The tales of the Norse gods, of the giants, demons, trolls and dwarves, still have the power to fascinate more than a thousand years after they were first told. Here are the stories of the one-eyed god Odin, the all-seeing, who from his throne in Asgard, the home of the gods, has to prepare for Ragnarok, the final conflict between good and evil. There are tales too of Tyr, the god of war, of the cunning Loki, of Thor, the mighty thunder god and a...

Stolen by marauding Danes, Helena's desperate to escape their camp. Her unlikely savior comes, a fierce Viking chieftain named Hakan, who takes her to the frozen north. Hakan wants to lay down his sword and live a peaceful farmer's life. Past betrayal left him cold to love, yet the Frankish woman who keeps his longhouse thaws his icy heart. Helena wasn't born a slave. She wants nothing more than to return home, yet her stoic master fascinates her...he's...

Learn all about the Norse gods and other topics in Norse mythology.

A collection of rarely retold tales from the "Elder Edda" and the "Younger Edda," two six-hundred-year-old Norse manuscripts.

Consider the relations between the Norse gods and normal, everyday human beings. What does it look like to compare pre-Christian Norse paganism with the Judeo-Christian communities of today (including their holy days)? What can we learn from relics unearthed from archaeological sites, such as Lunda?

The worldview of the medieval Norse didn't deny human beings access to some of the power of the gods. Rather, it embraced the belief that mortals could have a limited command of them. The secret was: spells, runes, blessings, oaths, and curses. Learn about Norse magic channeled through the spoken and written word.

Consider why stories and characters from Norse myth remain so popular today (albeit in a distorted form), and how they've shaped iconic works of modern literature and film. Also, get tips on the best way to explore the terrain of these myths, both in their earliest sources and in the landscape that still exists.

A young boy must slay Fafnir, a shape-shifting ogre who has transformed himself into a dragon Fafnir lives with his family in a fortress-like house deep in the forest. His father, descended from an archdemon, shares the secrets of the dark arts with Fafnir and his two brothers. Regnir, the eldest, is a deformed dwarf who lusts after gold and relies on his cunning to get it. Hungering only for food, Oter, the middle brother, can transform himself...

Gods and giants bestride these ancient tales, in which warrior queens and noble heroes battle with elves, dwarves, and fearsome monsters. Spanning the dawn of the world's creation to its fiery destruction, these gripping Norse legends chronicle the triumphs and tragedies of a lost era. Resounding with a poetic instinct for the picturesque, the dramatic, and the human, they form vivid portraits of the characters' personalities. They also depict the...