Ancient Norse Mythology in Modern Attire

Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology follows the tradition of the storytellers of old. His captivating voice takes you right into Valhalla, where you meet not only the entire Norse pantheon, but monsters, ogres, dwarves and giants. The prose is a terrific blend of ancient terms and modern idioms and the aural picture, he creates, is overwhelming. The analogies and similes he comes up with are unusual and brilliant and not without humor sometimes. He takes you on a ride with the Valkyries, where you meet murder, treachery, slaughter and carnal excess, but also love, loyalty and courage. After all, the Norse Gods are not too different from us.

The content and nature of the stories vary to a certain extent, some draw a picture of the nine worlds and the gods in general, some others are more like adventures of individual gods, spiced with a little bit of bragging and showing off.

In total there are 11 stories:

Mimir's Head and Odin's Eye
The Treasures of the Gods
The Master Builder
Freya's Unusual Wedding
Hymir and Thor's Fishing Expedition
The Mead of the Poets
The Children of Loki
The Story of Gerd and Frey
The Death of Balder
The Last Days of Loki
Ragnarok

Listen to them, you will not regret it.

8 Leute fanden das hilfreich

A great collection of norse stories

This is a collection of norse stories. The author made some small changes but explained those in the introduction.
If you like norse mythology you might know most of them already, but Neil Gaiman's version of the Vanir and aesir is well told and worth the listen.

My only complain is, that it felt "read" rather than "told" in certain chapters. It's hard to put in words, but that's why I "only" gave 4/5 for the narration.

7 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Nice tidbits

I enjoyed listening to both the story and the recounting. It's definitely pleasing to listen to, but personally it didn't grip me entirely.

1 Person fand das hilfreich

Unterhaltsamer Einstieg in nordische Mythologie

Ich habe Norse Mythology auf einer Zugreise durch Skandinavien gehört - das perfekte Setting ;) Die Handlung ist in mehrere Kurzgeschichten unterteilt, was praktisch war, denn so konnte ich auf jeder Zufahrt ein Geschichte anhören.

Neil Gaiman als Sprecher mochte ich. Sein Englisch ist gut verständlich, und er vermochte, jedem Charakter Persönlichkeit einzuhauchen.

Besonders häufig zum Schmunzeln
brachte mich die Darstellung Thors.

Für mich der perfekte Einstieg in die nordischen Mythen! :)

1 Person fand das hilfreich

mytholgoy.. not fiction.

No, as such it is entertaining to listen to but there is so much wrong with this Interpretation of The Edda, I can't even name it all.

Greetings,

Asatrú

Interessant, aber nicht ansprechend

Der Inhalt ist intetessant, wenn man sich für nordische Sagen & Mythen interessiert.

Aber der Autor hat für mich in der Erzählung keinen überzeugenden Job geleistet.
Man hört, dass er begeistert ist die Geschichten selbst zu erzählen, doch leidet es bei ihm an der Kompetenz diese Geschichten auch spannend zu erzählen oder Personen sprachlich gut voneinander zu unterscheiden.

Erklärt nicht soviel wie erhofft...

Mir fehlen die Erklärungen der Grundlagen, woher kommen die Menschen, wieso sollten sie die Götter anbeten, wie agieren die Götter göttlich (nicht nur als machtvolle Erdenwandler mit Eigeninteresse...)

First experience with norse mythology

This was my first experience with norse mythology besides the obvious, like God Of War and Marvel's Thor. I really enjoyed it and I was invested in the story the entire 6 hours and I had a few good laughs which is rare.
The performance was also great. All-in All, great book and a lovely 6 hours spent

Magnificent!

Mythology that is truly full of life and far from being old and dusty! Neil Gaiman tells it the way only he can and its magic simply draws you in. Full of witty competitions, trickery and epic tales.

Loved it!

Great narration and a nice, cohesive story.
A wonderful summary of the myths (from my point of view, I had only heard parts of some).