Yet She Lives

Fierce and Fantastical Women of Norse Mythology

$34.99

This is a vivid retelling of the epic lives of mythological Norse women.

This book is not yet published, but will be available from January 2026.

ISBN: 9781760764159 Category:

Lisa Hannett

Description

‘She remembers the war, the first in the world … Three times they burned the one thrice-born, often, over again; yet she lives still.’

The women of Norse mythology reflect very human concerns about the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. They embody a place where ideas about masculine and feminine, wife and warrior, domestic and the otherworldly, collide.

From Freya, goddess of love, fertility, death and war, the giantess Skaưi, and Hel, queen of the dead, Lisa Hannett invites us into the lives of legendary Viking women, going beyond the confines of our ordinary world to retell their stories with flair and vitality. Read tales of shieldmaidens and Valkyries with wild hearts and blood on their hands; goddesses who are more than promiscuous bartering chips; giantesses with strong minds and motivations; witches who aren’t one-dimensionally wicked; and fateshapers who fascinate beyond human understanding.

In Yet She Lives, Hannett re-situates some of Norse mythology’s most formidable female characters, casting them not as sidenotes in famous men’s adventures, but as protagonists in their own life stories.

‘An epic retelling of legendary Norse women by a virtuoso scholar and storyteller.’ – Dr Danielle Clode

‘An idiosyncratic, highly personal and vivacious engagement with the women of Norse mythology – Lisa Hannett retells their stories while crucially acknowledging the living world of the deep past, filled with living minds and imaginations.’ – Neil Price

‘A lyrical, vivid and wonderfully imaginative exploration of the powerful women in Old Norse myth and tradition. Lisa Hannett explores their tales with humour, empathy, and a profoundly knowledgeable understanding of the mythological past.’ – Carolyne Larrington

*Ebook available through all major e-tailers*

Additional information

Dimensions 15.3 x 23.4 cm
Publisher name Thames & Hudson Australia Pty Ltd
Publication date 6 January 2026
Number of pages
Format Paperback / softback
Dimensions 15.3 x 23.4 cm
Weight g
Lisa Hannett is an award-winning Canadian-Australian writer and academic. She has a PhD in Old Norse-Icelandic literature and is an Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Flinders University. She is the author of five collections, a novel, and over eighty speculative fiction short stories. Her most recent books are Viking Women: Life and Lore (published by Thames & Hudson Australia) and The Fortunate Isles.