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Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he presents his fashioning of the primeval Norse myths into a novel, which begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds, delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants, and culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people. Gaiman stays true to the myths while vividly recreating the characters--the gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to dupe others, and their tendencey to let passion ignite their actions--and making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.--… (more)
themulhern: The one is a fine retelling of Norse mythology, the other is humorous fantasy based on Norse mythology. So they compliment each other nicely. And both are written rather cleverly.
Pretty faithful retellings of some canonical Norse myths. Gaiman's retellings are accessible and well-crafted. He seems to have a soft-spot for Loki, the trickster figure, and most of the humour in this book relates to Loki's slyness. If anything, after reading the original source material I was hoping Gaiman would take some more liberties with his tales, but he never varies far from the path. This would be a great place to start if you are looking for a gentle entry point into the world of Norse mythology! ( )
Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology" was one of the first ,of my personal, deeper dives into the norse mythology.The pacing of the book is rather quick, but the way Neil weaves the stories together makes it easy to read and understand. I've found myself hooked on the journeys and adventures of the gods immediately, finished the book in 3 days and was left wanting for more. Light and quick read , highly recommend if you find yourself itching for some of the norse mythos. ( )
The tales are so entertaining: Loki's sassy mouth gets him in trouble as often as it gets him out of trouble. And it clarified my uncertainty about who was the bigger god: Odin or Thor. Thor actually is shown to be a little slow on the uptake at times. Odin isn't the only wise person in this collection, however, and it was great to be introduced to more of the old Norse pantheon. For the most part, women don't have an active role, and even the Norns are only briefly mentioned, which is not to say there aren't any important women. Hel, ruler of the dead, is a woman. Loki's shapeshifting includes becoming a woman at times. We get hints of an upcoming apocalypse, and the last chapter describes it: Ragnarok, the final destiny of the gods. Or was that truly the end? We are also told at one point that the gods can come back to life.[return]The first 2 chapters describe the various worlds, who the gods/giants/dwarves/elves are and sometimes how they were created. It was kind of dull, and I was afraid the whole book would be like that, but Gaiman jumped right into the action in chapter 3. ( )
Introduction It's as hard to have a favorite sequence of myths as it is to have a favorite style of cooking (some nights you might want Thai food, some nights sushi, other nights you crave the plain home cooking you grew up on).
Many gods and goddesses are named in Norse mythology.
Quotations
Last words
Balder will smile, like the sun coming out, and reach down, and he will move his first piece.
Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he presents his fashioning of the primeval Norse myths into a novel, which begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds, delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants, and culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people. Gaiman stays true to the myths while vividly recreating the characters--the gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to dupe others, and their tendencey to let passion ignite their actions--and making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.--
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Wikipedia in English
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