The Prose Edda (Annotated)

The Myths of the Vikings with a New Foreword

By: Snorri Sturluson

Narrated by: Ayrton Parham

Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

Hear the original tales of Thor, Odin, and Loki, as the Vikings heard them long ago. Enjoy these ancient tales of tragedy, death, glory, and love, with all the gory and mystic details left out of the Hollywood versions. This collection, The Prose Edda, was the first time the Viking myths were assembled and written down in plain prose (before then, they existed only as oral poems). That makes this book one of the closest sources we have to these tales as the Vikings actually told them, not filtered through a modern lens. This abridged edition has only removed sections dealing with technical rules for writing poetry in the Viking style, but has included all the myths and legends. Many print editions do the same. This edition also features a new foreword, introducing the work to a modern audience. 

Music provided by Royalty Free Music:
youtube.com/royaltyfreezone 

Music used (edited):
"For You King" by Ender Güney
youtube.com/c/NCMEpicMusic
(Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0) 

"Warrior Women" by Ender Güney
youtube.com/c/NCMEpicMusic
(Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0) 

Music used: "Odin" by Evan King
soundcloud.com/evan-king/odin
(Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0)

©2019 Ayrton Parham (P)2019 Ayrton Parham

Excellent Narrator! Made material accessible.

I am Scandinavian and wanted to dig a little more into Norse literature and find reading it to myself unappealing due to the at times difficult pronunciation of words. I am so happy I found this in audio format. I was able to follow along with the narrator who does a great job. I felt like I was being read to fireside. Great book!

Narrator brought story to life

I was absolutely enthralled by the vigor with which the narrator brought the story and characters to life in this fresh and inspiring recording. Translations of older, foreign works can often become boring and tiresome on paper, but the narrator brings the energy of a father telling a bedtime story to his young children on a stormy night. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in Norse mythology or Scandinavian history.

Fun new voice given to old stories

*I received a free copy of this in exchange for an unbiased review.*

These myths are always dated, especially this Snorri Sturluson version because it's based on the oral tradition. However, I'm a huge fan of Norse mythology, and I thought that the narrator brought them to life in an incredibly fun way. Especially during the forward.

Some versions of The Prose Edda include rules for this version of poetry, but I believe that's unnecessary. The decision to cut it helped me enjoy the narrative more.

Great Story

The Prose Edda is such a great story. I could listen to it over and over. I absolutely loved it.

excellent stories

The Prose Edda are amazing sagas. well done. why a minimum of 15 words? Ridiculous.

Narrator is horrible

This is the Prose Edda, and it goes without saying is important literature. However, the narration is RIDICULOUS. Pompous, pretentious, and embarrassing. It’s hard not to take it personally, but I find it insulting to my intelligence and taste, and it also does a great disservice to these wonderful stories. Thumbs way, way down for the narrator’s insane lack of self-awareness and the producer who thought this was ok.

Terrible narrator

The material was great, of course, but the narrator was a constant distraction with his jarring inflections, exaggerated pronunciations, and odd phrasing.

Insufferable cadence and terrible voice acting

I don't wanna sound rude but the speaker is terrible to listen to. The stories are great tho, almost makes it wiry it

Ignore the prologue

It’s always silly to me when an a Christian attempt comment on other religions. The translations of the actual text though are adequate!

Great reading but the book wasn’t great

I don’t recommend this book to anyone. It was very boring and had a 100 names that made the whole thing very confusing. I had to read it for school and if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have finished it. The actual ready of the book was great though!