Ragnarok

Antonia S. Byatt

ISBN 10: 1847678432 / ISBN 13: 9781847678430

Published by Groothandel, 2011

About this Item

Seller Inventory # DE63DD39B3BB265

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Ragnarok
• Publisher: Groothandel
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1847678432
• ISBN 13: 9781847678430
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

During the second world war Antonia Byatt was given a book of Norse myths by her father. She read it and reread it but there was one myth she was drawn to in particular and which has continued to hold her under its spell - the Myth of Ragnarok. The Ragnarok myth, otherwise known as the Twilight of the Gods, plays out the endgame of Norse mythology. It is the myth in which the gods Odin, Freya and Thor die, the sun and moon are swallowed by the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Midgard eats his own tale as he crushes the world and the seas boil with poison. It is only after such monstrous death and destruction that the world can begin anew. This epic struggle provided the fitting climax to Wagner's Ring Cycle and just as Wagner was inspired by Norse myth (it was also Hitler's favourite myth!) so Byatt has taken this remarkable finale and used it as the underpinning of this highly personal and politically charged retelling.

About the Author

A S Byatt's novels include the Booker Prize-winning Possession, The Biographer's Tale the quartet, The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life, Babel Tower and A Whistling Woman and, most recently, the Booker-shortlisted The Children's Book. Her highly acclaimed collections of short stories include Sugar and Other Stories, The Matisse Stories, The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, Elementals and Little Black Book of Stories. A distinguished critic as well as a writer of fiction, A S Byatt was appointed CBE in 1990 and DBE in 1999.