About this item
A vivid retelling of Norse mythology that explores these legendary stories and their significance and influence on the Viking world.Valhalla and its pantheon of gods and heroes have always fascinated readers, whether it is how these tales illuminate the Viking world or influence cultural touchstones like J. R. R. Tolkien, whose Middle Earth is heavily indebted to Germanic and Norse mythology, as well as Hollywood and comic-culture.In Tales of Valhalla, the Whittocks have dramatically retold these rich stories and sets them in context within the wider Viking world. Including both myths -- stories, usually religious, which explain origins, why things are as they are, the nature of the spiritual -- and legends -- stories which attempt to explain historical events and which may involve historical characters but which are told in a non-historical way and which often include supernatural events -- Tales from Valhalla is an accessible and lively volume that brings these hallmarks of world literature to a new generation.
About the Author
I graduated in Politics from Bristol University in 1980, where my degree special studies were in radical Christian politics and theology of the seventeenth century & also the development of the Soviet State. I taught history for thirty-five years (as Head of History & Director of Humanities Faculty at a number of secondary schools in the UK) . Latterly I was curriculum leader for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education at a secondary comprehensive school in the UK. During this time I developed an interest in early medieval history (especially Anglo-Saxons and Vikings) , as well as continuing my interests in radical Christian millenarianism and also Soviet history. I have acted as an historical consultant to the National Trust, the BBC and English Heritage. I am a Licensed Lay Minister, in the Church of England, with an active interest in theology. I retired from teaching in 2016 to devote more time to writing, historical & political commenting & guest blogging. I am the author or co-author of fifty-three books. These include school history textbooks and adult history books. The latter are written with the aim of making historical themes both engaging and accessible to adult readers.
