This month's book club offering was one I was happy to get involved in. I have long felt that my knowledge of Norse mythology was not as great as it could be, so I was eager to fill that gap. Does Roger Lancelyn Green deliver? To begin with, this Puffin Classics edition is a children's book, a selection of fifteen cherry picked stories from what I assume is a much wider canon. Each story is headed by an illustration by Alan Langford to set the flavour. The stories range from the creation of the Nine Realms, to the Aesir's forays into Jotunheim to battle the giants, to internal squabbles among the gods, to visions of Ragnarok. I would have liked the event of Ragnarok itself, but is that even recorded in the Sagas, or do we only have prophecy? I enjoyed the tales, as many of them I was reading about for the first time, and they were competently written without pandering too much to children. A glossary is provided at the end.
Unfortunately, I do not feel like my Norse knowledge is sufficiently more enriched than before. Whilst this book is a good introduction to Norse mythology, it centres mostly on the most famous of the gods, namely Odin, Thor, and Loki. I still do not know much about the rest of them. With the exception of Freya, Baldur, and Iduna, the others were not given any standout tales of their own and act more like bystanders. A family tree of the giants and gods is provided, a very much appreciated addition, although due to the book's limited scope, it does reveal just how many of them don't get a look in. It should be pointed out that the short introduction to this edition, written by Michelle Paver, is very good. I would recommend this book as an accessible starting point to pique one's interest, but for the real deal, you'll need the Eddas.
Rating: 3/5
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