The Strangest Norse Lore Retellings

by Bjørn Larssen
|
6 books
I am a Norse heathen. Unlike most faiths, we don’t have a Holy Book. We have stories, written by drunken bards to entertain their drunken audience, and get some coin (or at least a hot meal) out of it. Those stories contradict themselves, there is no chronology that would make any sense, and even Snorri Sturluson, the author of The Poetic Edda and The Prose Edda must have suffered whiplash when writing those.
I was extremely excited to see Neil Gaiman’s re-telling was coming, and grabbed his Norse Mythology on the release day. Disappointingly, it was just that. A re-telling. Why do that when you can do anything… including an extra Edda found in a dark alley in South Boston?
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The Impudent Edda

Rowdy Geirsson, 2023
Rejoice! The trilogy of Eddas is finally complete, even though it took 800 years for the final instalment to arrive, which is almost as long as George RR Martin has spent working on The Winds of Winter. Since I am not fluent in Bostonian, I found a skilled translator and scholar, then pestered asked him for help until he broke down agreed. I truly felt Thor’s pain as he’s trying to renew his driver’s licence and clucked my tongue at Odin’s habit of sending Freya dick pics. Seriously, All-Father?

The Gospel of Loki

Joanne M. Harris, 2015
Loki, in his words, was “like a puppy who doesn’t yet know the people who adopted him” – sweet and innocent, until the other, evil Gods kept corrupting and torturing him for no reason until he had no choice but to destroy the Universe. Understandably. First they invite him to join their football tournament, next moment he’s forced to listen to Bragi playing his bagpipes, and suddenly he has to humour some rando by tying a goat to his unmentionables. (At least YouTube wasn’t a thing yet.) At this point I had to stop, because…

Why Odin Drinks: Humorous Norse Mythology Retelling

Bjørn Larssen, 2022
…I happened to be working on a humorous Norse fantasy retelling myself, and noticed that Harris’s version of Loki was slowly seeping into my own writing. As it turned out later, Joanne Harris loved my book as much as I loved hers. (Excellent taste.) When Odin and his brothers suddenly find themselves existing, they have a whole Universe to create. Unfortunately, they don’t know how to God properly and have to learn on the job. Imagine three competitive four-year-olds with infinite powers and you’ll know why we ended up with a world that contains celery, mosquitoes, and humans.

Truth and Other Lies

Lyra Wolf, 2021
Loki’s love affair with Odin left him broken-hearted. And so he suffered, until he met his future wife, Sigyn. In Basel, Switzerland. As she was busy fixing her father’s printing press. In the sixteenth century. Once Odin found out, he forbid Loki from seeing “that mortal” because he’s the gardener’s dog type. Loki puts “dis” in “disorder,” though, and has never been accused of being obedient. Reading this book is like watching a train wreck in slow motion, except you are on the train, and the views are stunning.

The Witch's Heart

Genevieve Gornichec, 2021
Most of the time, Loki steals the spotlight (blame Tom Hiddleston). In The Witch’s Heart his lover, Angrboda, gets the attention the Eddas reduced to a footnote. Far, far away from everything and everyone, especially Odin, she’s raising the children her union with Loki produced: a half-rotten girl, a wolf, and a giant serpent. Loki isn’t very good at being a father, only showing up sometimes to talk about himself and briefly warm Angrboda’s bed. He’s the least interesting part of a book that is in turns heart-warming, heartbreaking, and a slow-burning romance Loki is not included in.

Valhalla

Tom Holt, 2012
Careful what you wish for… because you might get it. With a special twist. The Old Gods haven’t stopped developing in the 9th century, which is one out of many reasons why I don’t do re-enactions. The Valhalla Group is there to fulfil your dreams! For eternity! With a trick! I’m grateful to the seer Tom Holt, not that someone as sickly and decrepit as me was ever going to end up Valhalrolled. From now on, I’m going to dream of absolutely nothing. Oh, crap. That’s literally the first page…