Poetry Books
Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas
RRP: $12.95
Our Price: $7.93
You Save: $ 5.02 ( 39% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
Author: H. A. Guerber
Publisher: Dover Publications
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $7.93
You Save: $ 5.02 ( 39% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
Author: H. A. Guerber
Publisher: Dover Publications
Average Customer Rating:
Experimental feature: Order Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas from the UK, Canada, Germany or France by clicking an appropriate flag below.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 293.13
EAN: 9780486273488
ISBN: 0486273482
Label: Dover Publications
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 480
Publication Date: 1992-12-21
Publisher: Dover Publications
Studio: Dover Publications
Dewey Decimal Number: 293.13
EAN: 9780486273488
ISBN: 0486273482
Label: Dover Publications
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 480
Publication Date: 1992-12-21
Publisher: Dover Publications
Studio: Dover Publications
Editorial Review of Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas
A collection of myths that tell of the creation of the world, the deeds of such gods and heroes as Odin, Thor and Siegfried, the machinations of the evil Loki, and more. Entertaining and readable, these tales present the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian myths that have helped shape literature.
Customer Reviews of Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Good if not a bit off
Review: Exceltent book for the time it was published(1909). Though a well versed nortic reader would find the many cracks in its "Translation", it never the less is a excellent ground book for a student to get the general feel for the lore of the "norsemen". I would suggest though that you read the Edda's and sagas for yourself, this book will provide a decent starting point for intrested partys in the nortic myths.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Enjoyable if inaccurate
Review: The original publcation date of 1909 would explain why many of the tales are watered down and a Victorian morality imposed on them. The style is charming and readable, and there's a wealth of information to pursue. Guearber does some editorializing here and there, and the final chapter which attempts to draw parallels to Greco-Roman mythology was a waste of time. One clue that Guerber did not spend much time doing actual research is that she used Roman names for the "Greek" gods in that final chapter. I'm not familiar enough with Norse mythology to point out errors there, but several reviewers here on Amazon were outraged by Guerber's inaccuracy ... I consider this a good book to start a study of Norse mythology; it's an easy read, and if nothing else at least it tells you what to look for as you continue your reading elsewhere. This should NOT be your _only_ book about Norse myth. Definitely further research is needed since Guerber is not a completely reliable source herself.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Imitation Norse
Review: Beware this book.
It is apparently written for older children, but is based much on unidentified sources or the author's own imagination, and is filled with careless, factual errors.
Guerber often refers vaguely and randomly to "some mythologists", "old Northmen", "ancient Northern nations", "Northern races", "the Scandinavians", "some authorities", "some accounts" as sources, only once actually mentioning Snorri Sturluson under the odd misspelling "Snorro - Sturleson". She presents unsourced desciptions and information found in no extant medieval texts. A typical example, one of many, concerns Ægir:
"He was supposed to occasion and quiet the great tempests which swept over the deep, and was generally represented as a gaunt old man, with long white beard and hair, and clawlike fingers ever clutching convulsively, as though he longed to have all things within his grasp. Whenever he appeared above the waves, it was only to pursue and overturn vessels, and to greedily drag them to the bottom of the sea, a vocation in which he was thought to take fiendish delight."
The writing is good and makes Ægir come alive. But every detail is modern invention, whether invented by Guerber or some literary source from which Guerber took it without attribution. Guerber continues with more bogus information that Ægir married his sister. Such passages abound. This might be reasonable in a work which presented itself as a retelling and reworking of Norse mythology (yet even retellings for younger children mostly stick closer to the originals). Who "supposed" Ægir to be as Guerber presents him? What does "generally represented" mean when no representation of Ægir has ever been found? Ægir was "thought to take fiendish delight" by whom? The very passages which are least traditional are often those which Guerber most decorates with wordings that falsely suggest the information comes from extant medieval sources.
Here can be found many other unathentic details: that Bragi was son of Odin by Gunnlod, that the god Uller married Skadi, that Loki's first wife was Glut, and so much more. That last bit of information arises from Victorian scholarly speculation that Loki and the fire-giant Logi may have originally been the same. But the Loki and Logi are quite separate in surviving mythological texts. The name Glut provided by Guerber is not even Norse, but is the modern German word ''glut'' 'glow', presumably coming to Guerber via some contemporary German source as a possible translation of ''Glöð'', the genuine Old Norse wife of Hálogi or Logi (not of Loki) in Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar.
Amusingly, though Guerber does not baulk at retelling accounts of incest, she yet turns almost every male/female liason into a wedding.
The tales themselves, when Geurber does not intrude explanations, are well enough told as tales. The writing generally has a convincing and scholarly feel to it, which makes it easy for the reader to be taken in by it, knowing no better. If all you want is a good read, and do not care that large portions of this account of Norse mythology are not taken from Norse mythology and that many interpretations presented baldly as fact are either disputed or generally deprecated, then you will find nothing wrong here. But though the majority of individual statements are true enough in respect to the source texts, so much is inaccuarate or invented that the reader should take care not to cite anything found here as though it were genuine Norse mythology without first checking more reputable sources.
For those who do want to learn something about genuine Norse mythology, there are good, readible translations of the two ''Eddas'' (the major primary sources) and good, readible translations of the Völsunga saga. There are also other more modern scholarly books. And there are accounts which are more obviously children's books and which are less complete in what they attempt to present but are more generally accurate in what they do give and more openly presented as containing invention.
Guerber provides a trove of misinformation. Her analysis of the similarities between graeco-roman and norse mythology jumps between the obvious and the inaccurate. Her explanations of what the myths mean are mostly the long discarded and arbitrary solar-theories of Max Müller and his disciples, already on the wane when Guerber wrote.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Disjointed but Worthwhile
Review: I suppose that a pagan trying to use this book as a catechism might find doctrinal errors, depending on their particular denomination. Whether or not the book provides a proper interpretation of the original sources, it is a good read, a trove of information, and a particularly interesting analysis of the similarities between greco-roman and norse mythology.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Almost insulting
Review: This book does not provide any sort of accurate depiction of the Northern European mythology and folklore that many of us enjoy reading about.
Review Summary: Good if not a bit off
Review: Exceltent book for the time it was published(1909). Though a well versed nortic reader would find the many cracks in its "Translation", it never the less is a excellent ground book for a student to get the general feel for the lore of the "norsemen". I would suggest though that you read the Edda's and sagas for yourself, this book will provide a decent starting point for intrested partys in the nortic myths.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Enjoyable if inaccurate
Review: The original publcation date of 1909 would explain why many of the tales are watered down and a Victorian morality imposed on them. The style is charming and readable, and there's a wealth of information to pursue. Guearber does some editorializing here and there, and the final chapter which attempts to draw parallels to Greco-Roman mythology was a waste of time. One clue that Guerber did not spend much time doing actual research is that she used Roman names for the "Greek" gods in that final chapter. I'm not familiar enough with Norse mythology to point out errors there, but several reviewers here on Amazon were outraged by Guerber's inaccuracy ... I consider this a good book to start a study of Norse mythology; it's an easy read, and if nothing else at least it tells you what to look for as you continue your reading elsewhere. This should NOT be your _only_ book about Norse myth. Definitely further research is needed since Guerber is not a completely reliable source herself.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Imitation Norse
Review: Beware this book.
It is apparently written for older children, but is based much on unidentified sources or the author's own imagination, and is filled with careless, factual errors.
Guerber often refers vaguely and randomly to "some mythologists", "old Northmen", "ancient Northern nations", "Northern races", "the Scandinavians", "some authorities", "some accounts" as sources, only once actually mentioning Snorri Sturluson under the odd misspelling "Snorro - Sturleson". She presents unsourced desciptions and information found in no extant medieval texts. A typical example, one of many, concerns Ægir:
"He was supposed to occasion and quiet the great tempests which swept over the deep, and was generally represented as a gaunt old man, with long white beard and hair, and clawlike fingers ever clutching convulsively, as though he longed to have all things within his grasp. Whenever he appeared above the waves, it was only to pursue and overturn vessels, and to greedily drag them to the bottom of the sea, a vocation in which he was thought to take fiendish delight."
The writing is good and makes Ægir come alive. But every detail is modern invention, whether invented by Guerber or some literary source from which Guerber took it without attribution. Guerber continues with more bogus information that Ægir married his sister. Such passages abound. This might be reasonable in a work which presented itself as a retelling and reworking of Norse mythology (yet even retellings for younger children mostly stick closer to the originals). Who "supposed" Ægir to be as Guerber presents him? What does "generally represented" mean when no representation of Ægir has ever been found? Ægir was "thought to take fiendish delight" by whom? The very passages which are least traditional are often those which Guerber most decorates with wordings that falsely suggest the information comes from extant medieval sources.
Here can be found many other unathentic details: that Bragi was son of Odin by Gunnlod, that the god Uller married Skadi, that Loki's first wife was Glut, and so much more. That last bit of information arises from Victorian scholarly speculation that Loki and the fire-giant Logi may have originally been the same. But the Loki and Logi are quite separate in surviving mythological texts. The name Glut provided by Guerber is not even Norse, but is the modern German word ''glut'' 'glow', presumably coming to Guerber via some contemporary German source as a possible translation of ''Glöð'', the genuine Old Norse wife of Hálogi or Logi (not of Loki) in Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar.
Amusingly, though Guerber does not baulk at retelling accounts of incest, she yet turns almost every male/female liason into a wedding.
The tales themselves, when Geurber does not intrude explanations, are well enough told as tales. The writing generally has a convincing and scholarly feel to it, which makes it easy for the reader to be taken in by it, knowing no better. If all you want is a good read, and do not care that large portions of this account of Norse mythology are not taken from Norse mythology and that many interpretations presented baldly as fact are either disputed or generally deprecated, then you will find nothing wrong here. But though the majority of individual statements are true enough in respect to the source texts, so much is inaccuarate or invented that the reader should take care not to cite anything found here as though it were genuine Norse mythology without first checking more reputable sources.
For those who do want to learn something about genuine Norse mythology, there are good, readible translations of the two ''Eddas'' (the major primary sources) and good, readible translations of the Völsunga saga. There are also other more modern scholarly books. And there are accounts which are more obviously children's books and which are less complete in what they attempt to present but are more generally accurate in what they do give and more openly presented as containing invention.
Guerber provides a trove of misinformation. Her analysis of the similarities between graeco-roman and norse mythology jumps between the obvious and the inaccurate. Her explanations of what the myths mean are mostly the long discarded and arbitrary solar-theories of Max Müller and his disciples, already on the wane when Guerber wrote.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Disjointed but Worthwhile
Review: I suppose that a pagan trying to use this book as a catechism might find doctrinal errors, depending on their particular denomination. Whether or not the book provides a proper interpretation of the original sources, it is a good read, a trove of information, and a particularly interesting analysis of the similarities between greco-roman and norse mythology.
It is not an engaging read, in the sense that it is not presented as a saga itself, and thus the demarcations between subjects are dramatic. I suppose that this book falls somewhere between "encyclopedia of norse mythology" and "norse mythology for beginners."
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Almost insulting
Review: This book does not provide any sort of accurate depiction of the Northern European mythology and folklore that many of us enjoy reading about.
Not only does this book not provide an accurate translation of many of the tales and gods, but the author combines the stories with his own unfounded opinions of the religion.
He says numerous times in the book that the ancient Icelanders never actually believed in any of the tales they told, that everything was simply a story, and their pseudo-religion proves that.
In addition he refers to them as "Aryans." Considering this term didn't come about until the psychic Madam Blavatsky started using it in the late nineteenth century, and it wasn't even an accurate term, I found it a bit confusing and annoying.
I simply could not refer a worse and more inaccurate book to read on this beautiful subject.