Norse Mythology

Neil Gaiman

Completed 3/15/2019, Reviewed 3/15/2019

3 stars

This is a collection of short stories about the Nordic gods.  The stories are based on Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda, the two existing ancient books on the gods.  I know very little about Norse mythology, and this was a good introduction to it.  It focuses on Odin, Thor, and Loki, but also has some of the other gods as well as many giants.  The book is very easy reading.  In fact, I would almost consider it YA based on the writing style.  I love Gaiman’s writing, even when he writes to younger audiences. 

Normally, when I review a collection, I give a brief description of a few of my favorites.  This time, however, none really stood out, except some of the last few, which is probably because I read them last.  All the stories were good, most containing a little humor and a lot of action.  Thor really stands out because he is a big lug who almost always wants to kill someone or something with his hammer.  Of course, Loki also stands out because he is the trickster and certainly the source of most of the conflicts and problems that occur amongst the gods. 

The stories more or less follow a time line, with the beginning recounting of the creation of the world and end about Ragnarok, the end of the gods.  We hear the stories of how Odin gained his wisdom and lost an eye and how Thor got his hammer.  Giants play a large part in the stories.  They are almost always the nemeses to the gods, even though some of them are children of giants and some have children with them.  Unfortunately, there are only a few mentions of dwarves and elves.

Despite the focus on the three gods, there is very little characterization.  I didn’t really feel that I got to know who they were, just what they did.  I don’t know the source material at all, but I’d bet there wasn’t much characterization in them either.  This is the one area where I think Gaiman could have done a better job, enhancing the characters so that they were more than mere cardboard cutouts. 

The prose is really good.  The flow of the simple language made for an enjoyable reading experience.  It’s an easy book to pick up at any time and begin reading.  I never felt like, ugh, I don’t want to read this.  Even when I was tired, I always felt like I wanted to keep reading and not put the book down.  I think it’s because each story was entertaining, even the darker ones.  When I was young, I enjoyed reading Greek and Roman mythology.  Perhaps it was the books I had available to me, but sometimes they felt so heavy handed, much like reading the Bible.  Gaiman’s touch was light and never failed to make me glad I picked up the book.

I give this book three stars out of five.  Even though I enjoyed it, at the end, my response was, “Gee, that was a nice book” rather than “Wow, that was a great book”.  I was certainly glad I read it, as I always am with a Gaiman book.  I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an introduction to the Norse gods.