For those
starting out into Norse myth, I recommend Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Norse Myths. This is an accessible
yet authentic translation of the most well-known of the Norse myths. Before the
myths, it explains the basics of the pantheon and the cosmology, which many
will find familiar if they watched the Thor movies produced by Marvel.
Like with
the Graves book, the myths are organized chronologically from the creation all
the way through to Ragnarok. Also like the Graves book, it doesn’t have every
myth, but this collection is fairly broad. It focuses solely on the gods rather
than including the hero stories (called Sagas in the Norse).
This book
is an excellent stepping-stone to more complete sources of Norse myth such as
the Prose and Poetic Eddas by Snorri Sturrlson. I highly recommend it for
anyone with an interest in Norse mythology.