{"product_id":"2940157851408","title":"Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas","description":"The prime importance of the rude fragments of poetry preserved in\u003cbr\u003eearly Icelandic literature will now be disputed by none, but there\u003cbr\u003ehas been until recent times an extraordinary indifference to the\u003cbr\u003ewealth of religious tradition and mythical lore which they contain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe long neglect of these precious records of our heathen ancestors\u003cbr\u003eis not the fault of the material in which all that survives of\u003cbr\u003etheir religious beliefs is enshrined, for it may safely be asserted\u003cbr\u003ethat the Edda is as rich in the essentials of national romance\u003cbr\u003eand race-imagination, rugged though it be, as the more graceful\u003cbr\u003eand idyllic mythology of the South. Neither is it due to anything\u003cbr\u003eweak in the conception of the deities themselves, for although\u003cbr\u003ethey may not rise to great spiritual heights, foremost students of\u003cbr\u003eIcelandic literature agree that they stand out rude and massive as the\u003cbr\u003eScandinavian mountains. They exhibit \"a spirit of victory, superior\u003cbr\u003eto brute force, superior to mere matter, a spirit that fights and\u003cbr\u003eovercomes.\"  \"Even were some part of the matter of their myths\u003cbr\u003etaken from others, yet the Norsemen have given their gods a noble,\u003cbr\u003eupright, great spirit, and placed them upon a high level that is all\u003cbr\u003etheir own.\"  \"In fact these old Norse songs have a truth in them,\u003cbr\u003ean inward perennial truth and greatness. It is a greatness not of\u003cbr\u003emere body and gigantic bulk, but a rude greatness of soul.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe introduction of Christianity into the North brought with it the\u003cbr\u003einfluence of the Classical races, and this eventually supplanted the\u003cbr\u003enative genius, so that the alien mythology and literature of Greece\u003cbr\u003eand Rome have formed an increasing part of the mental equipment of the\u003cbr\u003enorthern peoples in proportion as the native literature and tradition\u003cbr\u003ehave been neglected.","brand":"Readings LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47075403104496,"sku":"2940157851408","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940157851408_p0.jpg?v=1764106208","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940157851408","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}