MEDIEVAL
The legends we love
Why does everyone love Loki? Blame the novelists. Once, this father of monsters was considered the epitome of evil; in the original Norse myths, he is ultimately revealed to be a malicious traitor. Carolyne Larrington charts how this initially unattractive figure has been reimagined from the 1970s onwards by authors such as Diana Wynne Jones, AS Byatt and Joanne Harris. His “questing intelligence, easy charm, sexual attractiveness and relaxed relationship with ethical questions” have turned him into a flawed antihero, as also reflected in recent Marvel films.
With her previous books, Larrington has been our best interpreter of the medieval Icelandic sources of Norse mythology. In this new and very readable volume, she shows how those stories and characters have stayed alive, evolving and developing as they inspired a host of retellings and reimaginings. Each chapter focuses on a figure (for example, Óðinn, the wanderer in search of wisdom) or a concept (Valhöll, the myth of undying fame). Beginning each chapter with a summary of the Old Icelandic sources, Larrington usefully reminds the reader that, even back then, there was no authorised version. And she uses witty and perceptive summaries – and copious illustrations – to show how later poets, novelists, composers and the makers of films and games have adapted or appropriated the myths.
The range of reference is largely Anglophone and weighted towards popular culture, covering an astonishing number of recent books and films. But Larrington is also knowledgeable about earlier history, and very fond of Wagner. She not only reads and watches many reworkings of the Norse myths so that you don’t have to, but also shows how the enduring appeal of the originals comes from the way in which the myths can be employed to engage with the big questions of our own time.
Judith Jesch, professor of Viking Studies, University of Nottingham
The Norse Myths that Shape the Way We Think
by Carolyne Larrington
Thames and Hudson, 320 pages, £20
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