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A review by lgrunwald
Norse Myths: A Guide to the Gods and Heroes by Carolyne Larrington
4.0
4/5
After reading Carolyn Larringtons Poetic Edda translation last year I knew I had to get this little gem too. While much of it covers what was already in the poetic Edda it had so many little extra facts, artwork, and even knew reference material I want to look into that is was absolutely worth it! Carolyn Larrington just knows how to explain these complex stories in such a informative and entertaining way that I couldn't hardly put it down. If you plan on reading this I would highly advice you do it BEFORE reading the poetic Edda rather than after like I did as this introduction is immensely helpful in breaking things down before fully diving in the deep end of the full text. I just enjoyed it because I think I'm becoming quite a Dr. Larrington fan girl. Haha!
I've seen some reviews on here claiming that this is "boring" and they wanted to hear the stories and not have an academic explanation. While, I'm a little surprised some of the reviewers on Goodreads don't seem to be able to read the word GUIDE in the title and not retelling I would suggest, if you are one of these people, to check out Neil Gaimans "Norse Mythology". That would be what you are looking for. After you read that if you came back to this I guarantee you'd appreciate it more.
After reading Carolyn Larringtons Poetic Edda translation last year I knew I had to get this little gem too. While much of it covers what was already in the poetic Edda it had so many little extra facts, artwork, and even knew reference material I want to look into that is was absolutely worth it! Carolyn Larrington just knows how to explain these complex stories in such a informative and entertaining way that I couldn't hardly put it down. If you plan on reading this I would highly advice you do it BEFORE reading the poetic Edda rather than after like I did as this introduction is immensely helpful in breaking things down before fully diving in the deep end of the full text. I just enjoyed it because I think I'm becoming quite a Dr. Larrington fan girl. Haha!
I've seen some reviews on here claiming that this is "boring" and they wanted to hear the stories and not have an academic explanation. While, I'm a little surprised some of the reviewers on Goodreads don't seem to be able to read the word GUIDE in the title and not retelling I would suggest, if you are one of these people, to check out Neil Gaimans "Norse Mythology". That would be what you are looking for. After you read that if you came back to this I guarantee you'd appreciate it more.