Heathen Reading List

This list will get added to. If you believe a book should be on this list, that is not already, please get in touch at

Books by Asatru UK (also listed within the categories below)

• The Hávamál: The Sayings of the High One by Asatru UK (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2019)

• The Travel Hávamál by Asatru UK (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2020)

• A Heathen Guide to Cooking, Baking and Brewing by Craig and Emma Brooks (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2017)

• Another Guide to Heathen Cooking, Baking and Brewing by Craig and Emma Brooks (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2017)

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Modern Heathen Practice

• A Practical Heathen’s Guide to Asatru by Patricia Lafayllves (Llewellyn Publications, U.S. 2013)

• The Hávamál: The Sayings of the High One by Asatru UK (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2019)

• The Travel Hávamál by Asatru UK (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2020)

• The Gods’ Own County: A Heathen Prayer Book by Dan Coultas et al (Heathens of Yorkshire 2019)

The Norse Myths Retold

• The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley Holland (Penguin Books 1980)

• The Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury 2017)

Audiobooks

• Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman – Unabridged ISBN 0062663631, ISBN 1489452443 ISBN 0062834487

• Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman – BBC dramatized version, ISBN 1787534618

• Children of Odin - Padraic Colum (Mp3 CD) ISBN 1775424340

• Poems of the Elder Edda - Patricia Terry ISBN 139781940650043, Audible and iTunes

• Poetic Edda - Jackson Crawford ISBN 198259750X

• Saga of the Volsungs & Ragnar Lothbrok - Jackson Crawford, ISBN 1982604689

• The Great Courses: Vikings – a series of lectures by Kenneth W. Harl, and aimed at a broad audience (Audible)

Overview of Mythology

• Dictionary of Northern Mythology by Rudolf Simek (D.S. Brewer, New edition 2008)

• Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs by John Lindow (Oxford University Press, U.S.A. 2002)

• The Anglo-Saxon World: An Anthology Kevin Crossley-Holland (Oxford University Press 2009)

•  Nordic Religion in the Viking Age by Thomas Dubois (University of Pennsylvania Press 1999)

•  The Viking World by Brink and Price (Routledge 2011)

Historical Documents

• Edda by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Anthony Faulkes (Everyman, 1987)

• The Prose Edda, translated by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 1996)

• Beowulf (many translations available but the one by Seamus Heaney is well regarded)

Icelandic Sagas 

This is only a sample of the more well-known Sagas, also see the Online Resources for more titles.

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• Laxdaela Saga translated by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson (Penguin Classics 1969

• Njal’s Saga translated by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson (Penguin Classics 1960)

• Grettir’s Saga (also known as the Saga of Grettir the Strong)

• Egil’s Saga translated by Hermann Palsson (Penguin Books 1967)

• The Vinland Sagas - the Norse discovery of America by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson (Penguin Books 1965)

• Hrafnkels Saga and other stories translated by Hermann Palsson (Penguin Books 1971)

• Erbyggja Saga translated by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards (Penguin Books 1972)

• Orkneyinga Saga by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards (Penguin Books 1978) - holds the distinction of being the only saga set entirely in the British Isles.

Modern Academic Books

• Tracing Old Norse Cosmology by Anders Andrén (Nordic Academic Press 2014)

• The Viking Way by Neil S. Price (Oxbow Books 2009)

• Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia by E.O.G. Turville-Petre (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964)

• Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H.R. Ellis Davidson (Penguin, 1964)

• Scandinavian Mythology by H.R. Ellis Davidson (Paul Hamlyn, 1969)

• Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions by H.R. Ellis Davidson (Manchester University Press, 1988)

• The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe by H.R. Ellis Davidson (Routledge, 1993)

• The Lost Gods of England by Brian Branston (Book Club 1974)

• Myths of the Pagan North: The Gods of the Norsemen by Christopher Abram (Hambledon Continuum, 2011)

Old Academic Books

• The Norsemen HA Guerber original publication 1909 (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2017)

• Northern Mythology from Pagan Faith to Local Legends by Benjamin Thorpe original publication 1851 (Wordsworth Editions Ltd 2000)

Runes - Academic

• Runes: An Introduction by R.W.V. Elliot, 2nd Edition (Manchester University Press, 1989)

• Runes, Magic and Religion: A Sourcebook by John MacKinnell and Rudolf Simek, with Klaus Düwel (2004)

• Runic Amulets and Magic Objects by Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees (Boydell Press, 2006)

• Runes: A Handbook by Michael P. Barnes (Boydell Press, 2012)

• Runes and Runic Inscriptions by Terje Spurklund (Boydell Press 2009)

• An Introduction to English Runes by R.I. Page (Boydell Press 2006)

Runes - Magical or Divinatory

• Rune Primer by Sweyn Plowright

• Rudiments of Runelore - S Pollington

General “Viking Age” History

• The Vikings by Magnus Magnusson (Bodley Head/BBC 1980) – accompanied a TV series, it was also updated by the author

• Viking - Hammer of the North by Magnus Magnusson (Orbis 1976)

• The Hammer and the Cross by Robert Ferguson (Penguin Books 2010)

• A Brief History of the Vikings by Jonathan Clements (Robinson Books 2009)

• A History of the Vikings by Gwyn Jones (Book Club Associates 1973)

• Vikings a History by Neil Oliver (Weidenfield and Nicolson 2012) accompanied a TV series

 Books on related topics

• Viking Friendship - The Social Bond in Iceland and Norway, c. 900-1300 By J V Sigurdsson (Cornell University Press 2017)

•  Westward to Vinland - the discovery of the Norse settlement in Newfoundland by Helge Ingstad (Jonathan Cape 1969)

• A Heathen Guide to Cooking, Baking and Brewing by Craig and Emma Brooks (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2017)

• Another Guide to Heathen Cooking, Baking and Brewing by Craig and Emma Brooks (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2017)

• Scandinavian Legends and Folktales retold by Gwyn Jones original publication 1956 (Oxford University Press 1995)

Kids Heathen and Viking Books

• Walking with the Gods – A Heathen Activity Book by Dan Coultas and Matt Greenway

• D’Aulaires Book of Norse Myths by Ingri D’Aulaire (NYRB Children's Collection 2006)

• The Riddle of the Runes by Janina Ramirez and David Wyatt (OUP Oxford 2018)

• Make This Viking Settlement by Iain Ashman (Usborne Publishing Ltd 2009)

• Viking Raiders by Anne Civardi (Usborne Publishing Ltd 1997)

• The Saga of Erik the Viking by Terry Jones (Puffin 1988)

• Norse Myths and Legends by Cheryl Evans, Anne Millard and illustrations by Rodney Matthews (Usborne Publishing Ltd 1986)

• Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 2010)

• Trolls and Their Relatives by Jan Bergh Eriksen and illustrations by Per Aase (Dreyer Bok 1988)

• D’Aulaires’ Book Of Trolls by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaires (NYRB Children's Collection 2006)

Adult fiction set in the Viking Age

• The Whale Road (and sequels) by Robert Low

• The Last Kingdom (and sequels) by Bernard Cornwell

• Blood Fued by Rosemary Sutcliffe (Quercus 2018)

• God of Vengeance (and sequels) by Giles Kristian

• The Way of Wyrd by Brian Bates (Book Club Associates 1983)

• Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton (Arrow 1997)

• Viking – Odin’s Child (and sequels) by Tim Severin

Others

• Days in Midgard: A Thousand Years On by Steven T. Abell (Outskirts Press 2008)

• Last Places by Lawrence Millman (Andre Deutsch 1990)

Online resources

• The Road to Hel by H.R. Ellis - A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature -

http://www.germanicmythology.com/scholarship/road_to_hel.pdf

• Viking Society for Northern Research (VSNR)

http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/

• The Icelandic Saga Database -

http://sagadb.org/

• Icelandic Saga Map -

http://sagamap.hi.is/is/