Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor and Loki (Gift books) (The Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library) (Walker Studio)

by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Jeffrey Alan Love (Illustrator)

The gods of the Vikings come to life as never before in this extraordinary illustrated anthology by Carnegie Medal-winning author Kevin Crossley-Holland and astonishing artist Jeffrey Alan Love. These dramatic, enthralling and atmospheric tales are based on the Scandinavian myth cycle - one of the greatest and most culturally significant stories in the world - and tell of Odin with his one eye, Thor with his mighty hammer and Loki, the red-haired, shape-shifting trickster. In this stunning illustrated anthology of myths, the strange world of ancient magic, giants, dwarfs and monsters is unforgettably imagined.

• ISBN10: 1406361844
• ISBN13: 9781406361841
• Publish Date: 1 November 2017 (first published 19 February 1981)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
• Imprint: Walker Studio
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[adastra]

I've been looking for suggestions for a good book about Norse Mythology for some time, and I found this in the Bibliography of American Gods (and the Sandman) on Neil Gaiman's homepage. This book is exactly what I wanted - a retelling of the Eddaic Poems in normal text / story form, easy to understand. Kevin Crossley-Holland has retold 32 Myths from collected sources, and always used the most likely source for the main story, sometimes embellishing small details from other sources.

There are all the minor stories like the Adventures of Thor and Odin and Loki, and of course the important ones, like The Creation, The Mead of Poetry, Balder's Death, The Binding of Loki and the final Ragnarök. I think the Myths are retold very well, though there's still a lack of detail sometimes (which I assume has to do with the sources). Effectively it's just a collection of various stories that have to do with the same characters.

Another good thing about this book are the notes on each Myth. The author names the sources, sometimes quotes things he left out and suggests backgrounds and inspirations with other pantheons and beliefs.