Norse Mythology: A student is interested

[BrazenMuse]

...and I'm hunting resources...I have some stuff in mind, but would like something less dry than, say, Edith Hamilton, for the young man to read. We will look at traces of these mythologies in current fiction... probably some Michael Moorcock (Elric Saga), certainly American Gods by Neil Gaiman. My student's a bit of a gamer and is aware of fragments of mythologies, he wants to study more.

Earlier this year, we looked at Prometheus, then some early images of scientists (Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" and its Poe offshoots; Frankenstein, of course)...then started looking at current imagery of scientists in film...the student is doing this alongside his regular work, at his own request...and it's really quite fun. Self motivated teens are a wonderful thing, and there's at least one every year...I work to try to make more...

Any recommendations are welcome...looking first for something that pretty much lays out the Norse pantheon and does it well in short story form...

[Fletch]

Wish I could help ya, Braze, cause Norse mythology is quite interesting.

I remember my junior high school teacher in Mythology, Mr. Schwartz. He was a big, fat dude that yelled across the room when teachin' this stuff, and it got us hooked! "Valhalla was a place where you did two things.......EAT.....AND FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[BrazenMuse]

Wish I could help ya, Braze, cause Norse mythology is quite interesting.

I remember my junior high school teacher in Mythology, Mr. Schwarz. He was a big, fat dude that yelled across the room when teachin' this stuff, and it got us hooked! "Valhalla was a place where you did two things.......EAT.....AND FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Exactly! But I loved mythology and read waaay more than my share of it as a teen. Try the Neil Gaiman book if you love mythology...

[Sal Paradise]

Hasn't the whole arian movement co opted a lot of Norse Mythology?

[mhd]

check the mighty thor, 'nuff said

[BrazenMuse]

Hasn't the whole arian movement co opted a lot of Norse Mythology?

Aryan? I suppose they hv tried to. But I can blithely ignore them. Why do you ask?

[BrazenMuse]

check the mighty thor, 'nuff said

or just the days of the week in English? Three of them have their roots in Norse myth...

[Sal Paradise]

Aryan? I suppose they hv tried to. But I can blithely ignore them. Why do you ask?

yes aryan. I asked because that was the first thing that popped in my head when I read your post.

[BrazenMuse]

yes aryan. I asked because that was the first thing that popped in my head when I read your post.

Interesting. My student is thinking of games and graphic novels...as I work on the unit for him, I'll keep that association in mind. Thanks...

edit: and this is a way of coming back to some Tolkein with him too...he's a fan.

edit 2: this looks useful...
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/main.php although there's some interesting things about the site itself you might want to peep: http://www.northvegr.org/northvegr/index.php

still wondering if anyone had a version they enjoyed particularly...something to go along w the primary texts...and to help me decide which primary texts to use...

[Bill Blake]

Ask Alvin.

[Monny JcIntosh]

I don't think Edith Hamilton's dry, but maybe that's me.

There's a Pantheon (Penguin in the UK) edition of Norse Myths. I haven't read it, but I have their Complete Grimm Fairy Tales, and if that's anything to go by, it'll be an excellent edition. The mythology is largely taken from the Poetic and Prose Eddas, written down by the Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.

The Icelandic sagas are my favourite of all that stuff. Less mythological, and in a way quite plain, but somehow quite dark and deep. I used to live in Shetland, which is a group of islands far off to the north of Scotland, and there's something of the bleak wonder of the Icelandic sagas in the landscape there. Maybe that's why I like them so much. There are loads of collections of various of the Icelandic sagas. Again, there's a nice Pantheon (or Penguin) edition.

Also worth reading, though it's a children's story, is Terry Jones' Saga of Erik the Viking. I read it at primary school, and it's one of those stories that's stayed with me ever since.

And another worth checking is Beowulf. It's not exactly Norse, but it has a very similar feel.

[BrazenMuse]

Ask Alvin.

No.

[Sal Paradise]

Terry Jones' Saga of Erik the Viking. I read it at primary school, and it's one of those stories that's stayed with me ever since.

wow, totally. Forgot about that, just had a FLASHBACK

[mhd]

I don't think Edith Hamilton's dry, but maybe that's me.

There's a Pantheon (Penguin in the UK) edition of Norse Myths. I haven't read it, but I have their Complete Grimm Fairy Tales, and if that's anything to go by, it'll be an excellent edition. The mythology is largely taken from the Poetic and Prose Eddas, written down by the Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.

The Icelandic sagas are my favourite of all that stuff. Less mythological, and in a way quite plain, but somehow quite dark and deep. I used to live in Shetland, which is a group of islands far off to the north of Scotland, and there's something of the bleak wonder of the Icelandic sagas in the landscape there. Maybe that's why I like them so much. There are loads of collections of various of the Icelandic sagas. Again, there's a nice Pantheon (or Penguin) edition.

Also worth reading, though it's a children's story, is Terry Jones' Saga of Erik the Viking. I read it at primary school, and it's one of those stories that's stayed with me ever since.

And another worth checking is Beowulf. It's not exactly Norse, but it has a very similar feel.

"Snorri Sturluson" - now that's a name not likely to forget

[BrazenMuse]

I don't think Edith Hamilton's dry, but maybe that's me.

There's a Pantheon (Penguin in the UK) edition of Norse Myths. I haven't read it, but I have their Complete Grimm Fairy Tales, and if that's anything to go by, it'll be an excellent edition. The mythology is largely taken from the Poetic and Prose Eddas, written down by the Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.

The Icelandic sagas are my favourite of all that stuff. Less mythological, and in a way quite plain, but somehow quite dark and deep. I used to live in Shetland, which is a group of islands far off to the north of Scotland, and there's something of the bleak wonder of the Icelandic sagas in the landscape there. Maybe that's why I like them so much. There are loads of collections of various of the Icelandic sagas. Again, there's a nice Pantheon (or Penguin) edition.

Also worth reading, though it's a children's story, is Terry Jones' Saga of Erik the Viking. I read it at primary school, and it's one of those stories that's stayed with me ever since.

And another worth checking is Beowulf. It's not exactly Norse, but it has a very similar feel.

I was lookin' at the Penguin edition. I've had students just not get involved w the Hamilton...Terry Jones huh? Hmmm...will investigate...

[Monny JcIntosh]

"Snorri Sturluson" - now that's a name not likely to forget

They had great names. Gunnhild Ozurardottir, wife of Erik Blood-Axe.

Icelandic's a great language too. It's the closest of contemporary Germanic languages to old Norse and old English, and has lots of otherwise unattested structures that linguists love.

[BrazenMuse]

I don't think Edith Hamilton's dry, but maybe that's me.

There's a Pantheon (Penguin in the UK) edition of Norse Myths. I haven't read it, but I have their Complete Grimm Fairy Tales, and if that's anything to go by, it'll be an excellent edition. The mythology is largely taken from the Poetic and Prose Eddas, written down by the Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.

The Icelandic sagas are my favourite of all that stuff. Less mythological, and in a way quite plain, but somehow quite dark and deep. I used to live in Shetland, which is a group of islands far off to the north of Scotland, and there's something of the bleak wonder of the Icelandic sagas in the landscape there. Maybe that's why I like them so much. There are loads of collections of various of the Icelandic sagas. Again, there's a nice Pantheon (or Penguin) edition.

Also worth reading, though it's a children's story, is Terry Jones' Saga of Erik the Viking. I read it at primary school, and it's one of those stories that's stayed with me ever since.

And another worth checking is Beowulf. It's not exactly Norse, but it has a very similar feel.

Student has seen Beowulf but has little by way of context for the story. He wants to understand the Norse pantheon and read around some of the myths...

They had great names. Gunnhild Ozurardottir, wife of Erik Blood-Axe.

Icelandic's a great language too. It's the closest of contemporary Germanic languages to old Norse and old English, and has lots of otherwise unattested structures that linguists love.

They do have great names!
and...
'Tis great fun to sit with a friend of mine who is from India and her Icelandic husband while they compare languages...there are a great many interesting connections...okay...maybe only fun to a bunch of academics. We had such fun!!