Hello, my name is Finn, and I'm going to help you understand this book.
Here it is, explained like you are 10:
This book tells the old stories of the Norse gods. A Norse god is a god from the cold lands of the north, like Norway. Odin is their chief. Thor is the strong one with the hammer. Loki is the tricky one who loves making trouble. The stories tell how their city was built, how Loki's tricks helped and harmed them, and how even gods must face the end of their world one day.
This book tells the whole story of the Norse gods, from the making of the world to its end. Odin gives an eye for wisdom. Thor fights giants with his hammer. Loki, the trickster, helps the gods and betrays them by turns. Iduna keeps the apples that stop the gods growing old, and Baldur, the brightest of them all, meets the death the gods most fear. At last comes Ragnarok, the final battle.
Padraic Colum built the book as one long chain of stories in four parts, so each tale leads into the next and the whole thing reads like a single saga, which is a long story of heroes and gods. He kept the true order of the myths and their sad ending. Willy Pogány's pictures of the gods, wolves and world tree run through the book and match its mood.
It works because Colum does not soften the myths into cartoons. The gods are funny, foolish, brave and doomed, all at once, and children can feel that these stories mean something big. The writing sings quietly, like a story told in winter. Readers come away knowing the northern world of gods, and wanting to visit again.
The Children of Odin, published in 1920, is Padraic Colum's retelling of the Norse myths for readers, and for many it remains the best first door into that world. Colum follows the whole arc: the building of Asgard's wall, Iduna and her apples, Loki's mischief, the death of Baldur, and Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. Colum writes with a singer's ear, keeping the myths' strangeness and sadness, and Willy Pogány's illustrations complete the spell.
The Children of Odin, published in 1920, is Padraic Colum's retelling of the Norse myths for young readers, and for many it remains the best first door into that world. Colum follows the whole arc: the building of Asgard's wall, Iduna and her apples of youth, Thor's journeys and Loki's mischief, the death of Baldur, and on through to Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. An Irish poet and storyteller, Colum writes with a singer's ear, keeping the myths' strangeness and melancholy rather than smoothing them into simple adventures, and Willy Pogány's illustrations complete the spell. These are the real myths, grand, funny and sad by turns.
Starvard carries The Children of Odin because a library of stories for the young needs the northern myths told whole, not in fragments, and nobody tells them whole better than Colum. The book treats children as ready for real things: fate, loss, courage and an ending for the gods themselves. Readers who have worn out their Greek myths and want the colder, stranger north, fans of Thor and Loki in any form, and families looking for a mythology to read aloud over many evenings will all find this a book to keep.
Edition: Text: Project Gutenberg ebook 24737.
The first chapter
Master storyteller Padraic Colum's rich, musical voice captures all the magic and majesty of the Norse sagas in his retellings of the adventures of the gods and goddesses who lived in the Northern paradise of Asgard before the dawn of history.
Here are the matchless tales of All-Father Odin, who crosses the Rainbow Bridge to walk among men in Midgard and sacrifices his right eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom; of Thor, whose mighty hammer defends Asgard; of Loki, whose mischievous cunning leads him to treachery against the gods; of giants, dragons, dwarfs and Valkyries; and of the terrible last battle that destroyed their world.
These ancient stories from Northern Europe, which make up one of the great myth cycles of Western civilization, spring to life in The Children of Odin. This classic volume, first published in 1920 and reissued in 1962, is now available for the first time in paperback, illustrated with the original line drawings by Willy Pogany, to inspire a new generation of readers.
The late Padraic Colum was a poet, playwright, founder of the Irish Review and a leader of the Irish Renaissance, but he is perhaps best known today for his outstanding books for children. He was awarded the Regina Medal in 1961 for his "distinguished contribution to children's literature," honoring works like The Children's Homer, The Golden Fleece (a Newbery Honor Book), The Arabian Nights, The King of Ireland's Son and Roofs of Gold.
THE CHILDREN OF ODIN
Source: Project Gutenberg. Published 1920. Author died 1972. Public domain in the United States. Share this book: WhatsApp
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