(11) H.A. GUERBER –

MYTHS OF GREECE & ROME / MYTHS OF THE NORSEMEN (1908-1909)

 

“Hélène Adeline Guerber…also known as H.A. Guerber, was an American writer of books, most of which were lively retellings of myths, legends, folklore, plays, epic poetry, operas and history.”

There are scant details about H.A. Guerber herself, apart from being an American teacher and writer – even though her books, mostly retellings of myths or legends such as The Myths of Greece and Rome, remain in print as classics. Of course, her occupation as teacher would account for her books being accessible to children, as they were for me.

Her Myths of the Norsemen is one of my favorite books for Norse mythology – and a vintage one at that. It owes its status as my favorite to being one of two books I first read to learn about the Norse myths as a child – the other being Bulfinch’s Mythology, but to be honest this did it better, not least because of its exclusive focus and the art plates throughout the book. It still boggles my mind that they had this vintage book in my school library – although one advantage of its vintage publication is that it is freely available online.

The full title of this book is Myths of the Norsemen from the Eddas and Sagas – and Guerber shows her own poetic sense in the book:

“Northern mythology is grand and tragical. Its principal theme is the perpetual struggle of the beneficent forces of Nature against the injurious, and hence it is not graceful and idyllic in character, like the religion of the sunny South, where the people could bask in perpetual sunshine, and the fruits of the earth grew ready to their hand.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)