D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths

I find this bit from Norwegianity (below) incredibly interesting, because if you read “Radical Religion in America”, one of the things you learn is that many of those who are devout Odinists and Asatru practitioners, the former being the (primarily, though not exclusively) racial Norse mythologists (i.e. it’s for white people), the later being the (primarily, though not exclusively) non-racial Norse mythologists (though they don’t think of them as myths, but as real – so that’s probably not the word to use) fondly remember books like this one as being the childhood spark that eventually involved them in Odinism or Asatru. Basically, it’s comparable to the big book of Christian stories, with the tales of Sampson, Noah, Daniel, David and Goliath, and Jesus with his loaves and fishes, that many parents get their children because stories about heroes with beautiful pictures are particularly addictive for children and might steer them toward Sunday school. Might I suggest if you have a daughter, you try something different (Amazon link to “Fearless Girls, Wise Women…” ed. by Kathleen Ragan).

From Marvel comic books to “Lord of the Rings,” Norse mythology has provided the inspiration behind many popular culture storylines and characters. Now, the Caldecott medalwinning “D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths” is back in print for the first time in 20 years. Pages of illustrations bring to life stories of the high god Odin, Thor the Thunder-god, the mischievous Loki, the Valkyrie maidens and the other gods and goddesses that populated the pre-Christian religion of the Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic and Danish peoples. The volume by Edgar Parin D’Aulaire and his wife, Ingri, was brought out of retirement by editors at the New York Review of Books Children’s Collection and includes a foreword by author Michael Chabon.

[PiPress, second item]