Norse Hero Tales

Norse Hero Tales: “The King and the Green Angelica” and Other Stories

The world of the Norse men was rich in poetry, legend, and song. Whenever there was a feast to greet guests, to celebrate weddings, or for the safe return of voyagers, the bards, or “skalds,” were called to tell stories and sing songs. Their stories were colorful and dramatic, telling of kings and queens, princes and princesses, duels and battles, and great sea journeys. They portrayed heroes to admire and villains to fear and made listeners tremble and gasp with tales of love and daring, power, and cunning.

These stories of Norse heroes, beautifully retold by the renowned storyteller Isabel Wyatt, are drawn from the collection of tales compiled by Saxo Grammaticus (c.1150–1220), the Danish historian, and other early Scandinavian writers. Included is an informative introduction.

These stories are particularly useful for teaching Norse Mythology in Waldorf class 4 (ages 9–10). Norse Hero Tales was previously published as The King and the Green Angelica.

About the Author

Isabel Wyatt (1901-92) taught young children for many years and was then, until her retirement in 1965, co-director of studies at Hawkwood College in Gloucestershire, UK. She compiled many story collections for children including The Seven-Year-Old Wonder Book, The Book of Fairy Princes, King Beetle-Tamer and Thorkill of Iceland