Norse Mythology (2017)
Norse Mythology is a 2017 fiction book written by Neil Gaiman.
Gaiman gathers the old Norse tales and tells them straight through, from the first frost to the fire of Ragnarok. Odin trades an eye for wisdom and hangs on the world tree to win the runes. Thor swings his hammer and, on occasion, loses it. Loki talks his way into trouble and back out again, blood-brother to the gods and their eventual undoing. Rather than footnote the sources, Gaiman shapes the myths into a single arc with a storyteller's ear, giving Asgard's quarrelsome, gullible, hot-tempered gods the momentum of a novel while keeping the flavor of the sagas.
Quick answers
What is Norse Mythology about?
Gaiman gathers the old Norse tales and tells them straight through, from the first frost to the fire of Ragnarok. Odin trades an eye for wisdom and hangs on the world tree to win the runes. Thor swings his hammer and, on occasion, loses it. Loki talks his way into trouble and back out again, blood-brother to the gods and their eventual undoing. Rather than footnote the sources, Gaiman shapes the myths into a single arc with a storyteller's ear, giving Asgard's quarrelsome, gullible, hot-tempered gods the momentum of a novel while keeping the flavor of the sagas.
When was Norse Mythology published?
Norse Mythology was published on 12 November 2024.
Who made Norse Mythology?
Norse Mythology was written by Neil Gaiman.
Similar books
A few thoughts on Norse Mythology
The 2018 God of War sends Kratos through this exact pantheon, and its sequel walks straight into Ragnarok. Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok borrows the same cast in a far lighter key, with Loki's scheming front and center. For a bleaker Norse mood, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice drowns its heroine in the myths' fear, grief, and hard northern light.
Kratos, Thor and the old Norse pantheon still throwing punches
Gaiman's retelling keeps Odin scheming, Thor swinging his hammer and Loki talking his way in and out of trouble. God of War, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Thor: Ragnarok, Thor: Love and Thunder and Valhalla all keep that same rowdy pantheon in motion, gods who solve problems with strength, trickery and the occasional bad decision.
Modern fantasy series that send young heroes into the Norse afterlife
Gaiman shapes the old sagas into a single storyteller's arc, and these series send new heroes straight into that same world of runes and Valhalla. The Sword of Summer, The Ship of the Dead, the Hotel Valhalla guide and Two Ravens all build modern adventure directly out of Odin's hall and the roads leading to it.
Primary sagas and scholarly retellings behind the Norse myths
Gaiman worked from the old sources rather than inventing new ones, keeping the flavor of the original sagas intact. The Prose Edda, Our Fathers' Godsaga, The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, Icelandic Magic and Don't Know Much About Mythology all sit closer to that same well, the actual texts and histories his retelling draws its shape from.
Gaiman's own mythic universe, from tricksters to fading old gods
Norse Mythology sits inside a much bigger project of Gaiman's, gods and tricksters recurring across his other fiction. American Gods, Anansi Boys, Smoke and Mirrors, The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Odd and the Frost Giants all draw from that same well of myth, reworked into new stories with a consistent, distinctive voice.