But then that’s also how Rome started out and they replaced most of the old gods with their own.This is how Chapter 3 of Odd and the Frost Giants begins. Everybody had another job.” intelligently humanizes Viking raiders of the old, but does mention the negatives of the raids in a later sequence in the book, but without the dirty bits, in a “sort of” child safe way. PS : “There were no full-time Vikings back then. It is also child friendly, but I would recommend the parent read it first before reading it for a child. (But I am sure Loki will manage to sneak it through). With beautiful illustrations by Chris Riddell, it is a story worthy of the halls of Valhalla, although no one dies in this battle. Freya is the centrepiece for the story, since all Frost Giants want Freya. Since she is familiar with the MCU, she already knows about Thor, Odin, Loki and the Frost Giants, but not much about the Vanir Freya. It is the book that I am currently reading to my daughter and it has been an entertaining read so far for her.

Odd and the Frost Giants is an easy to read children’s story.

The Frost Giant, who was the new management, was very big and had managed to out-trick the god of tricksters, Loki.Īnd Odd has to out-trick the out-tricker of Loki, this giant of a Frost Giant, if he is to return home safe and sound. The only problem for Odd was that Asgard was under new management.

While most of the ancient Vikings prayed to reach their gods’ ancient hall after death in battle, reaching there alive, and that too with godly escorts, was a rare opportunity. Odd is a Viking lad, who goes into the woods to cut down trees, but ends up getting a ticket to Asgard, the home of the Viking gods. You may not find it in Norse Mythology, but you wouldn’t know it even if you have read it, since it is centred around Odd, and not god. Odd and the Frost Giants is one such story.

American Gods and Anansi Boys have a good place for a lot of this unbelievable godliness and they do make more than a guest appearance in The Sandman books. Neil Gaiman is no stranger to gods in fiction. There are also the popular books by Rick Riordan, which borrow liberally from many mythologies. And there have been many such stories as well, giving a substantial presence for Thor and the Norse Pantheon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the Marvel Comics and DC Comics adopting the Greek Pantheon with Wonder Woman. Humans no longer believe in as many gods as they used to and that means these gods are amenable for newer stories without offending anyone. Long, long time ago, there were many gods.

Odd and the frost giants by neil gaiman