tolkientalker 's review for:

The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths by Padraic Colum

4.0

---

This book is pretty stinking awesome. But that is too generic to say honestly. From a literary standpoint, it's best compared to (though certainly not above) the works of J.R.R Tolkien. In fact, I wonder if Tolkien was influenced by some of these norse myths. Similar to the style of the Simarillian though the chapters are a little shorter and more fast paces---think of a mythology anthology of short stories. Tragic in the sense that you know the fate of everyone from the introduction (one of those that tells the end first before the book makes its way toward the climactic end. Yet even KNOWING the melancholy ending, it's still has the effect of pulling on the heart strings. Also, the Legend of Sigurd and Guthren(sp?) can be found in this book as well which I believe was a story that Tolkien translated and adapted into a novel too (which I have yet to read but now really want to.) Anyway, good book. Fun read.