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Norse Mythology
- Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Introducing an instant classic - master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a dazzling version of the great Norse myths.
Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales. In Norse Mythology, Gaiman fashions primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds; delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants; and culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people. Gaiman stays true to the myths while vividly reincarnating Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin's son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, the son of a giant, a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator. From Gaiman's deft and witty prose emerge the gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.
Critic Reviews
"Neil Gaiman's retelling of Norse myths is destined to become a classic for both his sure-footed stories and his captivating performance.... The tales seem timeless, and Gaiman's melodic narration so strongly echoes the oral tradition of myths that it's as if the narrator has stepped out of the stories themselves." (AudioFile)
"In 'Norse Mythology,' Gaiman brings voice to the old myths so viscerally that listening to the audiobook every night for a week, I thought my bedroom might explode into Valhalla.... In fact the entire Norse pantheon, including dwarves and giants and demons, plays out as vividly as a novel or film.... Hearing the great myths spoken in a language from my present with a trace of ancient history physically broke me open, Gaiman's voice bringing the characters to life." (The New York Times Book Review)
Featured Article: The Best Neil Gaiman Listens of All Time
"I make things up and write them down"—that’s how Neil Gaiman has humbly described his work. And he must be pretty good at it too, because many, many people count themselves as fans. He’s written novels, short fiction, nonfiction, comic books, books for children, graphic novels, films, and audio dramas in genres from mythic fantasy to horror. With so many Neil Gaiman works to get through, here's what you won’t want to miss in audio.
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What listeners say about Norse Mythology
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-05-19
Great book
I loved this book. Full of great stories. Would recommend to anyone even remotely interested in Norse Mythology.
45 people found this helpful
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- William Taylor
- 05-10-18
As good as it gets without the old texts
Neil Gaiman nails the old tales in this book. If you're looking for great stories, impressive mythical storyscapes and a good time stop here and spend some time with the Norse Myths. Dwarfs, fallen gods, heroes, Thor's hammer, loss, sorrow, triumphs - it's all there.
Love the Gaiman not only provides a forward where he explains his love of the Norse Myths, but that he narrates this one himself - his passion comes through in the telling. Also, as someone who has read direct translations of the original codex I'm pleased to report Gaiman stays true to the best records we have while updating the telling to be compatible with modern English - the old language can be very difficult to follow when translated literally. You'll thank Gaiman for bringing the language up to contemporary standards for you.
If you are interested for either educations purposes (i.e what are the real myths, not the pop culture versions of Thor, Odin or Loki) or for the love of some good stories you won't be disappointed.
315 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-05-19
Living words
I love books read by the author. Their spirit and intent make the words live.
23 people found this helpful
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- Kevin Kopp
- 10-07-19
Very Vanilla
I was hoping to hear some of the darker stories of the Norse Gods, but I was disappointed. Not bad, but not good. It was not for me.
23 people found this helpful
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- Elisabeth Carey
- 03-01-18
Enjoyable retelling of Norse myths
Neil Gaiman says he first encountered the Norse myths in the pages of Marvel Comics. I first encountered the Norse Myths in the pages of school textbooks. I later discovered livelier versions, and he later discovered more complete versions, truer to the original sources.
One important difference is that Gaiman is an excellent writer, and he became interested in researching the myths and presenting them to new generations in a form both true to the sources and engaging for modern readers.
Or, in this case, as is most appropriate for ancient myths, listeners.
In his introduction, he discusses what we do, and tantalizingly, what we don't know, about the Norse gods. We know Odin and Thor and Loki, the Norns and the giants, and others, but there are also gods for whom only and some bare details remain, with no surviving stories to retell.
Both his words and his reading of them breathe life into the stories we have. None of the Norse gods are simple and straightforward evocations of merely a few traits, nor are they what we'd consider fully rounded characters. They are, nevertheless, compelling, especially with Gaiman, an excellent oral storyteller as well as an excellent writer, reading his own retellings of their tales.
It's a very good few hours' listening.
Recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
59 people found this helpful
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- Keith
- 12-10-19
Less Game of Thrones and More Aesop’s Fables
I thought this book would have more of an edge to it. Maybe something more in line with gory Greek myths or disturbing biblical tales. Instead, Norse Mythology is essentially a kid’s book. The stories are stripped down, bare bones, little to no detail. It is somewhat entertaining, but listening to tale upon tale about Thor’s strength, or about Loki’s mischief, you start to crave something with a bit more nutritional value. These tales are great for fourth and fifth graders, but I think a lot of adults will get bored quickly.
I found the best section to be the intro. I was more interested in hearing Neil Gaiman talk about the myths then actually telling the myths. I’d prefer if the entire book was in that format, with a heavier focus on how the myths shaped the culture and vice versa. The final chapter was also interesting, but by that point, it was too little, too late.
The best part of this audio book was the narration. Gaiman remains my favorite narrator-who-is-also-the-author. With a weaker narrator, I would have returned the book, but Gaiman's narration worked great with the material.
18 people found this helpful
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- Jefferson
- 02-24-17
A Comedy-Tragedy of Gods Giants Dwarfs & Monsters
Near the end of the only romantic happy ending story in Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology (2017), Gaiman makes a brilliantly ironic aside: "Their wedding was blessed, and some say their son, Fjolnir, went on to become the first king of Sweden. He would drown in a vat of mead late one night, hunting in the darkness for a place to piss."
In his introduction, Gaiman says that "I've tried my best to retell these myths and stories as accurately as I can, and as interestingly as I can. . . . I hope that they paint a picture of a world and a time" of "long winter nights" and "the unending daylight of midsummer," when people "wanted to know . . . what the rainbow was, and how to live their lives, and where bad poetry comes from." He achieves his aims.
Gaiman also explains what fascinated him as a boy about the myths: they are full of tragic heroes and villains "with their own doomsday: Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods, the end of it all." In both Norse and Greek mythologies the gods and goddesses are powerful, flawed beings who embody human traits or forces of nature and give appropriate justice or unexpected trouble, and who appear in stories that feature origins, metamorphoses, and ethical messages on hospitality, oath keeping, and the like. But in the Greek myths, the main gods and goddesses just keep going.
Gaiman first introduces the three main "players" of the myths: Odin ("highest and oldest of all the gods," the wise, far-seeing, "all-father"), Thor (the thunder god, son of Odin, strongest, simplest, and most violent of the gods), and Loki (blood-brother of Odin, the supreme trickster, father of monsters, maker of an interesting but unsafe world). He relates the creation of the nine worlds and gods and giants. And then he tells thirteen stories. (Though they should be read in sequence, each story can stand alone, for Gaiman repeats a few details when referring to something in a later story that he's already introduced in an earlier one.)
The first two tales ("Mimir's Head and Odin's Eye" and "The Treasures of the Gods") detail how Odin got extra wisdom and how Loki staged (and interfered with) a magical artifact competition between two teams of dwarves. Then follow an assortment of violent comedy fantasy stories like "The Master Builder" (a reckless bargain, an amazing builder, and some cross-species conception), "Freya's Unusual Wedding" (the theft of Thor's hammer and some comical cross-dressing), and "Hymir and Thor's Fishing Expedition" (an outrageous tall tale). Interspersed among those are an origin story "The Mead of the Poets" (war + spit + blood + honey + dwarves + sex + eagles = mead and bards), an ominous story "The Children of Loki" (the fates of Loki's monstrous kids), and a love story "The Story of Gerd and Frey" (even a god may fall in love with a giantess). Ending things are a tragedy ("The Death of Balder"), a punishment ("The Last Days of Loki"), and an apocalypse ("Ragnarok").
Before Norse Mythology, I read the beautifully illustrated D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths (1967) for children. I found that the humor, violence, imagination, pathos, and plots are essentially the same in both, but that Gaiman gives more emotional, psychological, and physical detail. For example, what the D'Aulaires write in one sentence ("The mead made the gnomes feel so grand that they recklessly killed an old jotun, and when his wife came looking for him, they slew her too"), Gaiman develops for pages. Gaiman adds to the myths his own vision and "joy and creation."
Gaiman writes more violence, scatology, and sex than the D'Aulaires do, as when he recounts Thor doing what he does best ("Methodically, enthusiastically, one after the next, Thor killed all the giants of the waste, until the earth ran black and red with their blood"), or Odin escaping as an eagle ("Odin blew some of the mead out of his behind, a splattery wet fart of foul-smelling mead right in Suttung's face, blinding the giant and throwing him off Odin's trail"), or Odin seducing a giantess (nude bodies and nuzzling). His renewal finale, when golden chess pieces representing the gods, Loki, and the giants are found lying scattered in the grass, is more numinous and less Christian than the D'Aulaires'. He also belongs to the contemporary villain revision trend, making Loki and some monsters (like his children Hel and Fenris) a little more understandable and sympathetic than do the D'Aulaires.
In dialogue Gaiman writes a few jarring modern idioms, like "The temperature was all over the place" and "What kind of woman do you think I am?" And he tends to overuse fairy tale superlatives (e.g., "the gods drink the finest ale there ever was or ever will be" vs. the original Poetic Edda's "And now the gods/drink good beer").
But his writing is wonderful. His style features rich Norsy alliteration and description, like "a murky mist that cloaked everything hung heavily." He writes apt and evocative similes, like "She laughed as loudly as a calving glacier." He's often funny, e.g., "He tossed them [a pair of nefarious dwarfs], still bound and soaking, into the bottom of the boat, where they wriggled uncomfortably, like a couple of bearded lobsters." He writes a terrifying apocalypse: "The misty sky will split apart with the sound of children screaming." He's a master of the neat parenthesis, like, "(that was Naglfar, the Death Ship, made from the untrimmed fingernails of the dead)."
Gaiman is in fine fettle reading his audiobook. His Loki, Thor, Fenris, giants, and ogre lord are great. His wit, enthusiasm, and pauses and emphases are engaging. When a pretty giantess says to Odin, "my father would get quite irritable if he thought that I was giving away his mead to every good looking stranger who penetrated this mountain fastness," Gaiman pauses archly after "penetrated" to make us expect "penetrated his daughter." He paints aural illustrations the equivalent of the D'Aulaires' wonderful pictures. Listening to Gaiman's audiobook was a pleasure.
412 people found this helpful
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- V. Bolliger
- 05-21-19
it s a nice anthology but lack the epic touches
it is interesting, but the characters were a bit flat... the performance also isn't best... Neil is not my favourite narrator
19 people found this helpful
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- Christopher Doebler
- 02-13-18
The True Tales of the Norse Gods
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
It really captures the most detailed versions of the Norse God myths in an easy to follow and entertaining way.
What other book might you compare Norse Mythology to and why?
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, as they are both collections of stories depicting larger than life characters.
Which scene was your favorite?
When Loki tricks the Dwarves into creating the most amazing items we know today as Norse symbols.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Loki cutting off the hair of Thor's wife in her sleep. I could actually feel the pain in that act.
Any additional comments?
I love Norse mythology but this book captured it so well, I will buy the hardcopy and read it as bedtime stories to my son when he is old enough to understand me. It is that good.
44 people found this helpful
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- David S. Mathew
- 07-22-17
Welcome to Valhalla
I didn't know much about Norse Mythology, aside from Marvel comics, so I decided this would be a good crash course. Suffice it to say, I got my money's worth. The stories collected in here are absolutely glorious. If you at all like mythology, you owe it to yourself to check out this volume.
As a bonus, Neil Gaiman is just as fantastic a narrator as he is writer. What more could you want? Beyond highly recommended!
188 people found this helpful
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- Maud-Ellen Berge-Venter
- 05-20-17
fabulous!To be heard again and again! And again!
The kids loved it too! Great for the whole family! Gaiman is pleasant to listen to :-)