Children of Odin

The great Norse myths come alive in this luminous collection, where gods walk among mortals and fate weaves its inexorable thread through every tale. Pádraic Colum captures the terrible beauty of the Viking worldview: a cosmos where wisdom demands sacrifice (Odin surrenders his eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom), where strength serves honor (Thor wields his hammer to defend both gods and giants), and where even the mightiest must face the twilight of the gods. Here are stories crackling with action, Loki's shape-shifting mischief, the forging of magical weapons, the gathering of heroes by Valkyries, and terrible battles against dragons and frost giants. Yet beneath the adventure lies something darker: the inexorable approach of Ragnarok, when fire and ice will consume everything the gods have built. Colum writes with a poet's ear and a storyteller's instinct, making these ancient tales feel urgent and fresh. Whether encountered in childhood or revisited in adulthood, this collection reveals why Norse mythology continues to captivate, the gods are neither wholly good nor evil, and their world ends as all worlds must, in a blaze of glory and grief.