A review by cj_jones
The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion by Daniel McCoy

4.0

I'm doing research for a novel, and after two disappointing attempts I was pleased to find The Viking Spirit. As I was doing my research, I kept ending up on McCoy's web page. Finally I figured I'd better just buy the book. The first section is about culture and setting, which really made reading the second section, with the various stories, much more enlightening. The first thing I learned is that there is no Norse Canon. Between the fact that it was largely an oral tradition and that the people were spread out over such a wide area, there are a number of variations. As Christianity grew in influence, there was a tendency to further alter the stories to fit the new paradigm, and culture today tends to want a consistent and continuous mythos so the stories bend a little further again. Um. And that's it.