Reddit mentions of Gods and Myths of Northern Europe

Every time questions similar to this pop up, people recommend Neil Gaimen. Well, his book is not bad (I own it), but recommending it to a person asking for a detailed recount of the original myths is downright silly. It's a pretty short collection of myths retold into short-stories by Gaimen. They're well written and absolutely closely based on the original myths, but he still invents new stuff, and again, it's a novel-like retelling, not a detailed account of the actual myths. Here are some further suggestions:

Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H.R. Ellis Davidson is a great and thorough description of Nose myth and religion by an acclaimed specialist in the field. It's also laymen-friendly.

The Poetic Edda is arguably the single most important source of Norse myths. It's a collection of poems, written down in Christian times but many dating to well into the Pagan era. I've linked the new translation by Jackson Crawford (whose channel is great for learning about Norse myth, btw), but there are others.

Then there's the Prose Edda, which is likewise a very important original source. Whereas the Poetic Edda is a collection of poetry, the Prose Edda sees many of them retold into more consistent prose narrative (hence the title). As a source, however, the Prose Edda is less reliable than the Poetic, since the latter is a collection of actual Pagan myths, while the former is a compilation and retelling by an (early medieval Icelandic) Christian.

The Sagas of Icelanders important sources to Norse myth and particularly religious practice. The Sagas are actual prose stories (and good ones, too), written in the first few centuries after conversion. Figures from Norse mythology, particularly Odin, are often prominent, but the narratives tend not to primarily concern the mythology.

A notable exception is the Saga of the Volsungs, which is one of the most important narratives in Norse myth. Wagner's Ring Cycle and Tolkien's works were both heavily influenced by it. The Volsunga Saga features Norse gods, viking raids, dragon-slaying and much more.

There are more good books, but those ought to be a decent start.

I'm personally very fond of Hilda Ellis Davidson's Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. It's scholarly, it covers all the Germanic evidence not just the Scandinavian, and doesn't add anything that is not really there. And of course there's always the incomparable Snorri Sturluson. I recommend Jean Young's translation.

/u/JGwynne, I think it hearkens back to just having felt an affinity for the lore from an early age. I recollect when I was about 15 I bought a used copy of H.R. Ellison Davidson's GODS AND MYTHS OF NORTHERN EUROPE (I still have it) and referred to it often in my first Tolkien- and D&D-inspired fantasy scrawlings.

I've always been fascinated by the cosmology, too, of the Nine Worlds and Yggdrasil, so when I started my publishing services company in 2013 I called it Nine Worlds Media with little hesitation, and this later carried over when /r/TimMarquitz asked me what we should call our fledgling pub house. Ragnarok was right there on the tip of my brain, especially because I was working on a short story at the time set in the deep cold of Fimbulvinter.

Plus, I like that Ragnarok may be the "doom of the gods," but it is also the beginning of a new age. The word itself means to "conjure" a new origin or fate, so it speaks to me on many levels.

If anyone is interested, this is a great book about the actual religions surrounding the Norse deities.

Here you are. This was recommended to me by a professor of Germanic myth a few years ago, and I've read it a couple times now. It's heavily research-based.

You may be interested in the Prose Edda, which is a more systematic account. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe is also a standard text, assuming that you want something academic.

Probably the best of the outline curriculums out there is on the Troth website. I have a curriculum I developed a while back as well. Message me your email and I can send it when I get home from work.

If you are opposed to that, I would suggest starting with Gods and Myths of Northern Europe as a basic introduction.