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BinstonBirchill t1_jdhj9ny wrote

Do you want to read the real thing or something like a history of Norse mythology?

Search the Norse Sagas and you’ll see a lot of penguin classic editions of the most well known sagas

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ThunderThighsMegee OP t1_jdhjjpd wrote

I’d like to read both eventually, but the real thing to begin with. Thank you so much!

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BinstonBirchill t1_jdhrimt wrote

Snorri Sterlusun is prose and poetic eddas are the biggest giants. I loved Egil’s saga the most that I’ve read.

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Black-Sam-Bellamy t1_jdhjfxl wrote

The poetic Edda and the prose Edda are good starting points, Gesta Danorum also relevant, and you can follow it up with some of the sagas, there's a compilation called Sagas of the Icelanders that is good

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ThunderThighsMegee OP t1_jdhjlmj wrote

Thank you!

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Black-Sam-Bellamy t1_jdhjp4j wrote

It's a pet topic, happy to answer any questions you might have 🙂

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ThunderThighsMegee OP t1_jdhku2f wrote

I don’t have many questions but my family comes from Norway and Finland, so my great grandma used to tell me Norse tales when I was little. Now that I’m older I’m curious about what they believed at the time and would like to read more stories that I never heard. One of my favorites that I can recall was her telling me about Tyr being left handed (I’m left handed), it made me feel cool 😂

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Black-Sam-Bellamy t1_jdhligm wrote

Well, he didn't have much choice in the matter!

It's important to try and approach the texts from a scholarly position, the prose Edda for example is one of the most complete and comprehensive records of Norse mythology but was written with the intent of providing a framework for court skalds in Scandinavia, written by a Christian for a Christian audience. one thing it's important to understand is that the Norse mythology was almost certainly not practiced on a comprehensive and thorough scale, stories and practices would have varied widely from area to area and over time as well. It's why I find reading the sagas interesting because the mythology is sprinkled through, and presented in a more day-to-day fashion

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Present-Permit-6743 t1_jdhj2ez wrote

Accurate mythology? Shits fake stories.

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ThunderThighsMegee OP t1_jdhjfh2 wrote

Well it’s mythology, you can still have a collection of fables and tales that are accurate to the original story. I’m looking for something more along the lines of the Iliad instead of Percy Jackson. No need to be pressed, my dude

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Zeshui0 t1_jdhjf0h wrote

Did you check Neil Gaiman's edition from a few years ago?

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ThunderThighsMegee OP t1_jdhjuno wrote

I saw it but I presumed it was more of a modern retelling than holding true to the source material given his other books, would you say it’s worth the read?

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Zeshui0 t1_jdhku1n wrote

I enjoyed it, and it wasn't an original story with a Norse setting. It was more like a simplified novel that showcases events from the mythology in an abridged, broad format.

There are definitely more detailed versions of the Saga's out there but it was pretty faithful as a beginner's introduction to them imo.

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books-ModTeam t1_jdhkidk wrote

Hi there. Per rule 3.3, please post book recommendation requests in /r/SuggestMeABook or in our Weekly Recommendation Thread. Thank you!

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