The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes translated and narrated by Jackson Crawford

One of my favourite authors, JRR Tolkien, has a heavy debt to pay to the Old Norse Poetic and Prose Edda, which are writings that date back to the 13th century when Christian priests recorded the old poems. Considering that the ancients, for whom these poems were living, breathing cultural objects, had primarily an oral tradition, if these early scholars had not recorded the verses, they'd no doubt be lost in the mists of time. Thanks to their dedication, we have some ideas of the beliefs and culture of our Scandinavian ancestors. The irony of Christians preserving artefacts of Heathenry is not lost on me.

I will admit that The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes, translated and narrated by Jackson Crawford, is my first serious dip into the source material that has informed so many of my favourite TV series, films, and books. And while Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology is still lurking in my TBR pile, I'm altogether keen to get to the actual source material before I take up Gaiman's book. When the time comes, it will be interesting to make comparisons.

What I enjoyed about Crawford's writing and narration is that not only does he have a lovely, melodious voice and exquisite pronunciation, but he also offers a little background information about each of the poems before he plunges into the reading that helps to establish context. I'll admit that I was initially somewhat hesitant, fearing that the verses would be dry. How wrong I was. Many of these myths are familiar to me, thanks to the many years that I've been delving into mythology, but with Crawford's telling, the stories came alive as close to the original source material as we can get.

Some of the sayings that were included I reckon are still relevant to this day, which is something indeed. Not that I'm about to go a-viking anytime soon. I'd love to know more Old Norse, because I suspect that not all the imagery and subtleties translate all that well into English, but I feel Crawford still did an excellent job with this work. I'll happily recommend the audiobook to anyone who wants to learn more about the philosophy, culture, and cosmology of the ancient Scandinavians, who in their fatalism (there's A LOT of death, treachery and bloodshed in this book) still managed to live their lives to the fullest. This title was included in my Audible subscription, and was worth every moment.