| MYTHS |
| The Magic Mead |
Evil dwarves kill Kvasir the wise poet,
and from his blood, brew mead which has the power to bestow the gift of
poetic inspiration on all who drink it. Odin goes in search of the mead to
bring it to the gods, so they will have the power to decide who will be
inspired.
|
| Idun and the apples of eternal youth |
Idun, the goddess who tends the apples
of eternal youth, is lured out of Asgard by Loki, the trickster god, and
carried away by Thiazi, one of the giants. Without her apples, the
gods face rapid aging, and Odin, chief of the Gods orders Loki to bring
the goddess back to them or face death.
|
| Skadi finds a
husband |
After Loki kills Thiazi, her father, Skadi, the
Giant Maid, comes to Asgard to seek revenge, but accepts instead, her choice of one of the gods as her husband. Gods, she discovers, do not always make the best husbands.
|
|
How the Gods got their six greatest treasures | Loki plays a vicious trick on Thor's wife, Sif, and brings the wrath of Thor down upon himself.
He flees to the land of the dwarves in search of gifts to placate
Thor and the other gods.
|
FOLKTALES
|
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
|
One of the most famous
of all Norwegian folktales, this story shares its motif with the Greek
myth of Cupid and Psyche. A poor woodcutter strikes a bargain with
an enchanted bear to exchange his daughter for riches. At night the
enchanted bear regains his true form as a handsome prince and sleeps in
the same bed with the girl but she never sees him. The girl's mother
convinces her to try to see his face by lighting a candle but when she
does, he is lost to her, and she must undertake a quest to the castle east
of the sun and west of the moon to win him back from an evil enchantress.
|
| The Magic Quern |
A poor man gains power over a magic quern which will grind out anything you ask it
to. The problems occur when the quern is acquired by greedy people who do not know
how to make it stop.
Can be found in many anthologies especially editions of East of the Sun and West of the
Moon by Asbjornson and Moe. |
| Prince Lindworm |
In this strange and wondrous tale from Sweden, a hideous lindworm, or serpent, is born, as one of twins, to a queen, who, in an effort to overcome her childless
situation, has followed the advice of an old crone. The second twin boy is perfect in every way. When he grows up and sets off to find a bride, the lindworm insists that a bride be found for him before his younger brother can marry. Since he eats each new bride they bring him, this creates a slight PR problem for the kingdom
|
| Farmer Weatherbeard |
Jack's mother wants him to become a Master above all Masters. His father apprentices him to a mysterious stranger, Farmer Weatherbeard, who whisks him away in a sleigh that flies. His distraught mother sends the father in search of the boy. Jack's father seeks advice from three hags, and with the aid of a magic eagle, they escape from Farmer Weatherbeard, who then pursues Jack. Jack, we learn, has learned a very useful trade, indeed.
|
| The Giant who had no Heart in his Body |
Boots, the youngest of
seven princes, sets out to find and rescue his six brothers and their
brides from enchantment by killing the Giant whose heart is not in his
body. Is there a bride for Boots? Listen up.
|
SOURCES
| |
| Asbjörnsen, Peter
Christen, and Jörgen I. Moe |
|
Popular Tales from the Norse, translated and with an introductory essay by Sir
George Webbe Dasent. London: The Bodley Head, 1969. [SBN 370-01117 1]
There are many editions of Asbjörnsen
and Moe's collection. Some editions bear the title East of the Sun
and West of the Moon, which is the title of one of the tales. Available on-line at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ptn/index.htm |
| Colum,
Padraic |
|
The Children of Odin; a Book of
Northern Myths. New York: Macmillan, c1920,
c1948
available on-line at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ice/coo/index.htm |
| The Norse Myths; a retelling, introduced and
retold by Kevin Crossley-Holland |
|
London: Andre Deutsch Ltd,
c 1980. [0 233 97271 4] |
|
|
| Scandinavian legends and folk-tales retold by
Gwyn Jones. |
|
Oxford: Oxford University Press, c
1956. (Oxford Myths & Legends Series) [0 19 274150 0] |
|
| Sturluson,
Snorri |
|
Edda, translated from the Icelandic and
introduced by Anthony Faulkes. London: Dent. c 1987. (Everyman's
Classics) [0 460 01499 4] Written in the 13th century
by an Icelandic scholar, the Edda is the earliest, and one of the
few, written sources of the Norse Myths. On-line at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/index.htm |
|
|
| Tales of the Norse Gods , retold by Barbara
Leonie Picard. |
|
Oxford: Oxford University Press, c
1953. (Oxford Myths & Legends Series) [0 19 274167
5] |
