While the topic is highly interesting, and the teacher clearly knows his stuff. The course itself is hardly interactive, and only a powerpoint presentation with a voice reading the exact text of the slides. I stopped the course.

I didn't like this course. I stopped after the first module (first week) because I checked and the rest of the course follows the same structure. The videos are monotonous and the instructor could be easily subtituted by a list of bullet points. He rarely makes any observations and the tests are atrocious quizzes wanting people to remember specific dates from an infinity of dates provided. After teh first week, I felt that I didn't teh information I had hoped to learn. The quality of this course is really poor and I don't hink this is a good introduction to the topic. A suggestion is for the videos to be a little more dynamic and interactive. Another thing that could be different is teh presence of the instructor in some of the videos. Finally, I would like to suggest you don;t foucs the quizzes into a bunch of dates only scholars would know by heart.

Great introduction to this material and subject. Did not want to stop watching the videos. very easy to watch. Lots of information given. hope there will be a continuation of this course.

Very enjoyable. I learned a lot. I appreciate the quizzes, which enabled me to consolidate the material so that I can remember it (after multiple attempts, which was very useful).

Roughly a summary of dates and names, almost exclusivy from (and around) the poetric Edda. Lectured (read aloud) without any enthusiasm or inspiration. The test is, i.m.o. again a dry questionnaire on dates and names. Made me quit Coursera altogether. Maybe my expectations were too positive after the lively art courses provided by MoMA.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ( — Benjamin Franklin). This course did not go beyond the first one for me.

The content was interesting but too much was covered, in a dull way, reading from slides and listing items in manuscripts. This was very boring, sadly. Montonous delievry killed the topic, I'm afraid.

The final esssay task is impossible as it is not possible to search our submission fom week one, to find what our bullet pints were.

1. Discussion I didnt seem to get into any discussions in this course - perhaps you could give people 5 marks for posting comments or references? eg I would like to have joined a discussion about norse myths in contemporary culture. And Im sure others could have helped me understand things like kennings

2. More readings I got a lot more from the course when I started to read around the topics of Norse Myth - learnt more (independently) about poetry, runes, trade, archaeology, agriculture, Tacitus, climate change in Scandanavian pre christian times. I would have got more from the course if readings had been provided even if not assessed. For example I was fascinated to read about Snorri as a person and the medieval nobles who must have commissioned collections of myth and would have liked to see a video on his life and times.

3. I feel I know a great deal more about the prechristian themes and stories in poetry collected in medieval times - that go towards making up what we now think of as norse mythology. What I really want to know is how did people who believed in these gods and heroes live their lives on a day to day basis.

Lectures but no bibliograpy. No reading list no info on outside sources. The corse has no maintenence sine problems are on going as indicated by discussion. Problems reported a year ago 10/22 still not corrected.

Dr. Nordvig presents interesting information. It is not just the dates and places, it is the who and the why. I took everything I thought I knew, and flipped it on its head. I am glad I took the class and look forward to further classes presented by Dr. Nordvig.

Excellent course. I have listened to the "Nordic mythology podcast" in the past, but I needed something more structured and beginner-friendly. This course is just that. Thank you!

Very interesting and well done. My only negative is that I would like to have 2 chances on the quizzzes before having to wait 24 hours.

My in-depth review here: https://norseplay.blogspot.com/2022/09/norseplay-reviews-courseras-old-norse.html

Useful intro with good course content, spoilt by errors in test questions and lack of responce from coursera to reported issues.

I felt that the instructor was not fully engaged, probably because he was simply reading from a script and did not even appear on video once. In fact, there was no need for videos at all, a transcript would have worked. He should have spent more time introducing each section and providing more explanations. Overall I feel like we were dropped into the course in medias res.

I really do want to offer my thanks to Dr. Nordvig for offering such an in-depth course for free, and greatly admire his philosophy behind doing so. I was trying to prepare for a Masters degree in Medieval Studies, and already had some experience with medieval Icelandic sagas, but this course hugely informed me about Eddic poetry and Old Norse mythology as an academic study.

From this course I have learned, amongst many other subjects, about gods, monsters, and heroes; about the structure of pre-Christian Scandinavian society and religious groups, and the consequent influence of Christianity on medieval authors; finally about the concept of euhemerism, which was both new and intriguing for me.

For anyone considering taking this course, whether for academic purposes or simply to learn more about a mythology that has permeated Western culture for centuries, I cannot recommend it enough. Dr. Nordvig is clearly an expert in his field, though his presentations are easy to follow and to understand, and I encourage anyone who finishes the course to read his own publications and to read more into the subject matter.

10/10.

This course gives a brief but fairly comprehensive introduction to Old Norse Mythology as found in the early sources, around the 12th to 14th centuries. The lectures are concise and interesting. The instructor has chosen the topics well and also has done a good job condensing the stories for students. I wish there was more explanation about Skaldic and Eddic poetry (meter, rhyme, structure??) but maybe that is best left to another course.

The course walks you through the literature sourses of Old Norse Muthology, while explaining religious and cultural concepts of pre-Christian Scandinavian world and the Christian Paradigm that affected how the Myths were written down. No deep pre-existing knowledge of Scandinavian History, Geography or Mythology was required - Dr Mathias Nordvig manages to teach you a lot of that during the course.

I found this course very interesting and most informative - as I take courses just to broaden my knowledge in my senior years - this one filled that need. I did find in some of the quizzes that when I had to type in the answer that even though I review the material to ensure I had the correct answer - it was rejected ( a little glitch?).

The course was well researched and presented by Dr. Mathias Nordvig. I found it easily digestible as it was in 2-4 minute video submissions which were easy to understand and process. For me, the history of the Nordic region, the languages and myths was very interesting. Thank you for a solid understanding of Old Nordic Mythology.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and have learned much over the past two days. Also, it was great to be challenged. I felt transported and my entire view of Scandinavia has been vigorously updated. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of learning for free. (I plan on acquiring the certificate as soon as I can afford it.)