Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, 299 pages

In a bit of a departure from the magical stories he conjures up from his own imagination, in Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman retells Norse myths in a pretty straightforward style. I'll admit that prior to reading this book, what little I knew about Norse mythology could basically be summed up in Avengers movies and the fact that I know somebody named Freya, so I can't really say how true these versions are to other interpretations. But they are interesting and full of the weird stuff that is so typical of mythology (shapeshifting grudge-holding gods, giants and weird creatures, super-powerful objects, etc), and I loved reading them. It makes me wish I'd learned more about Norse mythology earlier in life, and that more of these myths had survived to present day (as Gaiman points out in the introduction, only a handful of stories are still around, despite those myths referencing others). An excellent collection, told in an approachable way.