Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths by Nancy Marie Brown

This biography about the 13th century Icelandic Chieftain, Snorri Sturluson, who was murdered in his cellar when he angered King Haakon IV of Norway, is engrossing and slow at times. Full of great literary facts, sometimes the pacing got bogged down with all the different relatives vying for power. Perhaps if I had written the names down as I was reading, I wouldn't have gotten tripped up at times. I read 40 minutes everyday and perhaps one sitting would have helped me keep everyone straight. Nancy Marie Brown has a straight-forward narrative that is easy to read and engaging. She does a terrific job bringing to life the customs and lifestyle of the Icelandic people.

Snorri's famous books, "Heimskringla" and "Edda," were written on the history of Norwegian kings and Norse mythology and they had an enormous impact on literature, influencing the rise of the gothic novel in the 1700s, inspiring J.R.R. Tolkien, and leaving a footprint that can be seen in the immensely popular modern day Marvel comic movies and Game of Thrones television series. Snorri married a rich heiress and became a chieftain later acquiring more chiefdoms. An accomplished lawyer, he was chosen three times as lawspeaker for the Althing which is like being president of parliament. He got into trouble with King Haakon in his late 50s when he disobeyed the King's order to stay in Norway and returned to Iceland. The King sought consequences for Snorri's disobedience and Snorri's main rival that wanted to usurp him was quite willing to carry out the death sentence.

Snorri was a brilliant storyteller and brought to life the Norse gods of old making them "peculiarly human." The gods had limitations and were not particularly smart. They liked to play games on each other, joke, and be cruel. They also knew that the end of the world was coming but they didn't know how to stop it or save the world. Snorri adds humor and entertainment and while the poems are difficult to understand because of their complex style, they had a resurgence in the 1700s. Brown ties mythology with national history and shows how it evolves to some extent. She doesn't delve deeply into it but I found the few links she does make tantalizing. I'd like to explore this topic more. 

Brown's writing didn't feel as cohesive as her other book I read, "The Far-Traveler." The narrative felt scattered at times and while I know some of that is due to the long genealogies, I also felt the main focus got lost at times as she points out Snorri's skills as lawyer, historian, and poet. The section on kennings and how complex the poems are was really fascinating and I wished it had been closer to the beginning. I kept wondering why she wasn't quoting his poems. As she gives an example then I realized that it would read like nonsense to the modern day reader. What a difficult topic to write about and I admire her effort even if it falls short at times. In "The Far-Traveler," Brown frames the story with archeology and for me it was the glue that held it all together. I needed something more to hold all the pieces together.

The information in this book is valuable and heavily researched. I read about Snorri on Wikipedia after reading Brown's book and there are some conflicts between it and what she has written. They are small things but it would be a way to show students how the Internet is not always a reliable source. Snorri loved power and in the end it was his downfall. This is loaded with great facts and extensive footnotes. If you are interested in the Icelandic sagas and history of Norse mythology then I highly recommend it.

Runelight by Joanne Harris (book 2)

Yabba dabba doo! While there is no Fred Flintstone some of the Norse gods are painted in a cartoonish way. While I found the ravens with their Scottish accent enduring, the anachronistic wolfmen with their dude-speak was quite annoying. You'll have to read the book to decide for yourself who ye like and who ye dinnae like verra much (raven-speak). Actually you need to read the first book before this one because the author doesn't spend much time explaining the world she created in book 1. I had forgotten how the runes worked and who the Whisperer was before getting some glimpses on page 200 to jar my itty-bitty memory. But I like Norwegian mythology so inspite of the flaws, I did enjoy the tale and the author's twist on the creation story.

Maddy, the protagonist from book 1, Runemarks, is back and discovers that she has a sister, Maggie. The two have new runemarks that the gods want to use to build Asgard once again. As Maggie is used by one powerful god, Maddy is used by another. Neither blindly follow the gods and as they make friends they learn that trust can always be betrayed.

Maddy doesn't show up in the story until page 100 and like a dip I didn't figure out that Maggie was not Maddy until then. I have not read book one in a couple of years and had problems putting two and two together. Maggie's character is not as engaging as Maddy in book one and that was my biggest problem. I just couldn't buy Maggie and Adam as a couple. I kept thinking her strict upbringing would not have caused her to act as she did, although the author tries to show that it was loneliness that made her choose Adam. Perhaps if the Whisperer had revealed some flaw or some hint of a love in his past, then I think I would have enjoyed the character development more. The threesome was a bit flat and I never got sucked into their story like Maddy's tale in book 1.

Loki is the most interesting character for me and again I found him fascinating. The author does a great job making him a complex web of good decisions and bad decisions. I found his wife annoying at first but her unconditional love is used in an interesting twist at the end that I didn't see coming. The Loki/Maddy interest in each other is dropped completely in this book.

The prophecy was yabba dabba dumb. I'm not usually that harsh but it was a lazy Fred Flintstonish way to not foreshadow the plot and with the rock-a-bye baby nursery rhyme I found myself gritting my teeth and skimming it so I didn't have to read it. I realize mythology is full of oracles and prophecies, but I wish the author had handled it differently. The ending suggests a sequel but I'm not sure. It would be just another reworking of the same plot. Book 1 and book 2 are basically saving the world from destruction. Book 3 would be saving the world from  Maggie's Bamm-Bamm. Or would it?

Young Adult
3 out of 5 Smileys

Runemarks

The villagers think Maddie is a witch because of the runemark on her palm. People and animals with runemarks are usually killed at birth but Maddie is not because  the midwife who delivered her is considered mad and no one took her seriously when she told of the runemark. 

After her birth, the villagers begin seeing goblins who are known to watch Maddie. She is ostracized and wild until she meets One-Eye, the man who tutors her in performing magic using her runemark.  For 7 years, One-Eye teaches her for a short period of time traveling from the World's End. He is late this year and when he does arrive he finds that Maddie's powers have grown and he wants her to help him open a gateway into the Red Horse Hill to retrieve the Whisperer. Thus begins Maddie's quest where she meets the Norse gods of old who wage a battle with the religious rulers of the world who want to rid themselves of the gods forever.

This book is going to be a difficult read without any knowledge of Norse mythology and the creation stories. Because I had read three Norse books prior, I didn't have too many problems following the story. There are quite a few references to the myths but not in-depth explanations which was good because I think it would have taken away from the main story. The reader should know the difference between the Aesir and Vanir and Order and Chaos. A knowledge of Mimir's story is necessary and I think they should have included that in the story (or had it in an appendix) because the Whisperer, Oracle, and Mimir are the same people.

I thought the author did a nice job of developing Loki as the lying trickster who incorporates both good and evil and order and chaos. The reader should be familiar with his story in Norse mythology in order to fully understand his contradictory behavior. While he is presented as charming, I wished he had been more playful. The story is heavy handed at times with religious aspects. The villagers who represent order are narrow-minded zealots and only Nan seems to be presented as a less extreme person. 

The ending has some interesting twists. I didn't really understand what the author meant with Adam running away with the golden key. Maybe she was referring to Grimm's fairytale that has no ending. A boy finds a golden key and unlocks a box but the reader doesn't know what happens after that. 

The book has violent parts and some might be uncomfortable with when the gods shift shapes into animals they come back to their human form with no clothes on. This creates some odd situations for them - some funny, some not. Fantasy lovers should find this an interesting read with plenty of action.

:-) :-) :-) 3 Smileys

Scandinavian Mythology

The mighty Thor rides a goat-drawn chariot.

That's right... goats!

Zeus has a chariot pulled by gorgeous winged horses. Even Santa gets some cute reindeer. The Norse myths give the Valkyries, or women warriors who collect the dead from the battlefield, winged-horses that drive chariots.

Thor just got the short end of the stick. I can see oxen or bulls. But goats? Maybe they were the two older Billy Goats Gruff.

None of the three books I read on Scandinavian mythology explained this, although in Mary Pope Osborne's book, Favorite Norse Myths,  (4.8 reading level) the goats were gold. I guess that might look cool.

According to the book, Scandinavian Mythology (6.7 reading level), by Jason Porterfield, Thor is the Viking ideal. In the book, Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Norse (4.9 reading level), by Leonard Everett Fisher, Thor has a magical belt that doubles his strength, a magical hammer that makes lightning when he strikes things, and a chariot that rumbles as thunder when he rides it around the sky. The bleating of goats is the sound of light rain - just kidding. Thor  is the most popular of the Norse gods.  

Porterfield's book is packed with information and the language is at a higher level than the other two books. Osborne's book reads like a story and is probably going to be the most engaging if you don't want to get bogged down with facts, while Everitt's book is more introductory with each page describing a god.

What I enjoyed the most about reading the books are how much literature came to mind that uses Norse myths. The Alchemyst: the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott has the tree Yggdrasilll and its collapse. The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R. Tolkien uses the legend of the curse of the ring. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis has an endless winter. In Norse Myths an endless winter will precede Ragnarok, the final battle between the gods and giants or good and evil.

Odin gets an eight-legged horse that is faster than any horse. He is the "All Father" and has a habit of taking all the best for himself. Maybe that's why Thor got the goats. Every Christmas we put up these cute straw goats which my bestemor or grandma said came from Sweden. Porterfield said that many Christmas traditions are celebrations of pre-Christian Scandinavia and the straw goats represent the goats that pull Thor's chariot.

I looked up online why he rode goats and there is a story of him eating the goats and then resurrecting them. It also said that the horns on the goats were magnificent and that they were faster than any of the other chariots.

Jason in the Lost Hero gets rescued from some evil wind gods by a winged-horse-drawn chariot. It might have been funny if he'd been picked up by a goat-drawn chariot. The goats are the fauns or satyrs who protect the kids at the camp.

But I'm getting side-tracked.

I suppose the Scandinavians picked the goat for practical reasons. The goat was important to the farmer in providing milk for a family and other sustenance such as nutrition. My view of the goat  is more urban than rural.

:-) :-) :-) 3 Smileys