Norse Myths and Legends: A Budget-Friendly Read

Recently, as I was perusing through Barnes & Nobels, I came across a book about Norse Mythology and Legends. The book is beautifully bound in a hardcover with fancy designs on the edges of the pages, immediately I was attracted to it. Once I picked it up, I saw the discounted price tag. Only twelve dollars! I had to get it.

As soon as I got back to the house, I began reading it, I was extremely excited. The fact that the book is so beautifully decorated, on the back it says it is a retelling of the sagas and myths, so I knew it could not be an in-depth type of book. By the end of the first chapter, it was clear that it was going to be essentially summaries of the sagas and mythology.

I read the book in its entirety, and I must say for what it is, it was well worth the twelve dollars. It was the type of book that gives you just enough to make you want to continue learning about it. I feel this is what makes the book good. Not everything has to be in-depth or fully reproduced, sometimes it is nice to be able to just get a brief version of things. This allows a person to start to gain understanding without having to go all in on something.

If you are interested in reading this book it is titled “Norse Myths and Legends, Tales and Sagas of the Gods & Heroes”. While there is no author listed on the cover and title page, there is a reference to a Mrs. Emilie Kip Baker in the introduction. According to the introduction, Mrs. Baker published a few volumes of re-told myths and legends with the goal of making the stories accessible to a wider audience. There it also references that this collection was first published in 1914 as “Stories from Northern Myths”.