Myths and Legends of the Vikings

What stories did real Vikings tell their children, and did they mention how to tame a dragon?

The motifs of the tales of Northern Europe permeate our entire culture – from Wagner's operas to Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." The songs of the "Edda" and "Kalevala," and the Scandinavian legends of the Nibelungen stretch threads to chivalric romances and the cycle of King Arthur. Folk tales about elves, dwarfs, and trolls gave rise to the genre of fantasy – from "The Chronicles of Narnia" to "Harry Potter."

The tales born in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, in the lands we know as the territories of the fearless Vikings, are filled with the clang of swords and the magic of runes; here live the most fantastic creatures and the greatest heroes.

With legends from the world of Thor and Odin, dragons and Valkyries, the Russian reader was acquainted in the mid-19th century by historian, literary scholar, and translator Pyotr Polevoy. His collection of myths and legends of Scandinavia became a discovery for Russian schoolchildren just as much as Kuun's "Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece." After a century and a half, this book returns to us with magical illustrations by Joseph Alanen, Robert Wilhelm Ekman, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Ferdinand Lecke, Arthur Rackham, and other famous artists.