Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Published: 2018
Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
Length: 06:29 (304 pages)

I’ve never really gotten into any mythology. I’ve enjoyed some of the stories in the past, but the names and details just never seemed to stick. Most of what I knew of the Norse myths going into this sadly came from Marvel movies. This is the first time I’ve read an actual retelling, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A few months ago, I started to play the new God of War game. The story in the previous iterations of the game dealt with figures from Greek mythology, but this one makes the switch over to Norse mythology. I saw someone mention on Twitter how God of War and Norse Mythology really compliment each other, and it really is the perfect pairing. I loved reading about the myths while also spending time in the game’s world. Reading about characters I was interacting with gave the story a lot of depth, and seeing just how much of the myths they incorporated into the game, while being able to identify where they changed things up for gameplay purposes, was fantastic. Not knowing the origin of the World Serpent, or the story of why Brokk & Sindri crafted Thor’s hammer, or why a braided mistletoe arrow may be cause for concern to some won’t ruin the game, but all of these small pieces of backstory and context just make for a much richer experience.

Being able to visualize the different worlds within Norse mythology, and encountering all of these different characters, also enriched the reading experience, so the benefit went both ways. Neil Gaiman narrates this audiobook, and it perfectly suits his narration style. The tone and pacing of his everyday speech, and of his writing, is already reminiscent of someone reciting tales from an ancient time, so there’s no surprise there.

I really enjoyed this. It’s a modern retelling of the myths, but it still feels like ancient stories. This isn’t a reimagining with Thor and Loki sharing a condo in current day New York. This is the old myths, told as they were, with Gaiman adding his touch to the storytelling. Many of these stories are quite funny, and they’re all surprising and interesting in their own ways. As quirky and depraved as we see ourselves in this modern time, we sometimes forget that we’ve always been this way. I mean, Loki transforms into a mare, gets mounted by a stallion, and gives birth to an eight-legged horse. And that was just another year in his life. Loki fathers/mothers quite a lot of odd offspring in these tales, actually.

I think I might give Stephen Fry’s Mythos a read at some point this year too. I’m interested in reading other culture’s myths, and Greek mythology permeates so much of popular culture that it would be a great next step, I think. Also: Stephen Fry.