FriggaOld2A collection of suggested reading about Heathenry.  Some of these books are available free online — links have been provided to those sources.

Primary Sources of the Myths:

Poetic Edda (also called “Elder Edda”)

  • Lee Hollander translation – a poetic translation written in an older style
  • Caroline Larrington – a modern, very readable translation
  • Henry Adams Bellows – an older translation, available free online

Prose Edda (also called “Younger Edda” or simply “Edda”)

  • Anthony Faulkes – one of the only complete translations of all parts of the Prose Edda
  • Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur – an older translation, available free online

Beowulf

  • Seamus Heaney – a modern poetic translation, highly lauded
  • Benjamin Slade – an older translation, available free online

Modern Retellings

  • The Norse Myths, by Kevin Crossley Holland – an excellent modern retelling of the myths for adults
  • D’Aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths, by Ingri D’Aulaire – an illustrated children’s book
  • Norse Mythology… According to Uncle Einar, by Jane Sibley – a comic retelling of the myths

Academic Resources

  • Teutonic Mythology, by Jacob Grimm – from 1835, a seminal work still referenced today
  • The Well and the Tree, by Paul Bauschatz – a 1982 work that has shaped modern Heathen theology
  • The Road to Hel, by H. R. Ellis Davidson – a 1943 work on Heathen beliefs about death
  • Elves in Anglo-Saxon England, by Alaric Hall – a 2007 work focusing on Heathen concepts of elves

Modern Heathen Resources

  • Essential Asatru, by Diana Paxson – a good introductory work for anyone interested in Heathenry – specifically aimed at friends and family of Heathens
  • Travels through Middle Earth, by Alaric Albertsson – a good introductory work based in the Anglo-Saxon branch of Heathenry
  • Our Troth, vol. I, II & III, by Ben Waggoner – a seminal work on modern Heathenry,  third edition published in three volumes by The Troth
  • Elves, Wights and Trolls, by Kveldulf Gundarsson – a work focused entirely on the lore surrounding various lesser spirits and wights of Heathen belief

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