Just to pick a bone with one of my fellow reviewers, I think Crossley-Holland made the right decision in putting his, rather extensive, notes in a section of their own, after his rendering of the myths themselves. Crossley-Holland's primary achievement is to structure these tales, mostly drawn from the Prose Edda, into a sequential narrative, at least as much as is practicable. To arrest the flow would undermine this accomplishment. References to page numbers where the appropriate notes can be found, as Crossley-Holland has done, seems to me a fine solution to the problem. Good show! ( )

The Penguin Book of Norse Myths re-tells a range of the myths emerging out of northern Europe and famously recorded in the sagas. With the Gods as primary characters - Loki, Odin, Thor, Freyja etc - the tales are an insight into a long expired culture that held storytelling in high esteem. Crossley-Holland prefaces his story cyle with a thorough introduction and the book concludes with useful notes to help the reader's understanding of the context.

Many of the famous myths of the Norse are told in as chronological order as possible leading up to the most famous of them all - Ragnarok. Crossley-Holland takes much of his work from Snorri Sturlson who was writing in 13th century Iceland. Crossley-Holland's translation makes frequent reference to Prose Edda but also includes earlier sources. The translation itself is easy to read and several wise decisions to aid the flow have been made.

I do have two issues though - the first is that the notes section comes far too late in the book. I appreciate that adding in notes after each tales would risk disrupting the flow but as a left to right reader I was not looking to scroll to the back of the book and so read the notes en masse when I reached that point. The structure would have been improved by having those notes inserted at the right place.

The other issue will probably be more controversial to other reviewers and readers - the stories themselves are just not that great. The Gods change character frequently and cross over each other's jurisdictions. I'm less fussed about the chronological inconsistencies but what is left of the ancient myths is insufficient. Crossley-Holland alludes to a merger of some kind between the War Gods and Fertility Gods but by the time the sagas are written much of the context therefore the depth has been lost.

Crossley-Holland decides to include a couple of poems that are merely genealogical lists. These he acknowledges as being hard going and they are not really all that interesting to a lay reader - not knowing the kinglists of ancient Germanic/Nordic domains makes the lists inaccessible.

Reading in English also presents a problem as the poetry is clearly lost at points. The rhyming and intonation disappear making the quality of the wording itself decline. While I can imagine the song that the words once produced, they do not have the same effect in modern English.

Having been controversial though, there is much to praise about the book. I particularly enjoyed the introduction that set the scene for the tales. The insight into the culture is fascinating, the role that the Gods play and their struggles demonstrate the values and cultural signifiers that lay over northern Europe. The reconstruction by Crossley-Holland of this legendary story cycle will be hard to surpass and for anyone interested in the subject is well worth enjoying. ( )

I read this book at the request of my mother, who has an avid interest in all things norse. She read it in the appropriate scholarly manner, reading the footnotes and lengthy introduction.

Me, I just read the stories themselves as a simple diversion. I looked at it the way I do with all fiction -- judging plot, characters, world-building, etcetera. So of course my view of the myths is that of a complete ignoramus, and I doubt I'm the right person to go about reviewing it.

However, I enjoyed it. It was a quick, easy read with an extremely original style of gods, especially when compared to the greeks...

I most enjoyed the adventure stories with Loki and Thor. I often wished those had been elaborated on, and more often still I longed for some solid world-building. Did all the dwarves have to be greedy pigs? Did all the gods (except for Thor, Odin and Loki) have to have interchangeable personalities? And I didn't buy Loki's abrubt turnaround from backstabbing troublemaker to out-and-out murderer.

I realise it's very easy for me to complain about this book, because I read it with a different set of expectations than most and I just kept seeing what could have been fine stories never properly thought out.

But I think it's probably a good set of retellings for someone truly interested in the norse myths, as it's clear, concise (except for the trivia games the gods and giants seem to love challenging each other to) and comfortable to read, not at all lofty or grand. I'm just not the right person to review it. ( )

The best tellings of any mythology I have ever read. The first stories sound like translations, but as the book gets underway Crossley-Holland finds his own voice and the characters come alive. Loki is given a development from mischievous to malignant that makes dramatic sense. ( )

This is a great little compendium of Norse stories. I also think this is a great place to get started if you're interested in learning more about the Norsemen and their culture and mythologies. ( )