Norse of a different colour
The gods of Asgard star in a collection of short stories from a fantasy supremo.
No doubt Taika Waititi is doing a bang-up job directing Thor in the upcoming Marvel movie. But for those who’ve had enough super-Thor, it’s a relief to get a different incarnation. A Thor who is a bit thick. A Thor woefully unable to lift a cat or win a wrestling match against an old woman. It makes us feel better about our Valhallasized student loan and inability to secure a job or afford a flat.
The flawed Thor is the star of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, a collection of 15 myths retold. Fans of the British fantasy writer will recall the oafish Thor and his slippery brother Loki from his comic series Sandman.
Norse Mythology builds on those characters, and makes them act more like frat boys than immortals. Loki and Thor’s relationship is the uneven trust of siblings. Thor always assumes it’s Loki’s fault – and when it isn’t, his next step is to seek Loki’s advice.
Some of the retellings are less engaging than others – perhaps because of Gaiman’s mandate to stay as close to the original tales as possible. The book sometimes feels unremarkable, a light fantasy to slip in and out of.
But many stories have Gaiman’s trademark enchantment. His story about Loki and Thor, who compete against Fire, Thought and Age to earn a great feast, for example. During the competition, Thor releases the Earth, allowing it to spin by lifting the great serpent coiled around it. Thor doesn’t care how he has given us day and night, only that he has proved
his strength.
Gaiman is well regarded for writing diverse characters. The Sandman: A Game of You, Coraline, and The Ocean at the End of the
Lane have transgendered and gay women and also strong girls – who are complete people integral to his plots. He must have been challenged to find a way to bring personality to the women of Norse mythology, who are usually as useful as flowerpots.
When he makes room for the women to speak, his stories deepen dramatically. Loki’s giant’s lovechild, Hel, is a
patchwork of dead body bits and fresh features. When the brothers’ father, Odin, hears of her, he confronts Loki, who tries “to look ashamed but succeeded simply in looking pleased with himself”.
Hel is made queen of the dead, who “die in unworthy ways, of disease or old age”, as opposed to those who die in battle. And wonderfully, creepily, “Hel smiles with half a mouth”.
So, if you want to know how beautiful poetry came from deceit, lies and trickery, how the ocean was made level or simply how to deal with a sibling who, when drunk and bored, will render your wife permanently bald as you sleep, Norse Mythology is required reading.
When Gaiman makes room for the women of Norse mythology to speak, his stories deepen dramatically.