The myth and legend of the North have given us indelible images-the world tree Yggdrasil and the rainbow bridge Bifrost Thor with his hammer the races of elves and dwarfs, giants and trolls monsters like the the Fenris wolf and the Midgard Serpen the cycle of tales centering on the hero Sigurd (or Siegfried, well known to lovers of Wagner's operas) and, most famously, the destruction of the universe at Ragnarok. Drawing on the latest scholarship, John Lindow, an internationally known authority on the subject, covers the tales, their literary and oral sources, and their emergence into popular tradition, religion, and art.