by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire; preface by Michael Chabon

The New York Review Children’s Collection, 2005

Image from publisher

This reprint of the D’Aulaire’s 1967 Norse Gods and Giants is bursting with life and color.  Michael Chabon’s preface will speak both to those who grew up reading this text and to newcomers.  Chabon beautifully addresses the unique style and universal appeal of Norse Myths: “almost every page that is not taken up by a giant bursting lithograph of stars and monsters is ornamented, with a smaller drawing, or with one of the curious, cryptic, twisted little margin-men, those human curlicues of fire, that so disquieted me as a kid and continue, to this day, to freak out and delight my own kids” (xi).  The reprinting vividly captures both the enthusiasm and the “disquiet” of the original lithographs.  The myths themselves are simply written and flow seamlessly from one to the next.  They are told matter-of-factly, even when the subject matter is dark or strange.  This is particularly notable in the description of Ragnarokk, “the day of reckoning when the destiny of the gods [is] decided” (140).  The gods and their foes drop like flies, and with not much more ceremony: “the archenemies, Loki and Heimdall, fell, pierced by each other’s weapons. Tyr and Garm, the hound of Hel, also killed each other” (147).  The tone of the work celebrates the myths as they may have been told long ago, but also exhibits the distance that has been created since then.  A reader’s companion at the back of the book provides a combination glossary and index for each of the characters and Norse words, including a phonetic pronunciation for reading ease (some topical words are also indexed).   

(This review was originally submitted to my Materials for Children class)