{"id":22524,"date":"2023-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=22524"},"modified":"2023-04-24T16:50:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:50:16","slug":"the-legends-we-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/2023\/03\/16\/the-legends-we-love\/","title":{"rendered":"The legends we love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MEDIEVAL <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

The legends we love<\/h1>\n\n
\"\"
Charming traitor <\/span><\/strong>The sightless Norse god H\u00f6\u00f0r is tricked by the mischievous Loki (centre) into killing his brother, Baldr, in an 18th-century illustration <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

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 \u201cquesting intelligence, easy charm, sexual attractiveness and relaxed relationship with ethical questions\u201d have turned him into a flawed antihero, as also reflected in recent Marvel films.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

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, \u00d3\u00f0inn, the wanderer in search of wisdom) or a concept (Valh\u00f6ll, 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 \u2013 and copious illustrations \u2013 to show how later poets, novelists, composers and the makers of films and games have adapted or appropriated the myths. <\/p>\n\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Judith Jesch, <\/strong>professor of Viking Studies, University of Nottingham <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The Norse Myths that Shape the Way We Think <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

by Carolyne Larrington <\/p>\n\n

Thames and Hudson, 320 pages, \u00a320 <\/h5>\n\n

All products were chosen independently by our editorial team. Below is an affiliate link, and we may receive a commission for purchases made. Please read our affiliates FAQ section underneath the Letters page to find out more.<\/p>\n\n

Buy now from Waterstones<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

BRIDGEMAN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":22812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"75","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"75","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_75-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_75-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"April-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"April-2023","purple_external_id":"April-2023-75-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"April-2023-75-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000085643||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000085643||","purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"de2d4977-6998-4200-99aa-454f8dbebdf9","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-04-24T14:36:21Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"95981141-9378-46fe-b529-1c769d45ac82","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-04-24T14:50:22Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AlZgRQZN4Rv61KRx2nUWsgg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\""},"categories":[20],"tags":[46],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Norsemyths-tn-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Norsemyths-tn-scaled.jpg",2560,1718,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Norsemyths-tn-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Norsemyths-tn-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Norsemyths-tn-768x515.jpg",768,515,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Norsemyths-tn-1024x687.jpg",800,537,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Norsemyths-tn-1536x1031.jpg",1536,1031,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/Norsemyths-tn-2048x1374.jpg",2048,1374,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"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…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22524"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22991,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22524\/revisions\/22991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}