowledge and contemplation of their frailty and mortality, just as we do.In The Norse Myths, Kevin Crossley-Holland, an English author best known for poetry and children’s literature, provides a well-written and accessible retelling of the stories of Norse mythology, one that provides a helpful introduction to the deities in whom the Vikings believed before those fearsome raiders from the frozen North converted to Christianity. Because the original sources of the mythology – mainly the Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda -- can be somewhat difficult for non-specialists to appreciate fully, Crossley-Holland’s work provides an accessible way to get to know the Norse pantheon.All the gods are here – the arrogant Odin, king of the gods, forever boasting about his conquests, both military and amatory; the thunder-god Thor, who carries a hammer like a working man and was evidently popular among the ordinary people of the Viking world; the beautiful Freya, goddess of love and beauty, desired by gods and frost-giants alike; the gentle and kind Balder, most loved of all the gods, whose tragic death will precipitate Ragnarok; and, of course, Loki, the trickster god, who over the course of the myths goes from a mischief-maker who stirs up trouble but then helps resolve it, to a truly malignant figure who wants to bring about destruction for its own sake.It is striking how often the gods of Asgard are figures of fun, put in embarrassing situations – as in “Thor’s Journey to Utgard,” in which Thor, Loki, and two human servants travel to the court of a king named Utgard-Loki, who uses magic to make the two Asgardians believe that they are in the presence of giants who hold greater power than any god. Thor is made to believe that he struck a giant three times with his hammer and failed to kill him (he actually struck the hills hard enough to make valleys); that he failed to drain a sconce-horn of ale (it was really the sea, and Thor reduced its level); that he lost a wrestling match with an old woman named Elli (she is old age, whom no one can defeat). Small wonder that Utgard-Loki tells Thor, “Do you know you were nearly the end of us all?”, and tells the thunder god that “as long as I live…you’ll never see the inside of those walls again” (pp. 92-93).Interesting to wonder if Utgard-Loki is a variant on the original, better-known Loki. So often Loki, the trickster god, is the one whose mischief creates a difficult and embarrassing situation, and who then must use his wits to restore the good, as in “The Treasures of the Gods,” wherein Loki, for a joke, cuts all the golden hair off the head of Thor’s wife Sif. Threatened by Thor with the smashing of every bone in his body, Loki goes to the dwarves Brokk and Eitri and secures for the gods their most crucial gifts, including “an iron hammer, massive and finely forged, but rather short in the handle” (p. 51) – Mjollnir, the hammer of Thor.Things turn grim in “The Death of Balder,” when Balder’s bad dreams of dying lead the gods to induce all things (they think) to promise not to harm Balder; they then enjoy throwing all manner of weapons at Balder, and watching them fall away harmlessly from the shining god of light. But Loki knows that mistletoe did not take the oath, and therefore he persuades the blind god Hod to throw mistletoe at Balder: “The mistletoe flew through the hall and it struck Balder. It pierced him and passed right through him. The god fell on his face. He was dead” (p. 154). Hermod, the son of Odin, then undertakes to ride down to Niflheim, the kingdom of the dead, to try to persuade Hel, the grim half-living half-dead goddess of the underworld, to release Balder, as when Odysseus and Aeneas visited the Greco-Roman Hades, in the classical epics of Greece and Rome.What follows then is known and foretold – Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. All of the gods know exactly what will happen to them. Thor will defeat Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent large enough to encircle the entire world, will stagger backward nine steps, and then will fall dead, fatally poisoned by the serpent’s spraying venom. Loki, released from his terrible punishment for killing Balder, and Heimdall, the gatekeeper god who guards the rainbow bridge Bifrost, will kill one another. Odin will be killed by the great wolf Fenrir, and a son of Odin will kill Fenrir in turn. The Asgardians all know what their end will be, and there is nothing for them to do but face their end with courage. How very Viking, and how suitable for a culture where the best afterlife one could hope for was translation to Valhalla, the warriors’ hall where fighters chosen by the beautiful Valkyries hack and slay one another all day, and are then restored to feast and drink all night.And yet there is a final note of hope. A man and a woman who hid in a tree and survived Ragnarok will be the sires of a new world of peace, presided over by a resurrected Balder. As in other mythological traditions, life comes out of death.Furnished with useful notes, a fine map of Yggdrasil (the World Tree that holds the nine realms of the Norse mythological world) and a helpful glossary, Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Norse Myths is a good way to get to know the grim world of the Vikings and their pre-Christian religious beliefs.
What We Learned from "Thor" (skip if you remember the movie)- The universe consists of nine realms.- The gods live in Asgard, humans live in Midgard, and the Ice Giants live in Jotunheim. - The nine realms are connected by the roots/branches of a tree called Yggdrasill.- Odin is the Allfather, or most powerful.- Thor is Odin's son and the god of thunder.- Sif is one of the warriors from the movie.- Loki is... well, you know who he is. The most cunning villain of all time.This is what Marvel showed you. But did you also know...?... the other six realms are just as interesting as the first three.- There's Alfheim, which is home to light elves.- Vanaheim was once home to a host of gods called the Vanir, until they joined the gods in Asgard (after the two realms fought a war, of course).- Another realm, Nidavellir, is home to dwarves.- The dark elves live in Svartalfheim.- Finally, there are Niflheim, the world of the dead, and Hel, realm of the dead.You can see an image of all of the realms here.... how Odin became so wise.The price might sound pretty high, but Odin was willing to pay it. He gave up his eye to drink from a spring of wisdom.... that Odin had spies bringing him news.The god kept two ravens, Huginn ('Thought') and Muninn ('Memory'), which he sent out to the other realms. And according to IMDb, you might have seen them in "The Avengers". If you didn't see them, watch it again! ;)... Thor was really for the people.Unlike Odin, who represented the higher class (nobles and warriors), Thor was the patron of the peasants (middle class).... Jane Foster didn't have a happily-ever-after after all.Thor actually married Sif, the warrior we saw in "Thor". Sorry, movie fans, I had to break it to you. :(... Thor and Loki actually were good friends - once in a while.In his retelling of the myth "Thor and Geirrod", the author notes that "Thor and Loki had a great liking for each other's company, and often travelled together through the nine worlds."(But don't trust Loki just yet. He's always up to some trick or another...)... Sif has a long history of disputes with Loki.One night, Loki stole into Sif's room and cut off her beautiful golden hair. As you can imagine, Thor made sure he received the punishment he deserved.... Loki was actually Odin's foster-brother.It's surprising but true. That would make him Thor's uncle - but not technically. He's still the son of two Frost Giants. (Personally, I prefer Marvel's family dynamics better.)... Loki's eyes can turn Christmas colors.You can always tell when Loki's scheming in Norse myths because his eyes turn different colors - usually red and green, but sometimes brown or blue.... the children of Loki were fearsome.Loki fathered a serpent, a wolf named Fenrir, and a seeress who dwells in Hel. Thor makes light of this in a joke one night, when they are walking together. "'We must at least find somewhere to stay for the night,' said Loki. 'I wouldn't care to end up as carrion.'"'Is Fenrir's father so afraid of wolves?' said Thor, and smiled to himself."... Thor's hammer existed because of Loki's trickery.Loki tricked two dwarves of Nidavellir into making three gifts for the gods. It was treachery, but if he hadn't, Thor wouldn't have received Mjollnir. Ironic, isn't it?... Thor didn't have to hold his hammer throughout "The Avengers"; he could've put it in his pocket.At least, that's what he did in the myths. The dwarf, Brokk, who made the hammer crafted it so that Thor could "make it small enough to tuck inside [his] shirt."... a Frost Giant once stole Mjollnir.It's true. A giant named Thrym took Thor's hammer and hid it deep inside the earth. In order to get it back, Thor, Heimdall, Loki (suprisingly), and some of the other gods put together a plan. I won't tell you what it is, but I'll just say that it was very unique. Thor eventually won Mjollnir back. But that's not all...The Norse Myths contains thirty-two myths full of valor, cunning, and (of course) violence. I ommitted a lot of the stories because I didn't want to spoil the fun for you. As for me...I was interested in reading Norse myths because I wanted to see how much of "Thor" was true. It turns out that there are a lot of differences, but the main themes exist in both the myths and the Marvel movie. Thor, of course, is still a protector; Loki's - well - Loki; and so on. I only wish that I'd chosen a different retelling. While Crossley-Holland relates the story in a clear, easy-to-follow manner, he himself admitted that he tweaked some of the stories. I sometimes wondered how much was true and how much he imagined himself. I also wish he had provided more details in the actual stories, instead of just in the Introduction and Notes sections.For this, I'm only giving the book 3 stars.Final Remarks- As you can tell, I love the Marvel movies. And although they're not meant to be accurate adaptations of actual mythology, I made this review because I thought it was neat how much similarity the comics have with the myths. -All of the non-movie stuff in this review comes from The Norse Myths.- I used the author's spellings, so some of the words might look different from what you remember. For instance, I think we would write 'Mjolnir', but his is 'Mjollnir.'- All of the images (except the banner at the top) are property of their respective owners. I do not claim ownership of them.
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I knew a bit about the Norse Myths before reading this book, but then I read several novels that make extensive use of them (Gaiman, American Gods; Chabon, Summerland) and realized I wanted to learn more. I liked this retelling because Crossley-Holland takes and integrates the six primary literary sources (who knew?) and creates story cycle. When I was reading, I had strong contradictory feelings of familiarity and strangeness. Some of the character motivations are ones we're all familiar with, but the stories cover unexpected nad interesting ground. I particularly like the stories that center on Loki, and began to see how a lot more of our current literary and poplular culture traditions might owe a nod to the Norse myths than you might think. In one story, Loki turns himself into a fly to sneak into Freyja's bedchamber, and then turns himself into a flea and amuses himself by crawling over her breasts. I remember an old Arty Feldman movie in which his character, making a deal with the devil, wants to be where he can always see the woman he is in love with. So the devil turns him into a fly. I wonder now if this later story doesn't owe something to Loki's predicaments when he shape shifts.
—Don Lloyd
Like so many of the folk tales and myths of a particular culture, the problem one encounters in wanting to read "the Norse myths" consists at least in part in figuring out just what tales to read, and in what order; so many of them interrelate that it can be a dizzying prospect to even know where to start. In this, then, Kevin Crossley-Holland's excellent book is nothing short of stellar. Exhaustively researched, this collection retells a series of thirty-two Norse myths - some rightly famed, others deservingly obscure - in the order that, roughly, makes the most amount of sense. (Still, earlier myths will contain the occasional reference to something that clearly happens late in the mythological cycle; such inconsistencies, the author tells us, are simply unavoidable.)The style of writing is - perhaps fittingly - sparse, but the tales themselves are compelling indeed. On more than one occasion you may find yourself surprised at not just the plot developments, but the traits and values seen in these mythic figures; these are definitely men and gods who prized different things than we necessarily do today, and an aggressive nature seems to pervade many of even the most otherwise admirable. Still, it's a collection that is as enjoyable as it is informative, and I would easily recommend it to anyone as their first stop in learning about the Norse myths of old.
—Don
A good compilation from a variety of sources. Sometimes the bits added in by Crossley-Holland annoyed me, as there was no basis for them in the myths, such as the fact that Loki's eyes kept changing colour... that was just weird. Generally the dialogue was OK, though, and Crossley-Holland does a good job of translating the humour and mood. When all's said and done, the stories are very entertaining so it would be difficult to ruin them. The introduction and the notes are excellent, lending a more scholarly air than you get with a lot of mythology compilations.
—Abi
