The Dragons of the Rhine

In Dragons of the Rhine the second portion of the ancient tale is told with intense emotion and detail. While the story is slightly different in how certain things are carried out than in the eddic writings, it's still an excellent novel which brings the story alive in a way which can be enjoyed by all in this century.Diana Paxon truly delves deep into each of the charachters and thier reasoning and emotions so that each side of this tragedy is understood even while the playing out is heartbreaking. In this book, as in the last, I still found myself thinking there could be another way out, a hope still left although I've read this story in many forms many times before. The tension of each moment is fully played out so one could see possible alternatives, though fate must lead the charachters on to what the Norns have woven for them.A version of the story I'd reccomend, along with the more ancient tellings of this story.

Despite repeated forays into sex and sexual acts (parts of this read far more like a dime-store harlequin novel than one of historical fiction), this gets the major thrust of the story across, and in fairly approachable terms. The conflict between pagan and Christian is well played-out, with the sympathies obviously lying with the latter. A good companion to the Arthurian sagas, though it dwells somewhat overmuch on the plottings and manipulations of women (probably a result, I think, of the author's gender). Still, enjoyable, and worth a look.

Paxson repeats Richard Wagner's experiment in retelling the classic Germanic sagas. I loved Wagner's trilogy, and felt the same way about Paxson's as well. These books will definitely have a place in my library, next to the authentic Nibelungenlied.