The Poetic Edda Book

What I love the most about Norse literature and mythology is that the gods are all incredibly... for the lack of a better word, human. They suffer, they lust, they love, and they even seem to be quite mortal as far as gods go.

The Elder (or Poetic) Edda is a collection of 'poems' found in an ancient manuscript in Iceland, the Codex Regius.

The Elder Edda has a mythological section, with poems about the gods and the start and end of the world (the famous Ragnarok), and a heroic section.

I was surprised to find that the heroic second section of the Edda overlaps a lot with The Saga of the Volsungs: again, it mostly narrates the stories of the last men of the Volsung dynasty.

It also contains what to me will always be one of the funniest, albeit tragic, pieces of dialogue ever: Sinfjötli dying due to poisoning and his father Sigmund, too drunk to realise the actual danger, simply tells him to "filter it through your moustache, son". I know it's a tragic death but that line gets me everytime.

Like the Volsunga saga, it narrates Sigurd the Dragon Slayer's story, and it offers a different perspective on what is probably the oldest love square story: Sigurd, Brynhild, Gunnar and Gudrún (the Norse Medea).
I find their story incredibly compelling, a true Greek tragedy and what was clearly a good cautionary tale at a time when whole families died because they kept avenging each other.

If you're a fan of Norse myths, then this is the book for you. My favourite mythological lays were the Hávamál (the Lay of the High One), a list of advice coming directly from the God of autoerotic asphyxiation, Odin; and Lokasenna - Loki in a yelling match with all the other gods, proving he's not a god of destruction but the God of ridiculous and hilarious comebacks.