(5) NORSE MYTHOLOGY:

H.A. GUERBER – MYTHS OF THE NORSEMEN (1909)

“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.”

Norse mythology – or more broadly Germanic and Scandinavian mythology – is one of the best known, even outside its European continent of origin and centuries after its displacement by Christianity, with the days of the week still named in English for the Norse gods and Thor as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s highest profile characters. It is also arguably one of the most hardcore mythologies, ranking in third top spot in my Top 10 Mythologies

So of course it also scores special mention as a subject for my books of mythology. Books on the subject already feature as entries in my Top 10 Mythology Books or special mentions. There’s the first volume of Bulfinch’s Mythology, albeit not as much as classical mythology which is the predominant subject of that volume. More generally, Barbara Walker’s Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets as well as the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols have numerous entries on subjects of Norse mythology.

Myths of the Norsemen by American teacher and writer Hélène Adeline Guerber remains 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.

RATING: 4 STARS****

A-TIER (TOP TIER)