Reviews

The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes by Anonymous

minchowski's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

4.0

alreadyemily's review against another edition

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4.0

Interesting, well-read. The right balance of explanation/context and just telling the story so it can be enjoyed.

carterike's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

A collection of Nordic stories told in poetic form. There are some interesting themes and elements but wasn’t as insightful as I was hoping. Still worth a read to get a glimpse into Norse mythology.

kasche's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

its_shannon's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

bookwomble's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious medium-paced

4.0

madfil's review against another edition

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5.0

(5 February, 2021)

The two 'Havamal' poems aside, this was awesomely awesome! It was back in 1986, 13 years old, when I first read about Fafnir, the cursed gold, Valkyrie, the ring of fire and Sigurth and these stories have always stayed with me. Finally - finally! - I read the original (surviving) stories and it did not disappoint. Crawford adds a few poems and takes some liberties but it is all explained and delightfully done.

It starts with 'Volupsa' with its awe-inspiring
"Have you learned enough yet, Allfather?"
and it does not let up till the very end. Some highlights include; Odin and Thor sniping at each other; Odin and Riddle-Weaver in a contest of knowledge; dwarves tricked into staying too long; Thor dressed as a bride; Loki at his best when annoying the Hel out of everyone present; greedy Fafnir; and unhappy Guthrun. Great characters, great moments, great stories, what's not to love?

This is so magnificent, Attila the Hun - Attila. The. Hun. - is barely a blip in it.

lynet's review against another edition

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adventurous informative medium-paced

4.0

my_chellf's review against another edition

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Will return to book

tattedtrashreader's review

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adventurous informative inspiring relaxing fast-paced

4.5

Loved learning about and reading these! I chose an audiobook and the narrator did a great job translating, providing context, and making the Edda’s easy to understand. There’s a lot of valuable tidbits in here and the poems are easy to follow.