I have a fairly weak grasp of Scandinavian myths.
I have vague ideas, I know that most of it uses battle as a metaphor for natural processes. (The Sun and Moon are fighting wolves, the Seasons are Odin and Laufey fighting)
I've tried to read the Prose Edda (or listen to it on Youtube rather) But it's a little too dense for me to actually understand.
What books does /lit/ recommend for better understanding Norse Myth?
>>7692421
Scandanavia was a meme author, and had no discernible talent. he was shitposting, and is literally genre tier fiction. clearly a juvenile author.
>>7692422
Thanks anon. That was very helpful.
you're going to have to actually read the eddas and reread them. they're dense and move quickly and you'll need to go back over them a few times. annotated versions are helpful.
in addition to tracking down a good translation of the eddas (i'm reading an out of copyright public domain translation), i'm going to reread the d'aulaires version because i haven't read it since i was a kid. it's super simplified but the pictures will make me nostalgic.
kalevala>norse myth
>>7692557
>Do you have a preferred translation?
not reallyI read it in original
Hello /lit/, I too am interested in mythology and want to get into it.
What would you recommend for:
-Greek
-Nordic
-Japanese
-Indian
-Egyptian
>>7692447
I got confused there, Do I have to start with the eddas, or is it okay to read the pic you posted?
Also what do you think about my pic related?
>>7694233
Sorry, pic here.
>>7692564
I'm in all likelihood not going to learn Finnish. I do appreciate your recommendation though anon.
>>7694220
I felt pretty well versed in Greek Myth after just the Iliad, Oedipus Rex and the Odyssey.
I don't know Japan to have a Mythology in the same way as Greek and Norse Myths. The stories aren't plays or poems but just loose folklore, I might be completely off base there.
By Indian myth do you mean Hindu scripture? Or are there older stories that I'm unaware of?
>>7695834
Ok so starting with Oyssey is okay?
About the Japanese. I just want to learn more about the gods, yokai, beings, folklore and stuff. I thought there was a good book about it; or maybe I should look for another medium to learn about it.
And yeah, I'm talking about Hindu stuff. Shiva, Vishnu, Parvati, Sarasvati and all that stuff.
>>7695846
Read the Iliad first, then the Odyssey.
Go with Fitzgerald for both.
>>7694220
>-Indian
Entry level is Mahabharata and Ramayana. As far as my understanding of history goes, there are many canons for them but I only know two: the original Indian, and the Javanese adaptation. Both have the same general plot, but differ in some key plot points and characters.
>>7694220
I'm interested in japanese mythology too
>>7692422
Everything is dumb when you don't understand what's behind it.
>>7692421
Snurre stursson i belive his name is made some somewhat good translations if the old sagas and the Voluspa to modern language. Other than that, the Icelandic sagas and just finding the Eddas will give some ideas about the most popular myths.
>>7695846
The Iliad is the war that Odysseus is on his way home from in the Odyssey.
But that should be enough to start with as long as you have some basic knowledge of the Greek Pantheon.
>>7696550
An author under that name has a book called "The Heimskringla:A History of Norse Kings". And it sounds neat so I'm getting it. Thanks anon.
>>7696650
Also, depending on what languages you speak, any Scandinavian language has a dozen good collections of the stories.
>>7696550
No, Snorre Sturrlason was a 13th century Icelandic chieftain, writing the "newer edda" and Heimskringla. He didn't translate anything into "modern language"
The older edda is a collection of poems and stuff from various unknown authors. It was lost for many centuries until discovered under a mattress on Iceland in like the 1600s.
The newer edda (By Snorre) is written in prose and is basically just him writing down the folk tales of the time regarding the mythology, and Heimskringla is a history of Norwegian kings from something like the 900s until 1200s. It's likely not entirely historically accurate (as he recounts events that happened centuries before his time), but it's one of the only good historical sources we have from this period.
Norse sagas are often very dry to read because it has complex webs of inconsequential characters that all have to be mentioned even if they aren't important to the story. This is because it was intended for the contemporary audience, and these people would be real people, intended to give the story credibility.
Also norse poems don't really rely on rhymes, but on alliteration. I don't know how well this is translated to English.
>>7696918
I stand corrected, was Snorre not a priest though? I just know of no older texts assembled, than these eddas and the Voluspa, I've been looking around in most of Scandinavia, whenever I passed an odd bookstore
>>7696960
Voluspa is in the older edda (poetic edda). I think it's the very first part of the text.
>>7697020
It's like a "short" poetic resume of everything from creation to ragnarok, that much I am certain of
>>7694220
>>7696460
>Japan
>mythology
Kojiki (Record of Times Past) and Nihon Shoki (The Chronicle of Japan). Both contain the creation and foundation myths; the first part of both focus heavily on the important Shinto deities (Izanami-no-Mikoto, Amaterasu-no-Omikami, Susano, etc.) Your typical Okami shit.
>folklore
This is a lot harder to track down since it's only loosely connected to the official texts of Shinto, but Lufcadio Hearn's Kwaidan is a good place to start. The work of Toriyama Sekien is also useful.
>Greek
Start with the Greeks.
Read the Iliad/Odyssey and the Metamorphoses for sure. Might be worth picking up a copy of Bullfinch.
>India
Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita are probably good places to look. Indian mythology is pretty vast though.
>Egyptian
Book of the Dead and Pyramid Texts. I think there's also some attestation by Plutarch. Egyptian myth was mostly oral.
>Nordic
Eddas.
