Treasury of Norse Mythology: Stories of Intrigue, Trickery, Love, and Revenge
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- Create Date：2021-09-22 09:53:49
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Donna Jo Napoli
- ISBN：1426320981
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Summary
Classic stories and dazzling illustrations of gods， goddesses， heroes and monsters come to life in a stunning tableau of Norse myths， including those of the thunder god Thor， the one-eyed god and Allfather Odin， and the trickster god Loki。 The lyrical storytelling of award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli dramatizes the timeless tales of ancient Scandinavia。 This book is the third in the trilogy that includes the popular National Geographic Treasury of Greek Mythology and National Geographic Treasury of Egyptian Mythology。
Reviews
Pamela
，
Much like the Tales from the Arabian Nights， it’s a great overview if you don’t already know these myths。 All I knew about Norse Mythology came form Marvel and the MCU until this point， so great to actually get a case knowledge of the myths the comic characters are based on。 Napoli herself admits in the Afterword that there’s some confusion on timings and events， which is something that irked me at times。 Overall， an enjoyable book with some great stories （Thor dressing as a woman was my persona Much like the Tales from the Arabian Nights， it’s a great overview if you don’t already know these myths。 All I knew about Norse Mythology came form Marvel and the MCU until this point， so great to actually get a case knowledge of the myths the comic characters are based on。 Napoli herself admits in the Afterword that there’s some confusion on timings and events， which is something that irked me at times。 Overall， an enjoyable book with some great stories （Thor dressing as a woman was my personal favourite）。3。75/5 。。。more
Julia
，
This is one of those books that I wish I had a physical copy of for reference。 Many of the stories are featured in Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology， which I had just read last month。 Of course the retellings are a little bit different。 I'd love to see the illustrations！ This is one of those books that I wish I had a physical copy of for reference。 Many of the stories are featured in Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology， which I had just read last month。 Of course the retellings are a little bit different。 I'd love to see the illustrations！ 。。。more
Catherine
，
Truly exceptional。 A beautiful collection of stories of Loki's mischief， Odin's immeasurable thirst for wisdom， Thor's unending quest for more and more， Freyja's desperation to fill the empty gap in her soul， and Frigga's dulling pain in her heart for what she has lost that can never be given back。 Napoli takes her storytelling powers to a whole new level- she orders the chapters perfectly so that it is as if multiple stories are woven into one long epic of the gods' trials， triumphs， and relati Truly exceptional。 A beautiful collection of stories of Loki's mischief， Odin's immeasurable thirst for wisdom， Thor's unending quest for more and more， Freyja's desperation to fill the empty gap in her soul， and Frigga's dulling pain in her heart for what she has lost that can never be given back。 Napoli takes her storytelling powers to a whole new level- she orders the chapters perfectly so that it is as if multiple stories are woven into one long epic of the gods' trials， triumphs， and relationships。 The end was especially awesome- there is no other word for it。 I thought that Greek Mythology would be my favorite mythology for all of time， but now Norse is my favorite， because of this book。 。。。more
MorganJac
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Fun， easy， and quick retelling of major norse myths。
Ann
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As an introduction for kids， this is adequate， the tone is conversational and easy to understand， but it doesn’t have the stateliness of stories written for older times， which， to me， would seem more appropriate。I did like the timeline at the end of the book， there was some good information in there。
Jane Higginson
，
Really enjoyed this Norse Mythology！ I knew a lot of names of characters involved but knew little of their stories and the world， The timeline at the end of the book is very informative and I very much liked the style of the writing of this book - very quirky！
Aileene
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My first book on Norse methodology。 I appreciate the simplified telling of the tales and enjoyed reading each chapter。
Alexandria Fitzgerald
，
I really enjoyed this telling of the mythology。 There are some areas where the author makes some creative adjustments to the tells， but he explains all of them at the end of the book。For those just getting into Norse Mythology， or who just want an easy read， this is a great book for you。
Albus
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I listened to the audiobook and was VERY distracted by the reader’s （Christina Moore） lack of understanding of how many of the Norse names are pronounced。 Also the way this book was written really takes on some very polarized language， following a lot of Christianized assumptions of these tales。 Ultimately， an okay book， but I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone。
Mike
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This is a good book for beginners of Norse mythology
Pinky
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Brief overview of Norse mythology and the gods and goddesses that the myths are made about。
J i a j i a
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the amount of plot holes Norse mythology has is just。。。
Shane
，
She does a serviceable job of retelling the popular Norse myths， but she often does so while casting judgments on all the gods。 She is particularly harsh towards Odin and Thor， but kind to Frigga。 Overall pretty good though， I especially appreciated the afterword and Norse timeliness at the end of the book。
Amanda Silberzahn
，
Fun stories that weave interesting connections between what we’ve been taught are truths versus what we have been taught are only myths。 A testament to what money， power， and influence can do- or so I believe。
Sunny the Sassy
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DNF
Orianna Estelle
，
Informative and interesting。 Also depressing- the senselessness of some of the reasoning in these stories is different from other mythologies I've read。 Still， it was helpful to read Norse mythology set up in a chronological manner。 It was also interesting to notice the parallels and similarities to other mythologies。 Well told。 Informative and interesting。 Also depressing- the senselessness of some of the reasoning in these stories is different from other mythologies I've read。 Still， it was helpful to read Norse mythology set up in a chronological manner。 It was also interesting to notice the parallels and similarities to other mythologies。 Well told。 。。。more
Stuart
，
The third installment in the National Geographic mythology series。 Once again， Donna Jo Napoli combines thorough and thoughtful research with a clear， strong narrative voice to create a cohesive introduction to an ancient mythology， accompanied by beautiful and distinct illustrations， educational materials， and cultural and comparative myth asides that help place the stories and the people who told them into a context not just of their time， but the world then and since。 Though Norse paganism la The third installment in the National Geographic mythology series。 Once again， Donna Jo Napoli combines thorough and thoughtful research with a clear， strong narrative voice to create a cohesive introduction to an ancient mythology， accompanied by beautiful and distinct illustrations， educational materials， and cultural and comparative myth asides that help place the stories and the people who told them into a context not just of their time， but the world then and since。 Though Norse paganism lasted well into the Middle Ages， in many ways it can feel more remote and confusion that older and more diminished mythologies， but Napoli not only recognizes that and adjusts her take accordingly， she willfully engages it， creating a conversational tone that is at times jarring but also useful in identifying those moments which might throw the casual reader of a less self aware translation。 Definitely recommend， both for the novice and the expert。 。。。more
Robert
，
This is a fantastic look at Norse mythology for young people。 It has most of the major Norse stories in an easy to read fashion。 My favorite of the stories in the collection is one where Thor loses his hammer。 Loki then suggests that Thor dress up as a bride for the king of the ice giants。 He gets his hammer back and kills everyone their。 It follows the Norse stories from the creation of the world from the Ginnungagap to the end of the world at Ragnarock。 Their are a few disturbing scenes， parti This is a fantastic look at Norse mythology for young people。 It has most of the major Norse stories in an easy to read fashion。 My favorite of the stories in the collection is one where Thor loses his hammer。 Loki then suggests that Thor dress up as a bride for the king of the ice giants。 He gets his hammer back and kills everyone their。 It follows the Norse stories from the creation of the world from the Ginnungagap to the end of the world at Ragnarock。 Their are a few disturbing scenes， particularly the unfortunate fate of Balder and his brother Hod。 The Norse gods are not exactly the most faithful in relationships， though not to the degree of the Greek gods。 It is probably fine for most children over ten。 The gory scenes are mostly implied and not elaborated upon。 It is a good way to teach Norse mythology。 Content WarningGore- a character is bound by the organs of his childrenDeath- The main theme of most of Norse MythologyReligious Connotation- Its about the pagan gods worshiped by the Norse。 Abuse- One of the gods forces a woman to marry him。 Sexual Content- The gods are not faithful to spouses。 The normally male character Loki turns into a female horse and gives birth to a horse。 。。。more
Abigail
，
American author Donna Jo Napoli and British illustrator Christina Balit， who have also produced volumes on ancient Egyptian and classical Greek mythology， as well as the stories of the Bible， and the Arabian Nights， here explore the world of Norse mythology。 As with the two other mythological titles， Napoli begins with the creation of the world， discusses the division of the cosmos into levels， and the role of the great tree Yggdrasil in nurturing all。 The conflicts between the Aesir gods， who l American author Donna Jo Napoli and British illustrator Christina Balit， who have also produced volumes on ancient Egyptian and classical Greek mythology， as well as the stories of the Bible， and the Arabian Nights， here explore the world of Norse mythology。 As with the two other mythological titles， Napoli begins with the creation of the world， discusses the division of the cosmos into levels， and the role of the great tree Yggdrasil in nurturing all。 The conflicts between the Aesir gods， who lived in Asgard， and the Vanir gods， who lived in Vanaheim， are covered， as are the conflicts between the gods and the frost and fire giants。 The adventures of Thor， the many depredations of the trickster Loki - these and other stories are all told。 The narrative concludes with the great battle of Ragnarok， which ended the cosmos as they then existed， and ushered in a new era。 The final section of the book includes a historical afterword， a timeline， a list of characters， a bibliography， and an index。。。After greatly enjoying this team's Treasury of Egyptian Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods， Goddesses， Monsters & Mortals， only to find their Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods， Goddesses， Heroes & Monsters far less pleasing， due to the author's intrusive moralizing， I approached Treasury of Norse Mythology: Stories of Intrigue， Trickery， Love， and Revenge with a bit of trepidation， wondering whether it would prove a pleasure or a penance to read。 Sadly， it proved to be the latter， and I ended up finding it the weakest of the three titles。 In fact， my rating of Napoli & Balit's books has fallen consistently， from four stars for the Egyptian volume， to three stars for the Greek， to this， two stars for the Norse。 Not only did Napoli's unfortunate habit of offering intrusive moral judgments on her characters continue here， but she also had a tendency to use a childish tone and vocabulary that felt unsuited to the stories she was telling。 As I mentioned in my review of the Greek volume， it isn't necessarily the case that I disagree with Napoli's conclusions - yes， Thor was frequently self-important and unjust; yes， there is a cowardice to the Aesir slaying Loki's sons， in order to punish him - but I don't need the author to form those conclusions for me。 The inclusion of this constant moralizing not only feels condescending to the reader， but it throws them out of the story， reminding them that they， like the narrator， are outsiders to the culture being depicted， standing in judgment of it。 The use of slangy contemporary words - the mason being "googly-eyed" over Freyja， the fact that the thralls gave their children "yucky" names， the exclamation of "yikes， and double yikes" when Thor confronts the giant - felt completely off。 The worst of these moments is the one in which the narrator informs us that "Yes， indeed， Heimdall was important。 Majorly。" This kind of Valley Girl-speak felt wildly incongruous to me， in a retelling of such ancient stories。Leaving aside such textual and storytelling issues， I found that I was not， to my very great surprise， pleased with the artwork either。 The entire reason I tracked down these volumes was my great love for Christian Balit's work， so this was quite a shock。 Although these paintings use the same vibrant colors， gold accents and decorative borders as her others， the human figures were， atypically， quite ugly， something I found difficult to understand。 As someone who admires the artist's style， this judgment is not based on a rejection of that style。 I have enjoyed her work in every other one of her books that I have picked up。 I think the trouble here is that Balit almost always depicts Middle Eastern and/or Mediterranean peoples in her work。 Perhaps she wanted these northern European figures to look different？ Whatever the case might be， the coloring and composition here was wildly off， and some of the facial features looked incongruous。 While I didn't particularly enjoy the narrative in Treasury of Greek Mythology， I at least appreciated the visuals， whereas here， I didn't even have that。In sum， this is not a collection I would recommend。 Fellow Balit fans can do far better elsewhere， as can those readers seeking a children's overview of Norse mythology。 I recommend the classic D'Aulaires' Norse Gods & Giants， recently republished as D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths， instead。 。。。more
Alison
，
This was a pretty cool book。 I've always been interested in mythology， so I decided to try out some Norse myths。The stories were fun and entertaining to read and easy to understand。 （I especially liked reading about Thor and Loki and comparing them to their movie counterparts！）The illustrations in this book were also pretty cool。 I love the author's writing style， and I'd recommend this book to people of all ages。 This was a pretty cool book。 I've always been interested in mythology， so I decided to try out some Norse myths。The stories were fun and entertaining to read and easy to understand。 （I especially liked reading about Thor and Loki and comparing them to their movie counterparts！）The illustrations in this book were also pretty cool。 I love the author's writing style， and I'd recommend this book to people of all ages。 。。。more
Victoria Helton
，
Excellent illustrations， but the text overlays Christian beliefs on the decidedly pre-Christian Viking myths。 This book's completely inappropriate application of contemporary standards and societal norms dissipate the tales' meanings and the heathen cultures out of which they emerged。 For one example， the slut-shaming of Freyja。 Excellent illustrations， but the text overlays Christian beliefs on the decidedly pre-Christian Viking myths。 This book's completely inappropriate application of contemporary standards and societal norms dissipate the tales' meanings and the heathen cultures out of which they emerged。 For one example， the slut-shaming of Freyja。 。。。more
Andrew Pixton
，
A small collection of Nordic stories。 It was great in being educational， complete with footnotes at the end of each section。 I don't know how accurate all of it was， but it struck me as being so。 The stories are simplified enough to be enjoyed by children and were very endearing that way。 I loved the prose of the Ragnarok description。 An excellent intro to the beliefs of my ancestors。 A small collection of Nordic stories。 It was great in being educational， complete with footnotes at the end of each section。 I don't know how accurate all of it was， but it struck me as being so。 The stories are simplified enough to be enjoyed by children and were very endearing that way。 I loved the prose of the Ragnarok description。 An excellent intro to the beliefs of my ancestors。 。。。more
Christopher Kemur
，
A good introduction for norse mythology for children。the illustration is beautiful。
Ashley
，
For my fourth WOW book review， I checked out the book Treasury of Norse Mythology by Donna Jo Napoli。 This book is a collection or folklore， or mythology， from the Norse people （those who lived in the Scandanavian area）。 Much like Greek Mythology， Norse Mythology follows the story of creation， love， betrayal， trickery， etc。 to explain the phenomenons on earth such as night and day， and many more。 I would suggest this book to be used by any 4th or 5th grade student because there are so many stori For my fourth WOW book review， I checked out the book Treasury of Norse Mythology by Donna Jo Napoli。 This book is a collection or folklore， or mythology， from the Norse people （those who lived in the Scandanavian area）。 Much like Greek Mythology， Norse Mythology follows the story of creation， love， betrayal， trickery， etc。 to explain the phenomenons on earth such as night and day， and many more。 I would suggest this book to be used by any 4th or 5th grade student because there are so many stories to keep up with， but the book does a great job of separating them， and providing reminders throughout the stories （on the side of the page） to help。 This book also includes diagrams and images to help understand the stories being told。 If I were to use this book in a classroom， I would use it to compare and contrast various stories between Greek and Norse Mythology。 In our modern day culture， there are a lot of references to Greek Mythology （as well as Roman and Egyptian Mythology）， but not much to Norse。 Yet， as I read the stories， I came upon many similarities and differences between the two。 Using this collection of tales in pair with another collection， creates a great opportunity to explicitly teach the compare and contrast strategies for reading comprehension。The Treasure of Norse Mythology was a WOW book to me because it was the telling of stories that I had not read before。 Being a huge MARVEL fan， I did not realize that they pulled direct characters and stories from Norse Mythology （the characters Thor and Loki， as well as their father， Odin）。 The entire line of Thor movies are based off of these stories and it was so much fun to read the origin and think of the connections as I read。 It even makes me want to go back and watch the movies again！ I’ve always loved reading mythological stories， growing up I was obsessed with Percy Jackson （a series by Rick Riordian）， and so reading this book filled my knowledge even more with a new kind of mythology that I did not know that much about。 Reading this book and doing more research on Norse Mythology， even led me to see that Rick Riordian wrote a trilogy based on Norse Mythology， which I might just have to take a look at。 。。。more
Debra Palmer
，
Not know much about Norse Mythology I learned a little bit by reading three stories in this book。 I read Shape-Shifters， Thor the Greedy， and Destruction。 Each one of these stories was unique in its own way。 In Shape-Shifters a mason comes to the gods saying that he can rebuild a wall for them in exchange for the sun， the moon， and marriage to Freyja。 Loki convinces that others that this mason is up to no good， so he convinces the others that the mason should have six months to rebuild the wall。 Not know much about Norse Mythology I learned a little bit by reading three stories in this book。 I read Shape-Shifters， Thor the Greedy， and Destruction。 Each one of these stories was unique in its own way。 In Shape-Shifters a mason comes to the gods saying that he can rebuild a wall for them in exchange for the sun， the moon， and marriage to Freyja。 Loki convinces that others that this mason is up to no good， so he convinces the others that the mason should have six months to rebuild the wall。 The mason agrees as long as his stallion can help him， even though the mason is very strong himself。 The gods agree and the mason gets started right away。 All is going too well， so one night a white mare comes and steals the stallion away， losing a night of work for the mason， enraged him so much that the mason turned into what he really was-a huge rock giant！ Sometime later Loki returns after being gone and has a colt with eight legs， Sleipnir， following him around。 Loki had been the white mare and was now the mother to this colt。 Odin became very fond of the colt， so Loki gave Sleipnir to Odin。In Thor the Greedy， Thor and Loki are traveling looking for giants， when they come across a farm house and seek shelter for the night。 The family doesn't have much to offer them， but Thor offers up his goats as long as they put the bones back on the skin。 The farmer's son， Thjalfi can not seem to let good marrow go to waste， so he splits a thighbone and throws it in the bone pile。 When Thor goes to use his magic hammer in the morning to recreate the goats， he notices that one is limp。 Since he knows that it is someone in the family to cause this he takes Thjalfi and his sister， Roskva as servants。 Well the four of them leave to go look for giants。 The next night they find a hall to sleep in， until they are awoken by a loud shaking， so thinking that it is an earthquake they go to a side room and Thor stands guard， but no one really sleeps， because the rumbling keeps occurring occasionally at different times during the night。 When they wake they find that they are sleeping in a giant's glove and it was a giant that was snoring that was causing the rumbling。 The giant， Skrymir， joins the travelers on their journey。 During that next night while Skrymir sleeps Thor takes his hammer and hit Skrymir in the head trying to kill him three times， but each time Skrymir was not fazed by the hit。 The next day Skrymir tells the other four to go home because there are bigger giants them him ahead。 Not heading the warning they follow Skrymir to a hall where the four squeeze through the gate rods。 Once inside the Giant King challenges Loki， to eat faster then Logi， Thjalfi， to run faster then Hugi， and because Thor couldn't stand to lose he took on three challenges， a drinking challenge， a weight lifting challenge， and a wrestling challenge。 Everyone lost their challenge。 They discover that the Giant King is really Skrymir who used illusion on in all of the challenges。 Even after Skrymir pointed out that they should not be so greedy， Thor stopped by the farm to get his goats and kept Thjalfi and Roskva as his servants too。Destruction is how the gods came to an end。 In the story there was a war that went on that took out the nine cosmos and cleansed the earth。 In the end there were only two humans left， Lif and Lifthrasir。 They would have children。 Then their children would have children。 Then their children would have children。 The cosmos would start again。Not knowing much about Norse mythology I found myself getting very involved with the stories。 Reading the introductory was very helpful。 This book would be good for older age readers， 11-13。 The stories are longer and have much bigger plots that are difficult to follow along for a younger reader， even if read to by an adult。 I love under the title is says， "Stories of intrigue， trickery， love， and revenge"。 I would say I found a story about trickery by reading the Shape-Shifter， intrigue by reading Destruction， but just by selecting stories based on titles， I never found love or revenge。 Guess I need to read some more。Christina Balit's cover is amazing with the hints of "gold" in the lettering and in the graphics， but once I got to looking at the pictures I was not overwhelmed by the illustrations。 In looking through the book I was impressed with Skrymir， the giant， because you see Thor hitting him in the head while he asleep and he has this "Awwww what happened ？" look on his face。 The god， Loki， because he looks like a schemer/mischievous。Norse mythology， creation， destruction Recommended Ages 11-13 。。。more
Christine
，
This was a pretty good introduction to Norse mythology， with illustrations， timeline， and other interesting annotations。 My kids and I read this aloud as a companion to our Viking history study。Just a parental note — although this was shelved in my library’s children’s section， there is some violence and sexual content（I know， I know it IS Norse mythology。。） that may not be appropriate for kids of all ages。 I found myself editing on the fly sometimes while reading aloud。
Esther
，
The illustrations for this book were gorgeous。 It's what made me want to read it in the first place and why I gave it two stars。 Unfortunately I disliked everything else about this book。 The abundance of punctuation errors made it very difficult to read。 I don't think a single comma was ever used after an introductory phrase。 On top of the lack of editing， the tone of the stories was a modernized， juvenile take and it didn't seem to fit at all， even if they were trying to appeal to younger audie The illustrations for this book were gorgeous。 It's what made me want to read it in the first place and why I gave it two stars。 Unfortunately I disliked everything else about this book。 The abundance of punctuation errors made it very difficult to read。 I don't think a single comma was ever used after an introductory phrase。 On top of the lack of editing， the tone of the stories was a modernized， juvenile take and it didn't seem to fit at all， even if they were trying to appeal to younger audiences。 Words like "dummy"， "weird"， "yikes"， and "googly-eyed" （among others） felt really out of place in these stories。 The author also sometimes included their opinion of the moral of the story at the end which I did not appreciate。 The cherry on top were the actual errors including the fact that Galileo invented the telescope （he did not）。 。。。more
iamlinhreadz
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Rất rất nhiều thứ mới mẻ， hay ho ^^
Aan Syahriani
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I looove the story， i just love it。 I don’t usually read about history or something but this is a good one， and the drawingss thoooo， i looove the style。 🖤
Mike
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