The Penguin Book of Norse Myths

We are all familiar with the Norse Gods, whether we know it or not. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are named after three of them, the Vikings occupied large parts of England and their culture was assimilated into ours. But even so, the Greek Myths seem to be held in higher esteem for the simple reason that the Victorians looked to the classical world for inspiration rather than the rather bloodier tales of our Norse neighbours.

The Norse belief that only through fame in this life would your name live on is reflected in these lusty and violent tales. The Gods are forever fighting the Giants or the Dwarfs, carousing, eating drinking and living life to the full. These are tales of Thor and his mighty Hammer Mjollnir, Odin the Allfather, one-handed Tyr, Sif of the Golden Hair and the Trickster Loki, possibly the most interesting character here.

As the tales progress (and chronology is a problem here, as in all folk-tales, with some events being mentioned before the actual tale is told) Loki moves from being a mischievous trickster to something altogether more evil and vicious. His involvement in the Death of Balder leads to the final destruction of the Gods and Asgard in the tale known as Ragnarok.

Crossley-Holland tells these tales simply and directly, using the Norse sagas as his basis and while some of the poetry and elegance is inevitably lost in translation, the book is eminently readable and a great introduction to a mythology that was still believed in by certain parts of the world into the 13th Century.

Notes on the legends are grouped together at the back of the book, quite sensibly as this doesn't interrupt the flow of the stories and one can choose to read them or not, depending on your interest.