A cow licks the salty brim of the universe while suckling an ugly frost giant. The giant falls asleep and gives birth to a bunch of trolls out of his feet and armpit.
Meanwhile, the cow licks a man into existence. The man has a son, who marries one of the armpit trolls, and she give birth to Odin, the father of the gods.
Odin kills the cow and the giant and pretty much everyone else.
Odin creates earth, heaven, two hells, elf-land, gnome-land, troll-land, a rather mediocre demi-god land, and a super fancy proper-god land at the end of a rainbow, full of gold and magic apples that keep you young forever.
A bunch of other gods show up, including Bragi the bard, Balder the forgiving, Frey the fertile, Skade the skier, Thor the angry, and Loki the naughty. Together they have lots of adventures, falling in love, playing pranks, taking revenge, beating up ice giants, and dressing up in ladies clothes.
When he is not sitting around on thrones or suppressing the revolting trolls, Odin visits earth on his eight legged flying horse, and recruits dead soldiers.
The soldiers then hang out with Odin, waiting for Ragnarok and the big fight at the end of the world when everything turns to shit and the gods and trolls and gnomes and elves and men all die.
The end.
The stories in this book are short and to the point, plainly told with a grim sense of humor. They are equal parts morality tale, creation myth, and ripping yarn.
The illustrations are crude, bold, fun, and on every page, which I like very much.
Get this book to read with your child, then when your child tells you he'd rather be playing video games, let him, and read the book yourself. Children are our future, and the future is Ragnarok.
Next month we will be reading "To The Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf.
