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Five Fascinating Retellings of Norse Mythology

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Five Fascinating Retellings of Norse Mythology

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Five Fascinating Retellings of Norse Mythology

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Published on August 16, 2023

"Ragnarok" by Louis Moe, 1891
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"Ragnarok" by Louis Moe, 1891

Interest in all things Viking-related has really boomed over the past decade. This is probably due, at least in part, to the popularity of the History Channel’s Vikings television series, which in turn rode the coattails of Game of Thrones’ success. But the whole theme has been steadily building momentum for much longer. In the early 2000s, The Lord of the Rings films brought Norse imagery to an unprecedented number of moviegoers, while around the same time, Bernard Cornwell penned the first volume of his Saxon Tales, which was eventually adapted for television and lent the entire series its name: The Last Kingdom. And that’s to say nothing of the 20th century’s offerings—though, aside from Tolkien, those tended to be more peripheral than the releases that we’re seeing more recently.

The latest strands are now quite multitudinous and range from the critically acclaimed historic fiction of Linnea Hartsuyker and the best-selling fantasy novels of John Gwynne to the big-budget motion picture The Northman, to the crude and quirky Netflix humor series Norsemen, to the influential musical albums of Amon Amarth and Wardruna.

While all of these examples involve some degree of inspiration from (and often feature direct allusions to) the Norse myths, actual retellings of the mythology itself tend to pop up less frequently. In the world of books, two prominent retellings have been released in the past ten years: Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, which is a very straightforward recap of the standard mythological arc, and Genevieve Gornichec’s The Witch’s Heart, which relates the same general arc but from the unique perspective of a female protagonist—a minor character in the original stories who becomes the heroine of her own tale in this version. Both of these books provide a solid entry point to the world of the Norse myths—particularly the stories contained in the Icelandic Eddas, which remain our foremost medieval sources on the subject. If you enjoyed either Gaiman’s book or Gornichec’s book or both, and are interested in going deeper into that mythological world, then the following five novels are very much worth your attention.

 

War of the Gods by Poul Anderson

Poul Anderson was an author best known for his science fiction as well as for his role as a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, but he also wrote a number of fantasy novels directly inspired by Norse history and mythology. War of the Gods is the most blatantly mythological of these—it is essentially a novelization of the life of the legendary Danish hero, Hadding, who predates the more famous Hrolf Kraki by several generations and appears early in Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum (one of the few major non-Icelandic medieval sources of Norse mythology and ancient folklore).

Set against the backdrop of the mythical Aesir-Vanir war, War of the Gods fleshes out Saxo’s violent, action-packed story of Hadding from his early youth being raised by giants, through his encounters with Odin and years of warfare and adventure, to his eventual and highly ritualistic death. Anderson relied heavily on the research of French philology and religion scholar Georges Dumézil in his construction of the book, and consequently, Njord, the god of the sea, plays a very big role in it. War of the Gods is incredibly entertaining and offers a great gateway to the mythological tales that exist outside of the Icelandic Eddas.

 

Rhinegold by Stephan Grundy

Rhinegold is a retelling of the Old Norse Saga of the Völsungs by Stephan Grundy, a scholar of Germanic paganism and leading figure within the Asatru faith during his lifetime. Incorporating additional details from the German Nibelungenlied and Thidrek’s Saga and taking the form of an epic, heroic fantasy novel, Rhinegold is a multi-generational saga that focuses on Sigurd the Dragonslayer, who also appears in the Icelandic Eddas (although outside the main narrative arc of both). This is the ancient story that inspired Wagner’s Ring Cycle and many elements of the work of Tolkien. Partial retellings of the story have been tackled previously (as evidenced by Diana L. Paxson’s Wodan’s Children trilogy) and since (as evidenced by Kate Heartfield’s forthcoming The Valkyrie).

Grundy’s version, which is sadly now out of print, is unique in following the entire narrative arc of The Saga of the Völsungs—not just the ill-fated Sigurd/Brynhild/Gudrun love triangle. The setting is Western Europe during the Migration Period, when the Germanic tribes were on the move, Rome was sliding toward ruin, and Attila the Hun lurked as an ever-present threat in in the east. Taking on his alternative name of Wodan, Odin appears on a recurring basis throughout Rhinegold, just as he does in the original sources, to pull the strings of the mortal heroes and heroines. Featuring swan maidens, a gold-hoarding dragon, magical swords, valkyries, sinister dwarves, werewolves, twisted acts of revenge, ill-fated love—Rhinegold provides a rousing rendition of one of the original blueprints for all of these now-classic fantasy genre tropes.

 

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris

The lightest and probably best known book on this list, The Gospel of Loki is a novelization of the standard mythological arc—so, in that sense, similar to Gaiman and Gornichec’s novels—but, as its name suggests, retold from the point of view of the trickster god, Loki. As with Grundy’s Rhinegold, this is not actually very unique in and of itself, because at least one other book with this same premise was published prior to Harris’ effort: Lois Tilton’s Written in Venom, which is now out of print and incredibly hard to find. That said, Harris, who is best known for Chocolat, does a wonderful job with the material. Her characterization of Loki really carries the day; it’s just great fun reading the familiar tales—such as the crafting of Thor’s hammer or the binding of Fenrir—from his colorful perspective. A sequel exists, The Testament of Loki, which continues the story and mythical theme, but it veers into entirely author-invented, post-Ragnarök territory.

 

Children by Bjørn Larssen

The first volume in Bjørn Larssen’s grimdark Norse mythology-based fantasy series, Children is a fascinating amalgamation of original characters and plotlines set against the backdrop of the core mythological stories. The book follows Magni, son of Thor (attested to in the old sources) and Maya, foster-daughter of Freya (Larssen’s invention), and their individual exploits as the familiar myths—such as the theft of Thor’s hammer and the building of Asgard’s wall—unfold around them, influencing their actions and behavior. In that sense, Children is something of a story within a series of stories.

Other novels that draw directly upon the Norse myths typically adopt one of two approaches: they either retell some aspect of the mythology which thus forms the backbone of the resultant book’s plot (and is elaborated upon as the author sees fit), or they eschew any real attempt at an actual retelling in favor of focusing on the author’s own invented plotline while simply incorporating select gods, events, places, etc. from the old sources as desired. Children is highly unique in that it performs a balancing act that embeds the author’s inventions within and concurrent to a broader sequence of retellings, and it does it very well.

 

The Hurricane Party by Klas Östergren (translated by Tiina Nunnally)

The Hurricane Party is the most fantastical book on this list—and that’s because it’s actually more of a Nordic noir-meets-science fiction novel rather than a fantasy novel. Set in a despair-ridden, climate-ravaged future version of Stockholm, The Hurricane Party focuses on the Icelandic Poetic Edda’s tale of “The Flyting of Loki,” a scene of exchanged insults and confrontation between Loki and the rest of the gods and goddesses that paves the way for the eventual coming of Ragnarök.

Östergren, a prominent literary novelist in Sweden who has not enjoyed the same degree of success outside of his home country, introduces Hanck Orn, a character of his own invention, as the protagonist. Orn is the father of the ill-fated Toby (known to those he worked with as Fimafeng—the name of a minor figure from the old sources who is slain at the scene of Loki’s flyting). The grief-stricken Orn investigates his son’s death amidst the societal decline, religious extremism, and government corruption of dystopian Stockholm as he gradually makes his way towards the scene of the crime itself—Aegir’s hall. It is a very atmospheric and very effective retelling, set in a grim, futuristic world that feels more and more relatable to our own.

 

Rowdy Geirsson is the author of The Scandinavian Aggressors and translator of The Impudent Edda. His writing has appeared in McSweeney’s, Metal Sucks, Scandinavian Review, the Sons of Norway’s Viking Magazine, and is forthcoming in Medieval World: Culture and Conflict. He skulks under the shadow of the dead blue bird at @RGeirsson.

About the Author

Rowdy Geirsson

Author

Rowdy Geirsson is the author of The Scandinavian Aggressors and translator of The Impudent Edda. His writing has appeared in Scandinavian Review, the Sons of Norway’s Viking Magazine, Medieval World: Culture and Conflict, History Today, Metal Sucks, McSweeney’s, and a slew of other humor websites. You can find him on Twitter at @RGeirsson and Instagram at @rowdygeirsson.
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12 years ago

I totally agree, but I have a feeling I will be in the minority. It’s not that him falling in love with the holographical representation is unforgiveable – I think many people have preconcieved notions of people that we fall for (although I did also find it a bit creepy). But the fact that, once faced with her feelings towards it he then throws it in her face and makes it about HER behavior!! And while she was certainly blunt, she was never mean. And even if she was, that’s beside the point. After the last episode with somebody usign sex-as-blackmail to help somebody escaped (we watched these two back to back) I was squicked out.

I really would have liked to see more consequences, or at least him realizing exactly why what he did was creepy and why she felt offended by it, even if his motives weren’t as bad as she thought they were, and he did ultimately realize he was just seeing what he wanted to see.

As for the other subplot, I liked it, but it made me really sad, heh. Especially because they never rule out the idea that these could be sentient (although I suppose Deanna would have said something). But my son was weaned a few months ago (sooner than I wanted to) so it kind of struck a cord, ha!

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12 years ago

Oh, and my husband had fun imagining what the conversation with Leah and her husband at the end of the episode was REALLY like. “OMG, there is this creepy engineer on this ship, I can’t wait to get home!”

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12 years ago

ugh, I just went and re-read the Booby Trap episode, and I forgot they kissed. CREEPY!!!!

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12 years ago

Lisamarie@2, your comment makes me want to go write a fanfic about that conversation.

“The engineer on this ship is a real sicko. And I just had to pretend to be friends with him!”

“That’s awful, honey. Perhaps when you get home I can give you a nice backrub…”

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Bruuuuce
12 years ago

Nuts; I just lost a private bet with myself (I had the over/under for the word “creepy” or variations on it at ten, and you only managed nine in the post :-)

I can’t see how La Forge didn’t wind up facing charges for his holosimulation once Brahms discovered it. He’d probably have been exonerated (because it DID save the Enterprise), but in a paramilitary organization, that bit of creepitude deserves at least an administrative hearing. Compounded by his childish behavior and projection, I’d say he’s inordinately fortunate to have retained his commission, much less his post as Chief Officer of the flagship.

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12 years ago

Gotta say you ranked this too high. This is one of the worst episodes in any Trek series. I can’t give it a lower rating than the clip show but this has to be a 1 of 10. Brahms reaction in the second half of the episode would be equivilent to Troi being all lovey dovey with the Ullian in Violations. What makes these two Brahms episodes even worse is the implication that these two get together in the end. Awful.

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Matt Doyle
12 years ago

Agreed. It was more or less fine up until the point where she confronts him with his behavior, but how they handle that is outrageous. LaForge and only LaForge is at fault, and not calling him out on it is reprehensible, taantamount to an endorsement of stalking.

However, at a guess, I would say (pessimistically) that this behavior doesn’t get any official reprimand because it simply can’t be uncommon. If public computer databases contain a level of personal information about celebrities sufficient for the holodeck to create plausible simulations of them… Barclay and Geordi aren’t going to be the only ones in this situation.

Many socially awkward, lonely people would regularly turn to the holodeck for fantasies of sex, romance… even just friendship. Star Trek: Voyager deals more with the ramifications of this (in what is arguably the best facet of Voyager — the way they explore the mental state of the crew through their use of the holodeck is extremely engaging), but what’s lacking, anywhere, is a sign that Starfleet recognizes and addresses the potential for abuse in any systematic way. there ought to be Academy courses on holo-ethics, with an emphasis on marking that line between fantasy and reality and keeping people from displaying this kind of entitled bullshit. Even just a throwaway line indicating some kind of sensitivity training (and signing Geordi up for a remedial course) would have helped a lot.

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John R. Ellis
12 years ago

I have to admit, they totally dropped the ball with this one. This is a case where the Star Trek Main Character Morality Shield ™ should have been lowered and Geordi should have been raked over the coals.

Even as a teen, the big rant by Geordi about how “I was trying to be NICE” (yeah, nice based on an extended romantic fantasy) left me feeling ill.

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12 years ago

Isn’t this the episode where the voices are completely unsynched with the actors’ lips? The part where Geordi is shouting at Leah is so painful to watch because the synch is absolutely glaring.