Most of us inherit Norse mythology as a continuous story: creation, Odin, the Norns, Ragnarök, renewal, etc. However, the historical record is more surprising.

Most of us inherit Norse mythology as a continuous story: creation, Odin, the Norns, Ragnarök, renewal, etc. However, the historical record is more surprising. No single Viking Age book sets out this authorised story. What survives is a library of poems, later prose, images, allusions, and competin…