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I have to admit, I find the whole Nordic/Viking thing very fascinating,
and I have grown quite fond of the Nordic Gods and Goddesses and their legends.
I find them much more personable than the Greek/Roman ones, who were forever fighting amongst themselves, were filled with lust, jealousy,
arrogance, and often just plain nastiness (a lot like people, huh?). But the Nordic gods
embraced the valiant traits of humanity. For the most part, they were loving and compassionate, to humans and each other; they had a sense of morality and
integrity, they were vulnerable and far less than perfect, and they valued bravery and strength. (Except for Loki, who is the bad apple in the barrel.) It
is easy to perceive the Vikings as crude barbarians who pillaged, raped and killed just for the fun of it, and for their own selfish greed. However, those
who behaved in that manner did not follow the true code of ethics as becomes a Viking in the most noble sense of the word. That is what made a great
impression to me as I read this book.
Though many of the stories are the same ones as in
Norse Mythology: Great Stories from the Eddas, I
liked this collection much more for several reasons. It is much more readable, in a language that one could read to even younger children, yet it
is in no way childish or childlike—it is just very clear. There are stories in Norse Mythology that I found a bit
confusing, but in this one, almost everything made sense. This one also goes beyond the gods in Asgard, and includes other tales, which suddenly brought
light into literary/musical mysteries which confounded me for decades, such as
who the Valkyries were and what they did. (Wagner's operas were based on the
German version of these Nordic Tales.) (OK, so I was a keyboard major—I didn't
do much with opera!) In any case, I found this book thoroughly enjoyable to read. And I also appreciated the fact that there was a
pronunciation guide to all proper names that appeared in the stories, and those Nordic names can be a real challenge!
One unexplainable aspect here, and I believe it is just this particular
Dover edition, is that on the last twenty pages or so, suddenly there were lots of typos, incongruent tenses, and sentences that seemed to have been inserted
by mistake or carelessness. It was very strange, but took up such a tiny portion of the book that I would certainly still recommend it for its
excellence. Probably the only confusing aspect (chronologically speaking) here was that after the main body of tales, which included the death of Balder and
the punishment of Loki, we moved to the next body of tales about offspring of Odin (the All-Father), who are apparently not gods, but kings,
Vikings and human heroes, and I wasn't sure if these human stories succeeded the ones about the
gods, or were set during the same time period. They have quite a different character, and in many, Odin appears disguised as an old man to help those in
need. Balder is no longer a living god of light, but a statue, powerful just the same. It ends, as in Norse Mythology,
with the triumph of the Frost Giants, who freeze the world for six seasons, and all in Asgard (the home of the gods) are destroyed, including the Tree of Life (Yggdrasil).
I believe this was probably based on an ice age which struck the planet. There are twenty-five stories in this book, but I did not classify it as a story
collection, because they are all related—more like chapters.
Here are a few of my favorites:
How a Giant Built a Fortress for the Asas
Asas are another word for gods, those who dwell in Asgard. The gods did
not trust nor get along with the Giant race. Heimdall guarded the Rainbow Bridge which one was required to pass over to reach Asgard, but it was
determined that a fortress was also needed. So, presently a huge man showed up who called himself a Master Builder.
He said he would build the fortress, but his payment must be the sun, moon, and
beautiful Freya as his wife. Odin's opinion was to send the man away, but the deceitful Loki talked him into hiring the Master Builder by giving him
conditions to receive his wages that he could never fulfill. And that was that the three-and-a-half years it would take to build the fortress must be condensed
to one winter. If, on the first day of summer, even one stone was out of place, he would not be paid. Unfortunately, the Builder (whom we know, of course, was
a Frost Giant), had a horse named Svadilfare, who could drag the huge stones and raise them on his forefeet. Thus, it appeared that the fortress would be built
in time after all. However, Loki (called Red Loki in this book) one night enticed Svadilfare by changing himself into a pretty grey mare, frolicking into
the meadow. As the Master Builder realized what happened with his horse, the first day of summer dawned. In anger, the Frost Giant threatened to tear down
the fortress and other buildings, but just then Thor, who had been absent, tore across the Rainbow Bridge in his goat-drawn chariot, and struck and killed the
Giant with his mighty hammer (which is thunder).
HowThor's Hammer was Lost and Found
This one has a nice element of humor! It seems that Thor's hammer,
Miölnir, is missing. Red Loki goes to investigate, and finds that the Giant Thrym
had stolen it, and buried it at the bottom of the sea. His bargain for returning it is the hand of Freya in marriage. When Red Loki tells this to
Freya, she is so enraged that she breaks the necklace of stars she is wearing; (that is why we sometimes see shooting stars). So Loki convinces
Thor to dress as a woman, disguised as Freya, and Loki does likewise as her handmaiden. Loki
is embarrassed that Thor isn't very feminine at the banquet, as he eats an ox, eight salmon, a plate of cakes, then drinks two barrels of mead. Loki explains
to Thrym that the excitement of marriage had kept her from eating for eight days, and makes other excuses for Thor's inability to play his part. But eventually,
the hammer is presented, and once that happens, Thor pulls off his veil and
kills Thrym and his giant guests. Then he and Loki return to Asgard.
The second section, as mentioned above, is a series of stories about the
descendents of All-Father Odin, beginning with Sigi, who won the lordship over the Huns. His son Rerir had a son Volsung, who
founded a great family. His beautiful daughter was joined in marriage to a cruel Gothic king, Siggeir. When
her son Sinfiotli was born she sent him to her twin brother, Sigmund to be raised as a Volsung. Sigmund married Hiordis, but was killed. Hiordis, however,
was already pregnant, and though she remarried, Prince Alf, who became king of
Denmark, she bore Sigmund's son, Sigurd. Odin gave him a horse, Greyfell,
offspring of his own horse, Sleipnir, and together they walked through the flames that protected Brunhild, the Valkyr, while in a trance. She awakened and
they fell in love. But their union was not to be, because sorcery kept them apart. In fact sorcery is a major element of all these tales of valor, bravery,
courage, deceit, evil and everything that makes for great fantasy adventures. This is a really great, fun and thoroughly entertaining collection, and I
highly recommend reading it.
The painting below is by Richard Doyle, entitled "The God Thor and the Dwarves," (1878).
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