2 Books Like Rune to Ruin

The book presents a comprehensive overview of 100+ years of existing Beowulf scholarship and looks at that material and the poem itself with a fresh perspective. The conclusions Gräslund reaches are very thought-provoking. Namely, he states that the poem was composed in Scandinavia before being transported to England and that the Geats were from Gotland rather than the more commonly accepted Götaland. The geographic and archaeological evidence he presents struck me as particularly convincing for his argument regarding Gotland. Gräslund's ideas aren't without its critics and are still just a theories, but have taken off like wildfire in Sweden. The Anglophone world has been much slower to generally acknowledge Gräslund's work one way or the other. Whatever anyone thinks, it's a fascinating read.

I read the original Swedish edition; this book is the English translation.

One of the most original and imaginative novels I've ever read. It's set in the fantasy world island of Hrímland, which is essentially Vilhjálmsson's name for alternate reality Iceland, and most of the action takes place in and around an alternate reality version of Reykjavík. Hrímland is a place full of sorcerous energy, and populated not just by humans, but also huldrefolk, raven-folk, and sea people (all of which have their own Icelandic names for their species). For fans of all things Norse, there's also draugar, scorn-poles, and an extremely heavy does of seiðr and galdr. It's a heavily Norse magic-inspired, modern-day sort of world, and comes with a touch of steampunk, too.