Vikings and gods and elves, o my!

You can never have too many translations of a piece you're studying! It was with glee that I read a small part of Carolyne Larrington's translation of the Poetic Edda while reading up on Voluspa and Gylfaginning. After some searching, I found the book online and bought it, as much for my studies as for myself. I am not disappointed and would really advise anyone that wants to read the Poetic Edda in English to get themselves a copy of this translation. It contains both the mythological and the heroic poems of the Elder Edda and really brings the poems to life in a contemporary voice.

Voluspa starts as follows:

Attention I ask from all the sacred people,

greater and lesser, the offspring of Heimdall;

Father of the Slain, you wished that I should declare

the ancient histories of men and gods. Those which I

remember from the first.

So, I like mythology (or folklore)… where do I start?

Ok, I'm not going to act as if I'm the guru on this topic, but I can give a few pointers with regards to books that I like or have found helpful.

If you just want an overview of world mythology or a certain mythology (e.g. Norse), have a look around for an encyclopedia of mythology. These books help to give you a feel of the different myths and some of the key characters. I quite like The Complete Dictionary of Symbols in Myth, Art and Literature (ed. Jack Tresidder). Then there is always the Bulfinch Mythology books – as a classic being reprinted, it is easy to get and a lot cheaper than many of the books out there and probably available as a free e-book as well.

If your favourite authors make use of mythology in their books, have a look where they get their inspiration. (Like Tolkien? Why not get your hands on a copy of Beowulf?) Or have a look at the actual works of different mythology – for the Norse & Germanic there is the Elder and Younger Edda, if you want to learn more about the Finnish mythology, get a copy of the Kalevala. Classical Mythology more to your taste? Try the Iliad and the Odyssey.

For Norse mythology I find John Lindow’s Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs very helpful to refresh the memory.

Mythology Books Recently Stumbled Upon:

The Mythical Creatures Bible by Brenda Rosen – “The Definitive Guide to Legendary Beings”
- This book not only covers many well and little-known creatures of myth and legend, but also some of the gods of the different religions.
- Includes helpful tables describing different types of dragons, giants, etc.

Myths & Legends: An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins and Meanings by Philip Wilkinson.
- Includes some pieces on Africa, The Americas and Oceania, though focusing a lot more on the mythologies of Europe, West and Central Asia and South and East Asia.


What I am working on:

After being away from www.sffworld.com for almost two months, I am working on a flash piece for their September Flash Fiction competition. I have also started musing about a type of follow-up for "A Dragon's Freedom", also set in Airthai, but with a glance at the Sundered Lands to the south, where the Dragon Guardians came from.

I have decided to rather put a novel-length work on the back burner for now while I finish my postgrad studies. It is a lot easier to focus on a small work and is also helping to flesh out more of the places on the Airthai map that I still know fairly little about.

An Airthai map: Busy re-drawing some of my Airthai maps (yes, I still do it the low-tech way, by hand), mostly to make them a bit neater around the edges and, most importantly, sticking to one language (either English or Afrikaans).

Also updating and re-typing the Airthai timeline. Will put a shortened version up when it's ready. Holding thumbs it will be at the same time as the map and before the end of September.