Nordic Gods and Heroes

Rating:
Summary: Great Read for All Ages, Both as Mythology and Storytelling
Review: A little background on myself: I have a degree in Folklore, and as such, I have far more than a passing familiarity with the Norse myths. Looking for a refresher course, I picked up Padraic Colum's NORDIC GODS AND HEROES.

I was utterly enchanted.

What Padraic Colum has written is a far cry from the dry overviews typical of books with similar titles. Rather, he has rewritten several of the major Nordic myths in a style reminiscent of the Eddas themselves. This is not a translation of the songs sung by the ancient Norsemen - it is a reinvention of them. A reinvention that captures their lyric beauty and makes it fresh.

What the reader is left with, then, is the stories themselves, stories that are no longer ancient and musty, but timeless and magical. The characters leap off the page (with the help of Willy Pogany's intricate, dynamic illustrations) as would characters from any classic fantasy novel. Odin, Thor, Loki, et. al. are no longer relegated to the basement of a museum as artifacts, but are vital and alive as they ever were.

This book is not just recommended as an introduction to Norse mythology - although it certainly works very well as such. This is recommended as an entertaining story for anyone, most especially, I mention these days, to those who are fans of Tolkien's original LORD OF THE RINGS novels. (Remember, Tolkien was trying to write a new Norse saga, after all.) Reading Colum's take, you'll discover Tolkien was branching off an incredible source.

Rating:
Summary: I'm happy to see this back in print
Review: I first read this in elementary school, and I always had fond memories of it as it was my introduction to the subject (plus a few Thor comic books). Colum gives a straightforward presentation of the Norse myths. There are no mind-numbing discussions on the culture behind the stories or "the power of myth", just enjoyable tales, including the Ring saga. Pogany's many illustrations are primarily done in clear and crisp linework. 4 "plates" are included, basically color paintings from the early editions, but here in black and white - as a result, they look very cloudy, but nice nonetheless.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the Best Introduction
Review: I liked this book because it is very accessible. For childeren and young adults this may be the best introduction to Nordic mythology. This book contains no bibliography, index, or glossary, yet its emphasis on the basics is also what is makes it attractive. Every story is preceeded by a black and white graphic that represents the main idea or characters of that story.

The book is divided into four parts. The first is concerned with the stories about the Nordic pantheon and the daily interaction betweens gods and giants. The second part focuses on Odin and his travels and accomplishments. The third part focuses on Locki, the most crafty off all dwellers in Asgard. The fourth and final part sets up for the twilight of the gods and presents a resolution at Ragnarok. I definitely recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Breath of Old, Cold Air
Review: It all happened before the world began, and the gods involved are all dead, to boot. Odin, and Thor, and Freya - the whole lot of them - are gone, long gone. But still, we do have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday...

It is probably best, when talking of the gods and heroes of a people, to elevate one's tone a bit. And yet the tales must retain drama, and some humanity must stick to these wraiths, or there is no story. So the language cannot be too reverent or the whole thing becomes plodding and foreign.

Padraic Colum strikes just the right note, it seems to me, in these connected tales that lead up to the world-destroying-and-recreation event of the Northern peoples, the Fimbul Winter and the Twilight of the Gods. His words are evocative and rhythmic, a bit old-fashioned, and he slips in, matter-of-factly, the strangeness of that world of heroes, giants, and dwarfs, where not only the people but their things have proper names. But contributing equally to the telling are the illustrations - particularly the line drawings - of Willy Pogony. (As Alice says, what is the use of a book without pictures?) And these pictures match and amplify the text so well because they seem limnings of a magical reality, suggested in a sparse vocabulary of line that lets imagination have free play.

The whole book is lovely. It's a Dover book, with creamy pages, good binding, and a combination of print and display faces that add to the effect of the illustrations and prose. And it is a tale, really, not a reference work of Nordic myths, thanks be to Odin!

Rating:
Summary: The Gods are fallible!
Review: Nordic mythology has been generally portrayed as moody and depressing, with evil defeating Asgard during the Twilight of the Gods. According to Padraic Column the battle was a draw with the Giants and their allies being destroyed as well.
Column also begins his account with the aftermath of the battle with a new world springing from the old, a much better world.
For me, the most impressive aspect of Column's book is the fallibility of the Norse gods. Odin cheats the builder of the wall around Asgard out of his payment. Loki kills an otter who turns out to be a blacksmith's son. Odin pays him a bounty by stealing a dwarf's treasure, which leads to the eventual destruction of Asgard. (One of the rings has a curse on it.)
I was also rather surprised by the Loki character. I had always thought that he was more mischievous than evil, similar to Coyote in Native American mythology, but in Column's account, after the theft of the treasure, Loki deteriorates into a truly evil entity, marrying the witch Angerbora who gives birth to Fenir the Wolf, the serpent Jormungand, and a third entity called Hela, the withering of all life.
But they are all destroyed and in the end we are left with Lif and her mate Lifthrasir, Adam and Eve characters, awakening in the forest where Odin had hidden them. There is a new son and a new moon and new gods, Vidar and Vali, sons of Odin, who find tablets the older gods have left, telling of all that happened before the Twilight of the Gods.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This book is a fabulous read. It was my first book I read on the subject and I loved it and now I'm looking for more books on the subject. Its well written, and flows very well. I like the tone of the writings, and how the translation seems to attempt to keep to the original stories as much as possible. I'm not an expert on the subject yet, so I cant give any account on the renditions here versus other versions; though I did look at another larger book last time I was out and and it seemed to have longer versions of a handful of the stories and some of the spellings of names were different. All in all, this is was a most enjoyable book and if nothing else, a great introduction to the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction
Review: This book was purchased with the intent to serve as an introduction to, of course, Nordic Gods and Heroes. This book introduces one to the Gods of Norse mythology, and tells the stories of the land of the Giants, Gods, Dwarves, and Men. Colum, using simple language and timeless storytelling, does a superiour job with this.

There are four parts to this book, each part containing 8 - 12 stories about the Gods. Each story is about ten pages long, and focuses upon the actions (and re-actions) of a God to certain situations. Throughout the book, various Gods keep appearing, and each lives up to their persona. For instance, Loki, who is the god of mischief and cunning, appears throughout the book as outsmarting other Gods and attempting to fix the problems he has caused.

This book was written (according to the copyright) in the early part of the 20th century. Despite its age, though, the stories remain readable and easy to understand. Colum's language is, at times, archaic and occasionally confusing, but overall clear. Colum adequately - even surpassing expectation - bridges the gap between modern readers and the ancient mythology of the Nordic cultures adroitly.

Without a doubt, this is the singularly most useful (and thorough) introduction to Nordic mythology.

Rating:
Summary: A book worthy of Odin himself!
Review: This was an excellent book and well worth the price. The stories were very readable and exciting and the illustrations were a great addition. If you want a great book on the stories of the Norse gods this is the one!