Norse Mythology

by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin's son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki-son of a giant-blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Once, when Thor's hammer is stolen, Thor must disguise himself as a woman-difficult with his beard and huge appetite-to steal it back. More poignant is the tale in which the blood of Kvasir-the most sagacious of gods-is turned into a mead that infuses drinkers with poetry. The work culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and rebirth of a new time and people.

Through Gaiman's deft and witty prose emerge these gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.

• ISBN10: 1408887029
• ISBN13: 9781408887028
• Publish Date: 7 February 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 256
• Language: English
• URL: http://bloomsbury.com/

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Are you a fan of Neil Gaiman? And are you also a fan of Norse mythology – such as the lore of Thor, Odin, and Loki? In that case, this is absolutely a novel you’re going to want to check out. Norse Mythology is Neil Gaiman's take on well…Norse mythology! (duh).
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that this is less his take on the lore behind Norse mythology, and more a case of him fleshing out and compiling many of the stories he could find. In that sense, a lot of the stories in here will feel familiar. But many of them will be new as well, since Neil Gaiman went out of his way to collect as many of them as possible.

“Of course it was Loki. It’s always Loki.”

Norse Mythology was an entertaining and delightful read; an enthusiastic dive into Norse mythology, as collected and seen by the one and only Neil Gaiman. It was fascinating seeing his words flesh out these tales of lore that are so familiar to many of us. And it’s something I’m really grateful that he did.
This is probably the first time that I’ve read all of the legends in one place. It’s certainly the first time I’ve seen them compiled in such a way that they read together as one complete novel. It’s a unique reading experience, and one I would strongly suggest everyone give a chance.
I know that this was probably not an extremely in-depth review of Norse mythology as a whole – that book would be a whole lot larger. But it is an excellent starting point for many. And a charming refresher or excursion for those more aware of the lore. No matter how you look at it, this book is a fun read.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Beth C.]

Loved this book. Seriously. Now to be clear - I listened to the audio version, but I have decided that if Neil Gaiman were ever to decide to read the dictionary or the encyclopedia? I'd listen to it. In this case, it was the perfect combination of his reading and his stories that really made time fly during my commutes. Honestly, I don't often re-listen to audio, but I could totally see doing that here.

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog!

I'll keep this one really short.
Neil Gaiman is trying hard to make the best of what those Norse Myths have to offer.
Some of the stories are entertaining but - and that's not Gaiman's fault - there isn't much depth. You might learn a little more about some of the Gods but the bottom line is: if shit went down it was definitely Loki's fault.
I might be a little spoiled because all the other retellings I recently went through were Rick Riordan books. Of course, those are not merely retellings as Gaiman's collection of stories is. Riordan imbues those myths with new life, adapts and changes them. Thus, the Gods get more depth, the stories are more intricate.

[wcs53]

This book is a great retelling of a number of Norse myths. Gaiman has taken some of the source material and rewritten it in a way that makes it very accessible and enjoyable to read. He doesn't stray too far from the original tales, but adds his own style to them, sometimes with a dash of humour as well.

As I read I couldn't stop myself from seeing the major characters as the actors who portray them in the Marvel movies. This was not necessarily a bad thing, but it might have helped me as I read the book through and took note of the similarities and differences between these myths and the movies. I enjoyed these stories so much that I bought a copy of The Prose Edda so that I could read one of the original sources from which Gaiman drew his inspiration.

This book is not a difficult read and could almost be seen as an introduction to Norse mythology for anyone with an interest in this.

[leahrosereads]

I listened to this on audiobook, and Neil Gaiman did a fantastic job narrating and bringing these stories to life. I didn't grow up knowing these stories, but I'm definitely going to look into the source material now.

This was incredible, and I can only imagine what other ways these stories could be or have been interpreted.

[CrowNoYami]

I loved this! I can see myself going back to read this again soon, it was divided well and was TRUE to the mythology which is something I feared it wouldn't be. Neil Gaiman has a way of making these classic tales new again. I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the Norse and their beliefs this is an awesome book to read.

[Kait ✨]

While I enjoyed this, I found it a bit disappointing—it wasn’t as compelling as I’ve come to expect Neil Gaiman to be after enjoying [b:Coraline|17061|Coraline|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493497435s/17061.jpg|2834844] and [b:Stardust|16793|Stardust|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459127484s/16793.jpg|3166179]. It was well written but felt a bit bland at times, I think because Gaiman retold these myths as faithfully as possible. That made Norse Mythology feel like a textbook when I expected Gaiman to take a few more liberties in order to craft a more riveting narrative, and the few occasions when he did so—allowing his humour to shine through—were when the stories really hit their stride. The prologue and the last myth were my favourites simply because it felt like Gaiman injected a bit more of his personality and voice in these sections. I’d recommend to those interested in learning more about Norse mythology (though it’s not for experts), and otherwise I’d give it a pass. Definitely not Gaiman’s best work.

[nsperry92]

Get the audiobook, you won’t be disappointed. Neil Gaiman’s storytelling brings these tales and legends to life.

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

I have always loved mythology! First it was Egyptian Mythology throughout my childhood, followed by Greek Mythology in high school, and Roman Mythology in college. I've always been interested in Norse Mythology, but too daunted by it to dive in. When I saw that Neil Gaiman was releasing a retelling of Norse Myths I knew I had to have it! Stumbling across the audiobook narrated by Neil himself was even better!

First of all, it was impossible to listen to Neil read this and not imagine these guys:



Of course, there were so many other characters in these stories, but these two were by far my favorites! Embarrassingly, most everything I know about Thor and Loki comes from Marvel, so it was awesome to get so much background about the characters they're based on. Thor was absolutely hilarious! His ego is massive and I was constantly cracking up at the ridiculous ways he got out of situations (e.g. assuming a goddess would marry a giant to get his hammer back and then crossdressing instead when she refused). Loki was also a fantastic character, but (maybe not surprisingly) much more intelligent and crafty than Thor. His children were especially fascinating!

Each story was included separately and broken into chapters. They didn't necessarily intertwine like a normal novel, but there were elements that wouldn't be understood without reading previous stories. Each story could be read individually, but I do think that reading the entire book chronologically is the best way to go with this one, at least on the first read! While I've never read any of these myths before, I've read that Neil Gaiman stayed very true to the source material while expanding upon it and making it his own. All of the stories certainly had the feeling of classic mythology!

Some of my favorites:

» The Treasures of the Gods, in which Loki steals Thor's wife's hair and tries to get a replacement
» The Children of Loki, in which Odin is worried about being murdered by Loki's wolf kid
» Himir and Thor's Fishing Expedition, in which Thor goes fishing and almost sinks the boat
» The Last Days of Loki, in which I became depressed and cried a little

Neil did a fantastic job of keeping all these stories interesting, but they were still somewhat simplistic as myths generally are. There were moments when I was a little bored, I'll admit, but Norse Mythology fully lived up to my expectations! Best of all, I learned so much about the gods and locations! All of the Norse gods became fully fleshed out characters through these stories and I'm honestly a little excited to go see Thor: Ragnarok knowing so much more about this mythology than my husband! (Ha!)

As always, Neil Gaiman is an incredibly narrator! I wish so much that he'd narrate books other than his own so I could hear him talk more... I wasn't totally sure what to expect from Norse Mythology but I ended up really loving it! I definitely recommend this book (and the audiobook in particular) to any mythology lover!

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

[MurderByDeath]

Nothing really to say about this except it's fabulous.  So fabulous that after the half-way mark of the audio, I went out and bought it in print, too.  But if you have the option, I highly recommend listening to the audio.  Neil Gaiman narrates it himself, and he's... I can't imagine anyone could do it better.  Except the late Alan Rickman and the only reason he came to mind is because Neil Gaiman sounds like Alan Rickman.  At least, he sounds like a gentle Alan Rickman.   Anyway - the book.  It's a collection of Norse myths; not all of them, but as Gaiman says at the beginning these are ones that are complete (there are many fragments of other stories, apparently) and are ordered in such a way that a vague timeline is constructed: from Odin's beginnings as the All-father, to Ragnarök.    If you like mythologies, read it.  Better yet, listen to it.  It's excellent.