[Quiet Man Cometh]

I may need to read more of that myth methinks or are you talking about Hodr's birth there?

I think it's fair to assume that the stories were told with more emotion and colour by the people who were telling them when they were telling them. Unless the stories were meant to be read to begin with, rather than recorded for posterity what otherwise was an oral story, I imagine a lot of the impact would be drained out.

But then, what I've read of Nordic epic and myth doesn't lend itself to emotional and touching experiences. A man hits his wife once, and out of spite she refuses to lend him her hair to repair his broken bowstring causing his death and the loss of a major battle. The narrative didn't appear to be concerned with chastizing her for it, it was a matter of personal pride. Hrafnkel's Saga is interesting in that good and evil don't seem to play much of a role in anything, it's more pride, intelligence, and self examination.