Warrior Lore by Ian Cumpstey

"Warrior Lore is the second collection of Scandinavian folk ballads translated into English verse by Ian Cumpstey, following Lord Peter and Little Kerstin. These narrative ballads were part of an oral tradition in Scandinavia, and were first written down around 1600. Included in this book are stories of heroes and fighters, Vikings, and trolls.

The legendary hero Widrick Waylandsson comes face to face with a troll in the forest. Thor resorts to cross-dressing in a bid to recover his stolen hammer. The daughter of the King of Sweden is abducted from a convent in the Swedish countryside. A young fighter has to show off his prowess in skiing and shooting for King Harald Hardrada. And more...

All the ballads included are:
Widrick Waylandsson's Fight with Long-Ben Reyser; Twelve Strong Fighters; Hilla-Lill; Sir Hjalmar; The Hammer Hunt; The Stablemates; Sven Swan-White; The Cloister Raid; Heming and the Mountain Troll; Heming and King Harald." -Goodreads
Average Rating: 3.95/5 Stars
My Rating: 3/5 Stars 
Pages: 76

*I received a copy from the author in exchange for a honest review**

This book of ballads was interesting and entertaining. My favorites being Hilla-Lill and The Cloister Raid. I read this in one sitting and I did not put it down once. It was a really quick read for me as well. Although the format was weird since before you got to the ballads, Cumpstey gives a description of the story and how it results. That happened to be the one thing I was not a fan of. Since the description told a brief summary of the story and in most cases it told the reader how the ballad would end, which kind of annoyed me. But even with the opening descriptions, I still enjoyed the ballads. I gave this a three out of five stars as it was good and I liked it, but it did not leave a lasting impression as some of the ballad story lines were later forgotten by me. But I would definitely go back and reread my favorites.

Thanks for reading! 
  -Ashley <3

Warrior Lore, Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22568870-warrior-lore
Ian Cumpstey, Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8105106.Ian_Cumpstey
Warrior Lore, Amazon Kindle: http://smile.amazon.com/Warrior-Lore-Scandinavian-Ian-Cumpstey-ebook/dp/B00K3W7E36/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423112668&sr=8-1&keywords=warrior+lore 
Warrior Lore, NOOK: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warrior-lore-ian-cumpstey/1120139788?ean=2940150450295