Ragnarok: The End of the Gods is a novella that retells the Norse myths, covering the history of the world from creation to destruction, through the eyes of a woman looking back at her childhood during World War II. She and her mother have evacuated from London to the country in hopes they will survive the war. Described as a thin, asthmatic child, the girl spends her time reading books on nature, Pilgrim’s Progress, Asgard and the Gods, the latter written by the German Wilhelm Wegner. Her father is serving in the military in Africa, and she is convinced he will never return. Her mother is somewhat aloof. The girl’s character is not well-developed to allow the myths to shine. The prose is elegant and mythic. It is a short volume and serves as a quick review of the Norse myths.
Byatt’s “Thoughts on Myths” in the post-matter of the book was interesting reading as well, attempting to differentiate between myths and fairy tales and in which she admits she retold the story of Ragnarok for her childhood self. One of my favorite genre is retelling of myths, and Ragnarok remained quite true to the original stories with the modern addition of the child’s interpretation of them.
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Ragnarok: The End of the Gods(Grove Press, Reprint edition, February 7, 2012) is available through:
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