The Vikings were warlike adventurers with a strong sense of justice, and the high drama of their myths and legends, retold through the centuries, are still as vivid and enduring today. The stories are full of excitement and encompass both broad comedy and heart-rending tragedy. At the centre of the stories are the thunder god Thor, and the frost giant, Loki, Odin’s foster brother, who becomes one of the gods but is never fully accepted by them. Through the tales the themes of love, betrayal, courage and compassion are played out from the dawn of time to the end of the world. Their stories are among the foundation stones of Western culture, and young readers will enjoy these highly accessible retelling of the Norse myths, with stories about the adventures of Odin, father of the gods and his children, the trials and tribulations of the trickster Loki, the rages of the thunder god Thor, and Freya, the goddess of fertility, magic and war who gathers the souls of the warriors slain in battle. Ideal to read aloud or for older readers to enjoy discovering by themselves, artist Maryclare Foa’s bold, eloquent paintings capture the excitement, humour and drama of these powerful stories in strong, simple images that linger in the mind.

What is 'performance drawing'? When does a drawing turn into a performance? Is the act of drawing in itself a performative process, whether a viewer is present or not? Through conversation, interviews and essays, the authors illuminate these questions, and what it might mean to perform, and what it might mean to draw, in a diverse and expressive contemporary practice since 1945. The term 'performance drawing' first appeared in the subtitle of Catherine de Zegher's Drawing Papers 20: Performance Drawings, in particular with reference to Alison Knowles and Elena del Rivero. In this book, it is used as a trope, and a thread of thinking, to describe a process dedicated to broadening the field of drawing through resourceful practices and cross-disciplinary influence. Featuring a wide range of international artists, this book presents pioneering practitioners, alongside current and emerging artists. The combination of experiences and disciplines in the expanded field has established a vibrant art movement that has been progressively burgeoning in the last few years. The Introduction contextualises the background and identifies contemporary approaches to performance drawing. As a way to embrace the different voices and various lenses in producing this book, the authors combine individual perspectives and critical methodology in the five chapters. While embedded in ephemerality and immediacy, the themes encompass body and energy, time and motion, light and space, imagined and observed, demonstrating how drawing can act as a performative tool. The dynamic interaction leads to a collective understanding of the term, performance drawing, and addresses the key developments and future directions of this applied drawing process.