The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland

ISBN 9780394748467

Here are thirty-two classic Norse myths that bring the ancient Viking world to life. Beautifully retold by Kevin Crossley-Holland, these tales vividly depict the courage, cruelty, and passions that were the hallmarks of the old Norse world.

"Burning ice, biting flame; that is how life began..."

The extraordinary Scandinavian myth cycle is one of the most enduring, exciting, dramatic and compelling of the world's great stories. A series of intertwined tales which together form a strange and fantastical world teeming with gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters, battles and couplings, the Norse myths are as exciting to read as they are of vast cultural and historical importance. Taking us from the creation of the world through the building of Asgard's Wall to the final end in Ragnarok, and featuring the exploits and adventures of such mythical figures as Odin, Thor and Loki, The Penguin Book of Norse Myths brings alive the passion, cruelty and heroism of these unforgettable stories.

"Stately or bucolic, heroic or comic, romantic or gross, horrific or gentle, deeply ironic or deeply moving, the myths here retold yield up their mood and substance." — The Times Literary Supplement

Kevin Crossley-Holland fell in love with the Middle Ages and Anglo-Saxon poetry while he was an undergraduate at Oxford University. He wrote his first work for children, a retelling of a medieval romance, in a London park during lunch breaks from his job as a children’s book editor. In 1985, he received the Carnegie Medal for his novel Storm. A longtime resident of the United States, where he taught at the University of Minnesota, Kevin and his wife, Linda, now live on the coast of the North Sea in Norfolk, England.