A fascinating and comprehensive A-Z guide to the myths and legends of northern Europe. Recounts the major sagas and legends, from Baldrs draumar to Volsunga saga. Describes the gods, goddesses, giants, dwarfs and other supernatural creatures of Northern myth. Details the cosmology of the Norse world, from Asgard, home of the gods, to Niflheim, the place of freezing mists, to Hel, the land of the dead. Explores a wide range of related topics, such as amulets, magic, runes, and the rite of the blood-eagle. It considers a wide range of historical and literary sources, from the Latin of Tacitus to the Icelandic of Snorri Sturluson.

This is an A-Z guide to the mythology of the Vikings, with over 400 articles covering myths, gods and goddesses, giants, dwarves, elves and other supernatural creatures. It aims to provide an insight into a folklore tradition which has inspired talents as diverse as Wagner and Tolkien. A general historical introduction provides an overall perspective, and background material on the archaeology and social framework of the Norse world is provided.

A comprehensive survey of Norse myth features Scandinavian gods and trolls, heroes and monsters, lands and beliefs, in more than 1,000 entries, photos, charts, and quotations.

Once there was another Sun and another Moon, a different Sun and a different Moon from the ones we see now. Sol was the name of that Sun, and Mani was the name of that Moon. Nevertheless, always behind Sol and Mani wolves went a wolf behind each. The wolves caught on them at last, and they devoured Sol and Mani. And then the world was in darkness and cold. In those times, the Gods lived, Odin and Thor, Hödur and Baldur, Tyr and Heimdall, Vidar and Vali, and Loki, the doer of a good doer of evil. Moreover, the beautiful Goddesses lived then, Frigga, Freya, Nanna, Iduna, and Sif. Nevertheless, in the days when the Sun and Moon were destroyed, the Gods were destroyed too—all the Gods except Baldur who had died before that time, Vidar and Vali, the sons of Odin, and Modi and Magni, the sons of Thor. At that time, too, there were men and women in the world. However, before the Sun and the Moon were devoured and before the Gods were destroyed, terrible things happened in the world. Snow fell on the four corners of the earth and kept on falling for three seasons. Winds came and blew everything away. Moreover, the people of the world who had lived on despite the snow and the cold and the winds fought each other, brother killing brother until all the people were destroyed.

Every culture has in its folklore and mythology beings of immense size and strength, as well as other preternatural humanoids great or small who walk among us, serving the divine or fulfilling their own agendas. This book catalogs the lore and legends of more than 1,000 different humanoid species and individual beings, including the Titans, Valkyries, Jotnar, yōkai, biblical giants, elves, ogres, trolls and many more.

"Here there be dragons"--this notation was often made on ancient maps to indicate the edges of the known world and what lay beyond. Heroes who ventured there were only as great as the beasts they encountered. This encyclopedia contains more than 2,200 monsters of myth and folklore, who both made life difficult for humans and fought by their side. Entries describe the appearance, behavior, and cultural origin of mythic creatures well-known and obscure, collected from traditions around the world.

Authoritative, comprehensive reference incorporating the latest research on tales, literary and oral sources, and the broad-reaching cultural legacy of Norse mythology. The book describes the pagan origins of Scandinavia, the interaction between the Vikings and other Europeans, and the concept of time in Norse mythology, and gives a dictionary of deities, themes, and concepts. With 200 entries of up to four pages each, the dictionary includes both well-known characters like Thor and minor figures such as Gleipnir, the "fetter with which the wolf Fenrir was finally bound." It also includes further references about Viking and medieval Scandinavia, archaeology, etymology, the conversion of Iceland, other encyclopedias, and more.