Hubbard, Ben Norse Gods & Myths Illustrated

Heroes and Legends of the Vikings

Viking mythology is still alive in popular culture today: everyone knows Thor, the Norse god of war; Ragnarök, the great battle at the end of the world in which many gods and heroes perish and the earth sinks into water; the tragic love story of Siegfried and Brünnhilde, which is at the heart of the music and operas of German composer Richard Wagner; the characters of the trickster Loki, the eight-legged horse Sleipnir of the great god Odin, as well as elves, dwarves and trolls, all popular motifs in 20th-century fantasy literature. In Norse Gods & Myths you will learn how Odin sacrificed his eye to drink from the magical well Mímisbrunnr, which bestows wisdom; You will learn how Loki cut off the beautiful goddess Sif's hair for fun and had to compensate Thor by obtaining the almighty hammer Mjöllnir from the dwarf craftsmen; learn how Asgard, the mythical home of the gods, was fortified by the giant Jötunn in exchange for the hand of the fertility goddess Freya. And marvel at Yggdrasil, the sacred tree around which the Norse cosmos developed. This beautifully designed book in a traditional Chinese binding with 100 illustrations and photographs will fascinate anyone interested in the mythology that gave us the fearsome giant wolf Fenrir and the goddess Hel, ruler of the underworld.