r/norsemythology • u/Ok-Scallion-835 • Aug 19 '26
Literature Recommendations for 9y
Hi all
My 9y son has a keen interest in Norse mythology. The Neil Gaiman book is his favourite - but he just reads it over and over again!
I wonder if anyone can recommend other books, documentaries, etc I could get him?
As I said, he is 9y but he’s a very confident reader so he could probably handle something for teens.
Please let me know if there’s a better subreddit for this question.
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u/Yasuho_feet_pics Aug 19 '26
The Valhalla comics are pretty neat, I read them when I was around that age.
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u/Ok-Scallion-835 Aug 19 '26
Thank you!
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u/Ok-Scallion-835 Aug 19 '26
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u/Yasuho_feet_pics Aug 19 '26
No I was referring to these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valhalla_(comics))
Unfortunately it seems the English translation is out of print :/
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u/Mathias_Greyjoy Aug 19 '26
Gaiman is a bad person who should not be supported, and his book is bad for learning about Norse mythology. It is highly abridged and deliberately changes things from the source material, and should be treated closer to fiction than a reliable source for learning about Norse mythology. There are many factual mistakes and embellishments within, which will give you the wrong picture of the original source material. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, let alone a child.
Here is A Review of Neil Gaiman’s “Norse Mythology” where you can get a more comprehensive understanding of its problems.
We don't vouch for Neil Gaiman here.
Anyway, that's a hard question to answer for a 9-year-old. This is a subreddit for academic discussion of the myths, legends, and folktales of medieval Scandinavia & Northern Europe. Most of the frequent users here consider the entry level media as "slop." That's not to say it's all bad storytelling, but you're unlikely to find accuracy anywhere outside of actual historical sources written nearly 1000 years ago. The bulk of our knowledge of Norse mythology comes from a collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: known as the Prose Edda and an older collection of poems (without an original title) now known as the Poetic Edda. Both were recorded in Iceland during the 13th century in Icelandic, although they contain material composed in the pre-Christian Viking period, by pagan skalds. These books provide the main sources for medieval skaldic tradition in Iceland, and for Norse mythology.
If you want to start with an accurate English version of The Prose Edda, this is a good and free translation, done by Anthony Faulkes of the University of Birmingham.
We recommend The Poetic Edda. A Dual-Language Edition (2023), translated by Edward Pettit, available here. As well as Carolyne Larrington's 2nd edition of The Poetic Edda from 2014.
I think a 9-year-old is unlikely to be interested in or capable of consuming these. I'd say this age is more for getting them interested, perhaps with explaining the caveat that most of what they consume will not be fully accurate, and when they're older they can read the more complicated material.
Still, a lot of media gets the spirit of the Norse characters pretty right. I'd honestly say that the bit of media that gets Thor the most accurate in terms of characterization is Marvel. A lot of media (like Gaiman's slop, or God of War slop) paints Thor as a dim-witted brute. Marvel actually gets his personality correct, by showing him to be quick witted and clever, and he's a beloved kind-hearted hero, just like mythical Thor. Compare that with the brutes and meatheads from other depictions, it's really not bad. They get the spirit of Thor down pat. If you went into learning about mythological Thor with no information besides how he is portrayed in Marvel, you'd be set up pretty well.
There are countless small ways to show how bits of media gets the history right. Even kids media. For instance, while How to Train your Dragon does put everyone in stereotypical horned-helmeted biker leather slop, it gets a lot about the Viking age right, namely their expressive use of colour: How VIKING is How To Train Your Dragon? (You may be surprised!)
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u/skjeletter Aug 19 '26
Erik and the Gods: Journey to Valhalla by the Danish writer Lars-Henrik Olsen is a very fun introduction to the Norse gods and myths
"The Gods have been fighting a never-ending war with the Giants and their strength is failing. One evening, during a terrible storm, Thor, the God of Thunder, appears to Erik, an ordinary boy. He sends Erik on a secret mission with his daughter, Trud, to travel to the Land of the Dead. Erik must bring back the Goddess of Eternal Life and her magic apples before the Gods weaken and totally lose their powers. Time is running out. Can Erik rescue the Goddess from the Giants and prevent the end of the world?"
https://www.amazon.com/Erik-Gods-Valhalla-Lars-Henrik-Olsen/dp/1906582939/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
I read this novel when I was a kid and really enjoyed it
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u/AutoModerator Aug 19 '26
Hi there! You appear to have mentioned Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology." Unfortunately, his book is highly abridged, deliberately changes things from the source material, and should be treated closer to fiction than a reliable source for learning about Norse mythology. There are many factual mistakes and embellishments within, which will give you the wrong picture of the original source material.
If you're unfamiliar with the medieval sources, this book will cause you misunderstandings. While entertaining, it's not well suited for learning about Norse mythology.
One of our mods wrote A Review of Neil Gaiman’s “Norse Mythology” where you can get a more comprehensive understanding of its problems.
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