Song of the Vikings; Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths

By Nancy Marie Brown

Much like Greek and Roman mythology, Norse myths are still with us. Famous storytellers from JRR Tolkien to Neil Gaiman have drawn their inspiration from the long-haired, mead-drinking, marauding and pillaging Vikings. Their creator is a thirteenth-century Icelandic chieftain by the name of Snorri Sturluson. Like Homer, Snorri was a bard, writing down and embellishing the folklore and pagan legends of medieval Scandinavia. Unlike Homer, Snorri was a man of the world—a wily political power player, one of the richest men in Iceland who  came close to ruling it, and even closer to betraying it… In Song of the Vikings, award-winning author Nancy Marie Brown brings Snorri Sturluson’s story to life in a richly textured narrative that draws on newly available sources.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Oct 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9780230338845

Nancy Marie Brown

Nancy Marie Brown is the author of highly praised books of nonfiction, including Song of the Vikings and Ivory Vikings. They have been favorably reviewed in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Economist, The Times Literary Supplement, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Brown has spent decades studying Icelandic literature and culture. She lives on a farm in Vermont where she keeps four Icelandic horses and an Icelandic sheepdog.

Reviews for Song of the Vikings; Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths

[piratejenny_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An Early Reviewer win.I never knew that much about Snorri (though I always adored his name). I was therefore intrigued to read about the man behind so many of the sagas. What I did not know was how much of what I thought was traditional Norse myth was in fact his creation. This book is a great blend of history and literature and really makes me want to visit Iceland. I highly recommend it.

[cmbohn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I love reading about the Norse myths, about Viking history. And when it comes to the source for Norse myth, most of it comes from one man, Snorri Sturulson. I was expecting more myth in this book, and less about Snorri. That would have been OK, because he was a great subject for a book, full of contradictions, living at a time of change. But somehow, it just wasn't that interesting. I kept falling asleep reading this one. Kind of a disappointment.

[.monkey.-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As someone who has always held a love of mythology, but who is quite lacking in the Norse area, I leapt at the chance to read this book on Snorri and the history of Norse myths.It was quite an interesting read, but I guess I was expecting a bit more mythology and a bit less history of Snorri himself. I did enjoy learning about him and his family tree; I found the Icelandic history surrounding his story rather fascinating. It was all brand new information to me, and I'm always pleased to learn about important pieces of history, especially when they're so full of adventure and intrigue! I did feel slightly shorted on the mythology aspect, though. Norse mythology is so unique in many respects, it's just enchanting, so I was hoping to get a more full view of all these myths that we have Snorri to thank for our awareness of. So, if you're looking strictly for myths, you may not be too keen on this book. But if you're looking for a little mythology with all the history surrounding it, look no further!

[prop2gether · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Being of Finnish heritage, and fascinated with things Viking related, I was delighted to receive this Early Reviewer edition. It covers the life and times of the man who almost singlehandedly confirmed legend in writings which are popular to this day. However, stylistically, I found it confusing to have Snorri's life told as disjointedly as Brown often does here. The map of Iceland was critical to following the actions of the families, but the family tree was so truncated that it was not helpful. Once I got familiar with names, I enjoyed the read, but a casual browser will be frustrated.

[waltzmn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes, it may be better to begin in the middle.Nancy Marie Brown in this volume takes on an interesting challenge: The task of explaining the career and writings of Snorri Sturluson, who was both an important writer (he produced the Prose Edda, one of the leading sources of Norse myth) and an important figure in the history of Iceland.Brown tries to do things "right," tackling Snorri's story from the beginning. The problem is, that's extremely confusing. The population of Iceland was so small that everyone was related to everyone else, and they all had different marriage alliances, and they used a very limited collection of names (e.g. Snorri was the son, and twice the cousin, of people named Sturla, all of whom are important). I frankly was getting constantly lost trying to figure out who was doing what at any particular time.And it's debatable how much we care. Icelandic history didn't have much effect on the wider world. We want to know about Snorri because of his Edda. And Brown eventually describes it, and retells a few of the stories found in it. But it takes half the book to get to that point. And while we have been repeatedly told, by then, that Snorri's ending won't be happy, we don't really have much idea why. I really think this story would have been better being told as a series of flashbacks, or using the mythology as a backbone.Also, Brown tries to give Snorri more credit than he probably deserves. Snorri's Edda gives the most coherent accounting of Norse myth -- but it isn't the only source. The so-called Elder Edda, found in the Codex Regius, contains many stories that predate Snorri, and they contain much material that he does not offer. Snorri is only half the story, but to read Brown, you'd think he was about 80% of it.It's harder to tell if she has played such games with the history -- but there is one very worrisome indication. The notes. The unmarked notes. Bad enough that the book uses endnotes rather than footnotes. But it uses un-numbered endnotes. There is no way to tell, in the body of the text, whether a particular statement is documented or not. All you can do is decide that you really need to know the source for a particularly egregious statement, then go to the notes at the back, painfully look through all the quotes at the end (the headings to the notes pages don't even say which part of the book they refer to), and see if the relevant part of the text is documented. This is not documentation. I knocked a half star off my review score just for that, because I have no idea whether I can trust anything that is said here. Much of it is clear speculation. How much? I don't know. C'mon, publishers, if you insist on endnotes rather than footnotes, at least number the endnotes!I have to enter one other objection, although it is minor. This is Brown's handling of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. I'm not blaming her for using Tolkien as a lure to bring in readers -- I did it myself in a paper on Chaucer. But I really don't think she understands Tolkien, or his relationship with his sources, or the "Theory of Courage." Or the fact that one of Tolkien's great accomplishments was to take epic (which is the highest genre to which the Norse sagas aspire) and turn it to romance. This is truly minor -- it isn't what Brown's book is about -- but it's a warning: Don't read this book for information about Tolkien. Read it for information about Snorri.I don't want to be too negative. Snorri certainly deserves a good English-language biography, and I am amazed at how much information Brown managed to turn up about him. It's a rare medieval figure who is so well documented. But we need to be clear what this is not: It is not a collection of, or retelling of, or documentation of the Norse myths. It is a biography of Snorri Sturluson. And it is a biography that can be very confusing.

[jim53_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Brown gives us an easily readable, enjoyable story of the life of Snorri, a clever man, greedy and sometimes generous, ambitious, and hugely influential. In the process we get a glimpse of life in thirteenth-century Iceland, including the importance of genealogy and their interesting methods for solving legal problems.Brown interweaves stories from Norse myths with Storri's life. It seems that she tries to walk a line between pop culture and scholarship. Her prologue is entitled "Gandalf" and links Snorri to Tolkien and other modern favorites, and she emphasizes these connections again during the book. There are several pages of endnotes, but no indicators or links within the text, which might have given it a more academic feel. I would have liked to see more emphasis on the links between Snorri's work and later literature, especially works from before LOTR. However, what we get is educational and mostly entertaining information about a subject with which I had only a passing familiarity.

[9cee9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Iceland, unique in its geography and historically fascinating, is steeped in Norse mythology and Viking adventure. Nancy Marie Brown gives us an overview of the country and the people as recorded in sagas and poetry, and focusing on the life of Snorri Sturluson, a wealthy and influential chieftain and writer of the twelfth century. Much of Norse mythology would have been lost had it not been for the efforts of Snorri, his friends, and relatives in preserving an ancient culture that has influenced several modern fantasy authors. Icelandic genealogy, names, and language can be quite mind-boggling. Brown, however, has done well to make the reader feel about as comfortable as crashing a Norse family reunion. We are introduced to a large "family" that has been biologically, romantically, and politically arranged over the years to achieve power in the early Scandinavian world. As in all cultures, gathering and feasting are events of importance. Values are passed down from the very long ago in storytelling, disputes are settled, land and wealth are acquired, fighting breaks out, and marriages are arranged. A great part of the fun, the laws - as well as its enforcement, and psychological roots of behavior come from the legends of gods, men, and monsters - of Odin, Baldur, Loki, Thor, dwarfs, elves, wizards, giants, warriors, Valkyries, etc.This is a book rich in Icelandic lore and personalities. It is well researched and easily readable. It brings this barren and haunting country alive. Having read this book enriches my memories of having personally been there. It's a harsh and beautiful land with an intriguing past to which Brown has done justice.

[moppety_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic presentation of the origins heroic Norse mythology. In-depth and well written. I really enjoyed learning about Snorri and his life, and how those things affect his writing. I definitely recommend this book for those interested in the subject matter.

[the_hibernator · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This engaging biography describes the life of Snorri Sturluson, a powerful 12th-century Icelandic chieftain and the author of the poetic Edda - one of the oldest surviving documents of Norse mythology. As a novice of Viking history, I found this book fascinating and informative - though I suspect that there is much speculation and Brown isn't always clear when she is speculating and when she has hard evidence for her claims. As such, I think this biography would be enjoyed by people who are interested in learning a bit about the Vikings, but not experts on the subject. Brown started each chapter out with a legend out of Snorri's Edda. Often, she told how this legend differs from other known versions and/or how it has affected modern culture. The rest of the book describes Snorri's life - his youth in the household of "the uncrowned King of Iceland," his marriage, his rise to political power, and his downfall. She seemed to get most of her hard evidence from a few primary documents and an outwardly biased biography written by Snorri's nephew, so often she had to fill in the gaps by saying "it's possible it happened more like this, since his nephew's story doesn't really jive with Snorri's personality." Of course, that makes me wonder if she had just as much positive bias towards Snorri as his nephew had negative bias. Overall, though, I'd say this biography was a success. When there is so little information available, and when the book is intended for a popular crowd rather than an academic one, such speculation is necessary - it makes the book more fun.

[bobvtreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

AN interesting history and biography of Snorri. Learned that the genealogy of Iceland is complex. Excellent read, especially for anyone interested in myths etc.

[amberfib · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As someone who is interested in Viking lore, this book was incredibly interesting. I enjoyed learning about Snorri's life and how events shaped his work. The mythology and lore woven into this biography were also intriguing and added another layer to what could have been simply "another dull biography." While I did enjoy this book, there were many assumptions that could not be backed up apparent in this book. Brown inserts her own voice and her own opinions quite often, but rarely does she include any substantial proof to support these views. Other than that, this book was highly enjoyable. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Norse mythology and those who created the stories.

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I confess, I don't know much about Norse mythology, but Nancy Marie Brown's Song of the Vikings makes me want to go out and read as much about them as I possibly can. Brown's book is partly a history of the Icelandic sagas themselves: where they came from, how they've been passed down over the centuries, and how they've been used (and misused) in literature and politics. But it's mostly the story of one man, Snorri Sturluson, who is largely responsible for the fact that we know much about these Icelandic sagas at all. Some of them he recorded, others of them he seems to have come up with himself.Brown tells Snorri's story to the extent it's possible to do so, weaving his complex biography into the story of his writings and the stories which inspired them. It's quite a tale, worthy of the sagas!The final chapter traces the long life of Snorri's stories as they were told and retold, translated and published, read and understood and put to use by later writers, from Tolkien to Wagner to Gaiman. The book would be worth it for that single chapter alone, but the rest is also well worth a read. Fascinating stuff.

[pmtracy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Who the heck is Snorri Sturluson? I had no idea until reading this book but I was amazed to find the impact that this writer of 13th Century Icelandic sagas has had on literature. The book provides a very detailed narrative of Snorri's life while making references to the effect that events were having on his work. There are also some similarities drawn between real people and the mythic characters that Snorri brought to life. There are a few short snippets of his sagas and some Nordic mythology is reviewed but this is a book about Snorri, not his work. There are numerous references to the Prose Edda and other works so it might be helpful to the reader if they have actually read one or more of Snorri's sagas prior to reading this book.Modern authors have drawn heavily from Snorri. What I found most interesting is the constant tension between fire and ice in Snorri's writing and this appears in George R.R. Martin's works. Neil Gaiman's American Gods is also based on Snorri's Nordic mythology. Snorri even influenced design motifs popularized during the American Arts and Crafts movement in the work of William Morris. However, the greatest borrower was J.R.R. Tolkien. Characters from his popular works were lifted directly from Snorri. Even the concept of "one ring" comes from a story of Odin and Loki in the Volsunga Saga. The structure of Skaldic poetry was shown to be intricate and complex; the formation of which was like building a puzzle. Puzzles and riddles appear often in Tolkien's work. Those of us that enjoy modern epic fantasies owe some thanks to Snorri.After reading Song of the Vikings, I have a new appreciation for Nordic contributions to our language, literature and culture.

[jashleyodell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Phew! This was one rough for me but rewarding nonetheless.

As someone who has always been intrigued by Icelandic and Nordic culture but doesn't know enough about their mythology, I thought this would be an interesting book to try out, so I was happy to win a copy from Goodreads. I was nervous at first and actually asked some previous reviewers before I entered if I should even bother without having any real background knowledge, but people said to try it out, so here I am.

The truth is that, having some knowledge of the Norse and Icelandic mythological worlds *will* really be a big advantage to you going into this. I had to stop several times to either look up terms and figures or to go back and make sure I was still following things correctly. That wasn't a problem with what the author was doing with her writing, which was actually quite clear and engaging. It was simply a problem with me being something of a moron, at least in this area.

The story of Snorri and of Iceland mythology in general was really fascinating, and I felt invested as a reader pretty much from the start. I wouldn't have kept going when I left lost if I hadn't been enjoying the book overall. I loved reading not just about the myths and the stories they tell but about *why* and *how* they came to be, which is something I don't think I've ever read about myth cycles in other cultures. That's a really fascinating angle and gave me a lot of enjoyment. The issue I had was that there were too many times when I genuinely couldn't tell if I was reading a history text or an opinion piece or a work of fiction. As a historian, I look for citations and clear statements of fact in writing; "Song of the Vikings" doesn't seem to have much use for those. How does the reader -- *especially* someone like me, who is going into this having to trust the author's knowledge in this area -- tell the veracity of any statement? That was frustrating.

Even still, I did genuinely enjoy the text. I'm going to give the author the benefit of the doubt regarding accuracy unless and until I can find evidence otherwise for all of the "may" and "perhaps" statements. The book sucked me in and got me to care about a topic that I wouldn't ordinarily have a ton of interest in. I would almost certainly have not picked this book up off the shelf in my local bookstore, but having read it, I now plan to seek out others on the topic. That's a pretty high compliment for any author and book in my view.

[viking2917_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

a great romp through medieval Iceland and Snorri Sturleson, the man responsible for much of what we know about Viking mythology.

[shuffy2_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Who was Snorri Sturluson? How did his rise to power in Iceland influence his writing?Each of the six chapters starts out with a recap of Snorri’s Norse myths, it follows by delving into the life of Snorri and how his experiences shape his stories. It attempts to be chronological but it does sometimes jump around, making reference to later translations and uses of the works mixed into the text. It is a very detailed laden but it is nonetheless captivating. I enjoy medieval history, and being of Scandinavian descent, have always been fascinated by the Vikings. I have read Beowulf and am familiar with Norse Gods but I have not read the Edda (I just purchased it to read next) so I was a bit overwhelmed. There were so many people mentioned- uncles, brothers, cousins, townsfolk, chieftains, bishops—that I was sometimes confused but I pushed through. I wish I was more familiar with Iceland and its history before reading this. Overall, a very thorough read that is geared towards those with a solid background in Norse mythology and history. (I will come back to it again once I have a broader base knowledge)

[hadden_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Snorri Sturluson (1179 – 1241), was an influential writer of Viking lore and customs, who is little known today. This book was a hard slog for me, as there were many names in the biography, and the relationships among the families and feuds and reconciliations were confusing. However, I enjoyed the book. Among the accounts of the life of the Icelandic chieftain, were excerpts from Viking tales of the gods and heroes that Snorri Sturluson passed along in his writings. These were sometimes new to me, and sometimes humorous accounts of Odin, Loki, Thor and the giants.The author, Nancy Marie Brown, also talks about the difficulties in deciphering the kennings of Norse literature, where metaphors of their own language and mythology makes the references incomprehensible to non-native speakers. This has been compared to the "Darmok" episode of Star Trek with Paul Winfield in 1991, where a civilization is incomprehensible, since they speak only in cultural metaphors. In an example given in the biography, the author quotes only two sentences by Snorri of a skaldic kenning, or Norse metaphor, and remarks that to understand the two sentences, the reader would have to know five myths and the family trees of two gods or the sentences would appear to be nonsense.I recommend this book to people interested in Norse mythology, Norse literature and poetry. It is an interesting account of a man who did much to preserve viking culture, and who directly and indirectly has influenced many writers today.

[meredy_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Six-word review: Icelandic sagas permeate contemporary Western culture.Extended review:Snorri Sturluson was a thirteenth-century Icelandic poet who assumed the task of writing down many of the myths and heroic tales of his people. He assembled a great number of those verses, enhancing them by his own invention, in a medieval masterwork known as the Prose Edda. He also codified the rules and elements of verse composition in old Icelandic, an art so highly prized in the Nordic lands of the Middle Ages that kings, warriors, and common folk alike revered its finest practitioners.No warrior himself, Snorri was crafty, duplicitous, and relentless in pursuit of his supreme political ambitions. And he used his powers of the spoken and written word as much for self-aggrandizement as to glorify the valiant deeds of others--and to heap scorn on the losers.In a society that crowned no kings of its own and guarded the independence of its barren volcanic island with the famous Viking ferocity, the mighty heroes of sword and shield depended on the poets and songcrafters in chieftains' halls to enshrine them in legend. For them, a record in memorable verse was the surest path to immortality--an immortality that the gods themselves did not share. For the destiny of the elder gods was to end with the cataclysm of Ragnarok and the bloody birth of a new world order. Author Brown recounts Snorri's own story in lively, engaging prose, striking a sometimes difficult balance between readability and sound documentation. Like the ancient sagas of gods and heroes themselves, the world of medieval Iceland is alive with family rivalries, alliances and betrayals, politics and intrigue, and blood-drenched warfare. The line between fiction and fact is often unclear; indeed, the relative meanings of "fiction" and "fact" are unclear. Along the way Brown recounts numerous tales from Snorri's Edda and other Icelandic sagas, sometimes revealing their possible roots in history and more often showing how they themselves entered into history and shaped it.The final chapter, "The Ring," brilliantly traces the descendants of the Edda right down to the present day, illuminating relationships among works that have framed and colored our perception of ourselves and our place in the world. As Brown writes in the opening pages:=====(Excerpt begins)(I)n the early 1600s Snorri was resurrected. Translations from Old Norse appeared throughout Europe. The craze led in one direction to the gothic novel and ultimately to modern heroic fantasy. Snorri influenced writers as various as Thomas Gray, William Blake, Sir Walter Scott, the Brothers Grimm, Thomas Carlyle, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Richard Wagner, Matthew Arnold, Henrik Ibsen, William Morris, Thomas Hardy, J. R. R. Tolkien, Hugh MacDiarmid, Jorge Luis Borges, W. H. Auden, Poul Anderson, Günther Grass, Gabriel García Márquez, Ursula K. LeGuin, A. S. Byatt, Seamus Heaney, Jane Smiley, Neil Gaiman, and Michael Chabon.In another direction the rediscovery of Snorri's works led to Hitler's master race.Snorri may be the most influential writer of the Middle Ages. His Edda, according to the 1909 translator, is "the deep and ancient wellspring of Western culture."(Introduction, page 6)=====(Excerpt ends)Following the 206 pages of text are 38 pages of backmatter, including notes on sources, a list of further reading, and a detailed index in small print. Song of the Vikings is not just an entertaining and enlightening read, furnishing background and context for some of our most popular contemporary literature. It also shows us the depths of our own largely forgotten roots, flourishing even today in our classrooms, libraries, e-readers, and movie theaters. To me, the hallmark of an exceptional work in any medium is that it alters my perceptions. It is no exaggeration to say that I am viewing the world and the words of its literary interpreters differently today, having read this book. This one will remain on my shelf as a resource and touchstone for future reading.

[currerbell-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am giving this Early Review 4****, though this is perhaps generous and 3-3½*** may be more my personal feeling. Most readers, though, assuming they are interested in the subject of the book, will probably find it a 4****-read.My main quarrel with this book is that it has a little too much of a "pop culture" feel to it, with particularly prolonged discussion of the influence of Norse myth on J.R.R. Tolkien. Additionally, the book's single map of Iceland is hand-drawn in a slightly cartoonish fashion that one might associate more with The Hobbit than with a more serious academic work. On the other hand, though, considering the author's other works and that she is not an expressly academic writer, this criticism might be a bit harsh and many readers might find the book attractive for its somewhat "pop culture" style.This book is a combined treatment of Norse myth, a biography of Snorri Sturluson the writer and political conniver in early 13th-century Iceland, and of the influence of Norse myth on later European culture -- William Morris, Richard Wagner, and others, particularly the all-too-present Tolkien. It gives the impression sometimes that the author did not know entirely what she intended to do with this book, but still, hers may be a generalist approach which will appeal to most readers.I do think, though, that Brown places a bit too much emphasis on the significance of Snorri as a political figure in early 13th-century Iceland. Granted that he was for a time the most powerful chieftain of his era, I doubt that it was his actions alone which were responsible for the collapse of the Icelandic "democracy" (more a feudal aristocracy of powerful chieftains) and its absorption into the Norwegian monarchy. This is not to deny the "great man" theory of history in all cases (think, for example, of Macaulay's "great prince of Orange"), only to say that Snorri himself often seems a rather pitiable character moved more by events than moving them; and the splintered chieftainships of early 13th-century Iceland may have simply been inviting a Norwegian monarchical takeover.Also, I would definitely like to have seen a greater discussion of the influence of Christianity on pagan Norse myths. By Snorri's era, Norse society had been substantially Christianized, with priests and bishops wielding substantial secular power. There would have been substantial interaction between pagan and churchman among the pre-Christianized Norse, and some more substantial discussion of this for its effect on the final forms of the Eddas and Sagas would have been useful, even though it could have extended the book's discussion to earlier than Snorri's own lifetime and perhaps even to the Norse culture of pre-Icelandic settlement.My own inclination toward this book is 3-3½***, but I'm giving it 4**** in recognition of my own bias in favor of a more academic treatment. It's not fair of me to insist on a book that I would prefer rather than the book that the author herself wrote, and I think the general reader may well find this a 4****-read despite some of its flaws and its tendency toward "pop culture."

[sebastianhagelstein · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Song of The Vikings tells about the life, rise to power, and subsequent fall, of Snorri Sturluson. Born in Iceland in 1178, Snorri went from foster child to Chieftain, to Law Speaker at 37 years old– the only elected position in Iceland’s government, to the uncrowned King of Iceland. By the age of 40 he held seven chieftaincies, and “wielded more power than any Icelander before him.” Along the way he wrote many sagas, such as the Edda, Egil’s Saga, and Heimskringla. His alliances, built over the years, slowly fell apart as he made new enemies, even of his family. Snorri ended up being murdered in his nightgown, hiding in his cellar.As a writer, Snorri had a great and lasting influence on literature and western culture through his writings. Snorri is credited with writing most, if not all, of the Norse myths. Snorri influenced such writers as William Blake, Sir Walter Scott, The Brothers Grimm, Longfellow, Tennyson, Ibsen, Wagner, Tolkien, Thomas Hardy, Ursula LeGuin, and Neil Gaiman, among others. Many fantasy writers are also indebted to Snorri. With illustrations, photos, a map, Snorri’s family tree, notes, and a further reading section,

[stephenbarkley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Have you ever wondered where Tolkien came up with the name Gandalf—or, for that matter, Bifur, Bafur, Bombor, Nori, Ori, and Oin? These all come from Norse mythology, the folktales of Iceland. If you want to learn anything about Norse mythology, you'll end up studying Snorri Sturluson, the definitive scribe of these tales.Despite the reputation of Islanders, Snorri was no archetypal Viking. He was a rather portly ruler who used political power to make a fine life for himself. Brown's book is chiefly a biography of Snorri, with Norse myths sprinkled throughout to shed light on his character.One of the most interesting (and tragic) elements of Islandic history in the 1200s was the heavy-handed influence of Christianity. Bishops from the mainland tried to rein in the excess of the island's residents with little success. As a Christian, it's difficult to read how closely Christianity was tied to the politics of the day. (A cynic may offer the same criticism today!)Norse poetry is another curious topic that Brown covers in some detail. Rather than an aesthetic exercise, Snorri's poetry was essentially a word-game where the reader was expected to mull over the phrases to ken what the poet was actually talking about.This book is dense. At times it is difficult to follow the various unfamiliar names and places. Still, a close reading is rewarded with a solid understanding of the foundations of Norse mythology.