Padraic ColumReseñas

I was really glad to finally get an overview of Norse mythology. The interlude about the Volsungs seems out of place, and I was already somewhat familiar with it, but it was good reading all the same. It's interesting to see how parts of these stories have been used by modern writers in their own way: most obviously Lewis and Tolkien, but I suspect also George R.R. Martin.

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I don’t know much about Greek Mythology. But, hey, Zeus and Hercules and all that stuff has always been SUPER cool when it’s shown up in TV and movies! And then… yaaaaaaawn. I was reading sentences, and realizing that the material in the sentences should have been exciting. There was fighting. There was lots of drama and abrupt life (-no, WORLD-) altering things. Plus, explanations for the heavens and seasons and so on. That should be really interesting. For whatever reason, I couldn’t get along with the author’s writing style. It was easy enough to understand, it just wasn’t easy to enjoy. It wasn’t a terrible book, and I genuinely did like pieces; I’m merely pained by thinking that something SHOULD be so much more fun.

This is the second book I've read by Padraic Colum. (He had another Newbery honor winner in 1922 on mythology that I didn’t have many kind words for.) His bland, basic writing style did not change. Fortunately, it worked better for this book. The adventures were less epic, and there wasn’t a long-term story stretching throughout. For me, the individual tales meshed a lot cleaner with his writing style. Though still written in way that makes me think “Bueller… Bueller… Bueller…", I think it's much more user-friendly.

Good retelling of Norse myths, meant for children but not too simple for adults.

I downloaded the a free audio version and listened to it with my children at bedtime. I had never read the original Homer but I knew of the tale. It was nice to hear the adventures and tales in accessible language.

audio (on playaway). At first I thought this retelling of "Jason and the Argonauts" and related stories was pretty dry, but once you get used to it, it's grand. The narrator is less expressive than I was expecting for a children's audio production, putting one to mind of an uninspired reading of a textbook, but his clear, precise pronunciation actually grew on me and I love it now. That said, if you are looking for something to put on to quiet your brain so you can sleep, this totally works. If you are looking for something that might get your fidgety child interested in mythology, this might not be it.

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A rather disjoint collection of the Norse myths. I was confused by both way too many names and the confusing chronology. I think there are probably better versions out there.

Stories taken from Celtic tradition, including St. Patrick at Tara; King Fergus; St. Martin; Hina, the woman in the moon; and the stone of victory, attractively illustrated with black and white pencil-charcoal drawings. A nice bedside book.

A collection of tales from mythology and folklore, set in a framing story in which four brothers and a king tell these tales at a forge in a forest. While the author makes an effort (not entirely unsuccessful) to create a lyrical tone using poetic phrasing and repetition, the stories are choppy and vague, with some details changed (e.g., Bellerophon kills the chimera with his sword rather than with a lead-tipped spear). It seems to be intended to be read aloud; younger kids might enjoy it.

Contents include The Forge in the Forest (the framing narrative); Phaethon; Old King Fork-Beard and the Scarf That He Gave; The Story of Ys; King Fergus and the Water-Horse; The Seven Sleepers; King Solomon and the Servitor of the Lord of Earth; Saint Martin and the Honest Man; Bellerophon; and The Horse.½

Years and years ago my mother found a copy of this being sold from a high school library and bought it for me. I never got around to reading it, though. I loved mythology, but my high school mythology teacher had recently ruined the subject for me so I wasn't really interested in touching it. Years have gone by, though, and I decided to give it another whirl. I think Padraic Colum did a good job retelling the various myths from the Eddas and sequencing them in a rational order so that their telling made sense. It continues to strike me how the ancient Norsemen had a completely different conception of beginning-middle-end from our own. For example, the whole tale of the Volsungs is a mess by modern standards (with the first half consisting of a mythological hero who fights a dragon and the second half involving the deceased hero's widow plotting revenge on Attila the Hun - where the hell is narrative consistency in that?). But Colum presents the tales in such a way that it actually makes sense, even though it requires some narrative license to pull it off.

4/5 stars

Mpls has copy.

Enjoyed it

It was a light, fast read but, enjoyable. Economically told myths well, suited to younger readers. Need four more words.

The Children of Odin:
The book of Northern Myths
Author: Padraic Colum
Publisher: Collier Books - Macmillan Publishing Company
Published In: New York
Date: 1920 / 1948
Pgs: 163

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
A retelling of the Norse Myths. The building of Asgard. Iduna. Loki. Sif. Freya. Frey. Gerda. Giants. Heimdall. Odin. Thor. Baldur. Sigmund. Valkyries. And the Twilight of the Gods. The stories that Vikings shared around lodge fires. Stories that lit their wanderlust and kept them warm and reaching for more beyond the circle of fire.

Genre:
Academics
Adventure
Ancient Knowledge
Apocalypse
Classics
Culture
Fantasy
Fiction
Gods and Goddesses
Historical fiction
History
Mythology
Religion and Spirituality
Society

Why this book:
I am fascinated by mythology in all cultures.
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Favorite Character:
Odin, Loki, Heimdall, Tyr...and many more.

Least Favorite Character:
Thor. In the myths, he seems like a real hammerhead.

The Feel:
There is an edge of wonder in these tales making them every bit the match of the Roman and Greek tales that I’m more familiar with.

Pacing:
Well paced.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
The repetitive trusting of Loki after he had been revealed to be what he was. And the way that the Asgardians used Loki’s deceitfulness to their advantage and then were surprised that it was used against them.

Hmm Moments:
Did Loki in the guise of the little mare have sex with the giant horse Svaldifare?

The story The Building of the Wall shows the Gods of Asgard as oathbreakers. But it also shows them as fools for striking a bargain with the Giant to build the wall without knowing his price in advance. (Trying to ignore the echoes of wallbuilding and not knowing the price in American politics right now). And they take advantage of Loki’s guile and rejoice in it making them hypocritical when he does the same thing to them later on.

Loki comparing Idunna’s apples to the apples he had seen earlier that day beyond the walls of Asgard. He appleshamed her into falling into the Giant’s trap. The apple comparison makes me wonder if we’re talking about apples or if I just have a dirty mind. After she is taken by the Giant, the whole her apples only glow when she gives them to you versus when her apples are taken against her will, so are her apples a metaphor for virtue, for life, for drugs, for sex, for her breasts.
There are many ways to interpret the story of Idunna. Case could be made for the apples being drugs and the Gods of Asgard as addicts who only “come alive” when Idunna gives them her apples.

Wow. The Asgardians defenestrating Ymir after the first war with the Giants. And using his body, bones, and hair to fill in the hollow spots, build the mountains, the rocks, the trees, and all of Midgard. That is such a gross origin of the world.

Odin and Gunnlod’s tale and how wisdom is made from the blood of poets could be seen as a justification of cannibalism.

The story of Vegtam the Wanderer/Odin visiting his son Vidar, the Silent God. The leather leavings when shoemakers make shoes to be taken up and made into Vidar’s sandals. The sandals that Vidar will wear on the day he avenges Odin’s death, on the day Vidar kills Fenrir.

Thor losing Mjolnir and having to, at Loki’s urging, engage in a transvestite drag masquerade and Giant betrothal ceremony all because he got drunk, re: roofied, and let his hammer be taken by a Giant is greatness. And Loki wanting to tag along in all his shapechanging, transexual glory makes me think of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Considering the rampant penis allegory that is Thor, his hammer being taken from him by a Giant while he is drunk...draw your own conclusions.

The Thor of the Sagas isn’t very smart. He repeatedly falls for this trap or that. He continually trusts Loki at his word.

Loki-quakes, Loki being blamed for earthquakes, and the Sisyphusian punishment that the Asgardians meted out on him. Siguna’s role mimicking the rock rolling back down the hill when she would have to empty the poison cup and the venom would drip into Loki’s face until her return. The Asgardians created their Frankenstein in Loki through their various ignoble deeds. Reading this causes me to look on Asgard in a far different light. Marvel’s interpretation of Thor owes little to this iteration. Though Odin’s capriciousness marks him as more in line with his mythic idiom.
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Last Page Sound:
Sleeping Beauty, Adam and Eve, and The Book of Revelations...all three and more were here under slightly different circumstances and in slightly different forms.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
real classic

Disposition of Book:
e-Book

Would recommend to:
everyone
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My teacher read part of this to us in second grade - I didn't totally get it, but I liked it.

Very good!

My teacher read part of this to us in second grade - I didn't totally get it, but I liked it.

I finally realized I was never going to read The Iliad, so I decided to read this adaptation instead. I felt it was very satisfactory and wished I thought of it before.

Norse mythology is great! :D Except I swear, every female goddess/mortal cries at the littlest thing.
Sif: "Omg my hair isn't golden anymore, you won't love me, Thor, anymore so I'm just going to lock myself away because being blonde is everything."
Idunn: "Omg someone's apples are better than mine? /slits wrist"

I wonder if Greek mythology is this dramatic, ahaha. Who am I kidding? They're probably more dramatic.

It's a decent primer, but should be treated like Baby's First Edda. The stories told are the most popular attestations, and therefore the most Christian attestations, and are simplified in a way that might better appeal to children than to adults. While I wouldn't discount it entirely, it's not something that should be used for any real scholarly purpose either. If you have a passing interest in the Norse pantheon, it's a great place to start.

A fairly usual collection of Norse god stories (sanitized, of course, as this is for children), plus Sigurd of the Volsungs stuck in there at the end.