Norse Mythology Like Only Neil Gaiman Could Imagine It

This is Neil Gaiman at his best. These are the legends of old, but the mode of delivery is trademark Gaiman, the prose is full to bursting with warmth, whimsy, and wit. The dialogue is dry and hilarious, and the characters are richly drawn—the gods leap off the page, given a new lease on life by a master storyteller. To craft these retellings, Gaiman went back to the roots of Norse mythology, Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the Poetic Edd, bringing them to a modern audience more likely to recognize Thor and Loki from Marvel movies.
Gaiman’s Odin winks across the ages at the Odin in American Gods; the two are very different, but alike enough to suggest fascinating parallels. His Thor is noble, strong, and lovably dim. Loki is mischievous, conniving, and delightfully sarcastic. One story, in which Thor dresses up as a bride, had me in stitches. The other gods are equally vibrant, filing each page with outsized life. Loki’s children are both monstrous and pitiable. The goddesses are radiant, possessing astounding patience. Balder has his deadly run in with mistletoe. Heimdall is steadfast and sly. Dwarves, frost giants, and elves run rampant.
Structurally, this is a novel-in-stories: short, deceptively simple tales woven together into a loose narrative. We begin with the creation of the universe and end, naturally, with Ragnarok. In-between are stories of revenge, love, magic, treachery, and murder. Many of them are deeply funny, with moments of silliness to balance out all the death and dismemberment. Each demands to be read aloud in front of a fire. Even in print, Gaiman preserves the oral traditions that kept these myths alive for so many centuries.

Despite the subject matter, the tales aren’t overly violent or bawdy. I’d feel comfortable giving it to everyone from a precocious middle schooler to my 70-year-old mother. It’s hardly the purely academic endeavor you might imagine, nor does it wallow in grimdark and gore. Gaiman would rather highlight the inherent weirdness and subtle beauty in these myths.
Norse Mythology is a thoroughly enjoyable collection told by a master of his craft, a man who has clearly spent his entire life with the gods knocking around in his head, balancing between excited college professor and wise village elder. What’s ancient is truly new again.
Norse Mythology is available now.