Reddit reviews The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion

I found The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion by Daniel McCoy very easy to read as well as being factual and interesting, I'd highly recommend it as an introductory guide to Norse mythology.

Welcome welcome! As this other fella pointed out the longship is great but there are some other books you could get as well. Here's my recommendations for starting material.

This book is mainly about Saxton Pagans. It's a great introduction to alot if the general ideas of Norse Mythology. It's also short, and very easily worded. Super light and easy read.

Travels Through Middle Earth. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738715360?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

This book is quite a bit of fiction. Neil is an outstanding an accomplished writer and as such even if he makes some stuff up reading the myths through his eyes is amazing and a great way to get your feet wet.

Norse Mythology https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393356183?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Now some people hate McCoy. He sometimes likes to assert his personal opinions as fact. I happen to agree with alot of what he says. This is a more scholarly approach to the myths. Once you have the basic ideas down this can be a great introduction to archaeology and the actual historical fact.

The Viking Spirit: An... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1533393036?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I've been reading The Viking Spirit off and on. It's a pretty easy read and each "chapter" is a different story, so you can skip to pretty much anywhere in the book.

Not really sure how this sub feels about Daniel McCoy though. I haven't really read much else as far as mythology, that was just one of the first things to pop up on Amazon at a decent price.

> that makes his works fundamentally a scholarly endeavor in the way that most other fantasy works aren't.

I'd say that's accurate. I mean he was literally filling in a gap in English history where he felt there should be recorded myths in the way that they existed for Germanic and Viking cultures. And considering that Scandinavian and Anglo Saxon tribes were closely related to the Germanic tribes of mainland Europe, they would have very similar traditions and stories. The Norse/Vikings even occupied portions of England at one point, so their ideas were well-propagated.

I recommend checking out The Viking Spirit by Daniel McCoy. There are a ton of great reads on Norse history out there, and this one is a great and entertaining amalgamation of many of those sources.