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A collection of myths that tell of the creation of the world, the deeds of such gods and heroes as Odin, Thor and Siegfried, the machinations of the evil Loki, and more. Entertaining and readable, these tales present the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian myths that have helped shape literature.Tags
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Member Reviews
I'm not a scholar of Norse Mythology but I loved this book. A lot of the information is the same as what I've gotten from the Prose and Poetic Eddas, with a few exceptions. It's important to remember that the original printing of this book was for 1909 and some things have probably been proven untrue or dismissed in that time, but I found 95% of it to be an accurate and well written account (so far as my own knowledge goes).
Aside from the text, the book is GORGEOUS. It's faux leather hard cover with gold embossing, a ribbon bookmark, gold edged pages and is full of black and white art. It's the most beautiful book I own.
5/5 would buy again.
Aside from the text, the book is GORGEOUS. It's faux leather hard cover with gold embossing, a ribbon bookmark, gold edged pages and is full of black and white art. It's the most beautiful book I own.
5/5 would buy again.
This book is very informative though you can tell that it is written by a Christian who seems to deem any sort of old, polytheistic religion as a bit barbaric and stupid. Most of the time this did not get in the way of the book, but occasionally what seems to be her personal opinions on this type of religion/belief system make their way into her writing.
I'm not a scholar of Norse Mythology but I loved this book. A lot of the information is the same as what I've gotten from the Prose and Poetic Eddas, with a few exceptions. It's important to remember that the original printing of this book was for 1909 and some things have probably been proven untrue or dismissed in that time, but I found 95% of it to be an accurate and well written account (so far as my own knowledge goes).
Aside from the text, the book is GORGEOUS. It's faux leather hard cover with gold embossing, a ribbon bookmark, gold edged pages and is full of black and white art. It's the most beautiful book I own.
5/5 would buy again.
Aside from the text, the book is GORGEOUS. It's faux leather hard cover with gold embossing, a ribbon bookmark, gold edged pages and is full of black and white art. It's the most beautiful book I own.
5/5 would buy again.
This book is terribly outdated, and skews toward Christianity more often than not, but is a good primer for someone who doesn't know where to start with Norse mythology. It lays out all the gods, discussing their stories and how they connect to one another. It should be taken with a grain of salt, like many other books from this time, and should definitely not be treated as any scholarly source.
I found this book on Project Gutenberg and decided to read it before reading some Icelandic sagas so that I wouldn't be completely lost. For someone who had little knowledge of Norse mythology this was a good book to get an overview of Norse gods and mythology. I have seen some reviews that have stated some facts in this book are not correct but since I am far from an expert on this subject I cannot comment on that. I was pleasantly surprised to get to read about Aslaug and Ragnar Lothbrok as I was not expecting them to be in this book (even the teeny bit that they were). I really enjoyed that the author sprinkled quotes from the sagas throughout this book. One thing that I felt might be interesting to some but was completely show more unnecessary to me was the comparison of Norse mythology to Greek mythology at the end. Quite frankly it just felt like filler and was boring. I think I would have liked it more if the author would have used the Greek names for the Greek gods instead of the Roman names. Now that I have more knowledge of Norse mythology I am looking forward to reading some Icelandic sagas. show less
While the Norse myths are interesting, I can't help but think that this is probably not the best book on the subject. As is fairly common for late 19th and early 20th century scholars--from what I've read at any rate--the author comes across as rather condescending. The introduction, which I assume is by the author, was so pompous I only read a few lines of it before I put the book down and didn't pick it up again for over a year, and even then I skipped the introduction.
Folklorist Helene Adeline Guerber brings to life the gods and goddesses, giants and dwarves, and warriors and monsters of these stories. Ranging from the comic to the tragic, these legends tell of passion, love, friendship, pride, courage, strength, loyalty and betrayal.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Nordische Mythologie
- Original title
- Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas; Myths of Northern Lands (1895) (1895)
- Alternate titles
- Tales of Norse Mythology; The Norsemen: Myths and Legends
- Original publication date
- 1909
- People/Characters
- Odin; Firgga; Tannhauser; Eastre; Thor; Sif (show all 25); Fenris; Idun; Loki; Thiassi; Frey; Freya; Heimdall; Jarl; Norns; The Dises; The Valkyrs; The Swan maiden; Balder; Torghatten; Siegfried; Brunhild; Ingeborg; Sigurd; Fafnir
- Important places
- Asgarrd
- First words
- Although the Aryan inhabitants of Northern Europe are supposed by some authorities to have come originally from the plateau of Iran, in the heart of Asia, the climate and scenery of the countries where they finally settled h... (show all)ad great influence in shaping their early religious beliefs, as well as ordering their mode of living.
- Quotations
- I know that I hung
On a wind-rocked tree
Nine whole nights,
With a spear wponded ,
And to Odin offered Myself to myself ;
On that tree
Of which no one Knows
From what root it springs.
-... (show all)-Odin's Rune-song (Thorpe tr.) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Such are the main points of resemblance between the mythologies of the North and South, and the analogy goes far
to prove that they were originally formed from the same materials, the principle differences being due to the local coloring imparted unconsciously by the different races. - Original language
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genre
- Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 293.13 — Religion Other religions Norse Mythology Mythologies Mythology--Germanic religion
- LCC
- BL860 .G79 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Religions. Mythology. Rationalism Religions. Mythology. Rationalism History and principles of religions European. Occidental Germanic and Norse
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 1,953
- Popularity
- 10,794
- Reviews
- 10
- Rating
- (3.79)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 67
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 31
