A full-cast dramatisation of Neil Gaiman's magical retellings of the Norse myths, inviting us into a world of gods and monsters, tricks and trust, fiery endings and new beginnings
Winner of The London Book Fair CAMEO Award 2020 for Book to Audio adaptation.
'And the game begins anew...'
Meet the trickster god Loki and his astonishing children – the giant wolf Fenrir, Jormungundr the snake that encircles the world, and Hel, the little girl who grows up to be Queen of the dead. Here, too, is Odin the all-father, who sacrificed his eye to see the future; Thor the thunderer, who defends Asgard with his fearsome strength and mighty hammer; and Freya the understandably angry, most beautiful of the gods and always being gambled for by unwanted suitors.
From the beginning of the universe in fire and ice, to the very end of the world, Ragnarok, these enthralling tales of gods, goddesses, dwarves and giants bring the ancient myths to vigorous life.
Diana Rigg, Derek Jacobi, Colin Morgan, Natalie Dormer and Neil Gaiman himself are among the stellar cast in these spellbinding stories of old betrayals – and new hope.
Norse Mythology
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
February 21, 2019 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781787534629
- File size: 41763 KB
- Duration: 01:27:00
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 830
- Text Difficulty: 4-5
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Reviews
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Neil Gaiman's retelling of Norse myths is destined to become a classic for both his sure-footed stories and his captivating performance. Listeners may be familiar with the main characters of Norse mythology--wise Odin, mighty Thor, and cunning Loki--but Gaiman delves deeper, introducing listeners to the dwarves who made Thor's hammer; Loki's half-dead daughter, Hel; and a huge cast of gods, giants, and beings who inhabit Asgard, Midgard, and the other realms of the world tree. The tales seem timeless, and Gaiman's melodic narration so strongly echoes the oral tradition of myths that it's as if the narrator has stepped out of the stories themselves. E.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine -
December 12, 2016
Having already appropriated Odin and Loki for his novel American Gods, Gaiman turns his restless imagination to a retelling of Norse folklore (a youthful interest of his). He begins by introducing us to the three main mythological figures: Odin, the highest and oldest of the gods; his son, Thor, who makes up in brawn what he lacks in brains; and Loki, offspring of giants and a wily trickster. In a series of stories, we learn how Thor acquired his famous hammer, Mjollnir, how Odin tricked a giant into building a wall around Asgard, the home of the gods, how Loki helped Thor retrieve his hammer from the ogre that had stolen it, and how a visit to the land of the giants resulted in the humbling of Thor and Loki. In most of the stories, a consistent dynamic rules as one god tries to get something over on another god, but novelist that he is, Gaiman also provides a dramatic continuity to these stories that takes us from the birth of the gods to their blood-soaked twilight. Employing dialogue that is anachronistically current in nature, Gaiman has great fun in bringing these gods down to a human level. Like John Gardner in Grendel, a classic retelling of Beowulf, and Philip Pullman in his rewriting of Hans Christian Andersen stories, Gaiman takes a well-worn subject and makes it his own. -
April 24, 2017
Gaiman is a talented storyteller, as both writer and a narrator. In his latest audiobook, he turns both talents to an imaginative retelling of old Norse folklore. The figures in these myths are well-known to most people: Odin, the highest and oldest of the gods; his son Thor the Thunderer; and Loki, his conniving and treacherous blood brother. They, along with the other gods who inhabit Asgard, live in a universe of giants, elves, dwarves, and men. Gaiman chronicles the history of these gods and their varied adventures from the beginning of their creation to their ending at the final battle of Ragnarok, and on to their eventual renewal. Gaiman’s affection for these myths is evident throughout the audiobook. His gods bellow and rage and whine and battle and plot, but his reading is never over the top. His mellow British-accented voice keeps the pace consistent, hits all the right dramatic notes, and brings new life, for a new generation to discover, to these ancient stories. A Norton hardcover.
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