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10 Best Books on Norse Mythology (2026)

The best books on Norse mythology fall into two camps, the medieval Icelandic sources and the modern retellings, and each asks something different of you. Odin, Thor and Loki reach us through a handful of poems and prose texts written down in Iceland in the 1200s, so the real choice is whether you want those old words or a storyteller's smooth version of them.

Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology is the easiest way in, a short run of stories that carries the gods from the making of the worlds to their last battle. Kevin Crossley-Holland's The Norse Myths suits anyone who wants nearly every major tale in one volume, with notes on where each story comes from.

Translation matters with the Eddas, since the verse can read as stately or as plain modern English depending on who carried it over. A reference guide earns its keep once the names pile up, and a novel or an illustrated children's book can come before any of it.

1.Norse Mythology - by Neil Gaiman

Norse Mythology
Starting with the nine worlds hung on the ash tree Yggdrasil and ending with the gods' final battle, Norse Mythology strings the old episodes into one plotted arc. Neil Gaiman keeps Thor strong and slow, Loki charming and dangerous, and lets the jokes land without bending the sources. Nobody needs any background to enjoy it, and most people finish it in a weekend.
$11.99$15.95-25%
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2.The Norse Myths - by Kevin Crossley-Holland

The Norse Myths
Thirty-two myths fill Kevin Crossley-Holland's The Norse Myths, a much fuller set than the episodes Gaiman picked, and each one ends with a note tracing it back to the Eddas or the skaldic poems. He writes as a poet, so the giants' halls and the gods' bargains feel cold and strange rather than cozy. It is the retelling to keep for years, once a shorter one leaves you wanting the rest.
$15.99$22.00-27%
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3.Myths of the Norsemen - by H. A. Guerber

Myths of the Norsemen
Myths of the Norsemen dates from more than a century ago and gives each god a chapter of their own before moving on to Sigurd, the dragon and the cursed gold. Where Crossley-Holland sounds like a storyteller at a fire, H. A. Guerber sounds like a schoolteacher of her era, formal and thorough. Anyone curious how earlier generations met these myths will enjoy its period voice.
$7.99$10.99-27%
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4.The Poetic Edda - by Carolyne Larrington

The Poetic Edda
Carolyne Larrington's Oxford translation of The Poetic Edda opens with The Seeress's Prophecy, a vision of the world being made and unmade, then moves to Thor's stolen hammer, Odin's sayings and the hero poems about Helgi and Sigurd. Her English stays close to the Old Norse lines without going stiff, and short notes set up each poem. It is the book for hearing the gods in the poets' own words, a poem or two at a sitting.
$12.99$16.95-23%
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5.Edda - by Snorri Sturluson

Edda
Compiled in thirteenth-century Iceland as a handbook for young poets, Snorri Sturluson's Edda frames its best-known part as a Swedish king questioning three mysterious figures about the gods. Anthony Faulkes's Everyman translation gives all of it, including the long section on poetic language. Next to the clipped verse of The Poetic Edda, it is orderly and often funny, which makes it the easier of the two sources to start with.
$7.99$9.95-20%
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6.The Saga of the Volsungs - by Jesse L. Byock

The Saga of the Volsungs
Sigurd's killing of the dragon Fafnir sits at the center of The Saga of the Volsungs, a prose tale from medieval Iceland that grows out of the hero poems in the Edda. Jesse Byock's introduction ties the legend to the real Huns, Burgundians and Goths of the fifth century. Short and brutal, it is the saga to reach for after the Eddas, when you want the hero stories carried through to their bitter end.
$12.99$16.00-19%
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7.Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs - by John Lindow

Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
Arranged as an A-to-Z of gods, giants, places and objects after an opening section on mythic time, John Lindow's Norse Mythology answers the question every newcomer keeps asking, which is who this is. Each entry points back to the poems and sagas where the name turns up. Keep it beside a translation rather than reading it straight through.
$20.99$21.99-5%
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8.The Norse Myths: A Guide to the Gods and Heroes - by Carolyne Larrington

The Norse Myths: A Guide to the Gods and Heroes
Photographs of carved stones, metalwork and Scandinavian sites run through Carolyne Larrington's The Norse Myths, an illustrated hardcover that walks from creation through the gods and heroes to the end of the world. Unlike Lindow's dictionary, it reads as one continuous account, with passages translated from Old Norse set into the text. Of the two guides, this is the one people actually read cover to cover.
$18.99$25.95-27%
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9.The Witch's Heart - by Genevieve Gornichec

The Witch's Heart
The Witch's Heart hands the story to Angrboda, a witch Odin burned for keeping the future from him, who hides in a remote forest until Loki finds her. Genevieve Gornichec follows their marriage and their three strange children, whose fates anyone who knows the Eddas will see coming. Gaiman's Loki is a prankster, while this one is a husband and father, and the novel lands hardest once you know the myths it bends.
$13.99$14.99-7%
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10.D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths - by Ingri D'Aulaire, Edgar Parin D'Aulaire

D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
Large drawings on nearly every spread make D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths the version a child will pore over, from Odin trading an eye for wisdom to Thor dressing as a bride to win back his hammer. Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire wrote it for young readers, yet the stories keep their sharp edges. Children of about eight to twelve get the most out of it, and adults use it as a quick refresher.
$21.99$29.95-27%
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Pick your way into the Norse myths

Begin with a retelling if the names are new, move to the Eddas when you want the sources, and keep a guide close for the gods you lose track of. For novels that rework old gods, heroes and witches, browse more mythology retellings.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Poetic Edda is a collection of anonymous poems, copied in Iceland in the 1200s, that tell the myths in verse. The Prose Edda was written around the same time by one man, who retold many of those poems as connected prose and quoted them as he went. Read Snorri Sturluson's Edda first for the overall story, then The Poetic Edda for the older voices behind it.

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