Thursday 5 November 2015

Her Mother's Daughter

This sounds almost comical. Gunnhild's daughter, Ragnhild:

marries a jarl;
has him killed;
has the assassin killed;
marries her first husband's brother;
persuades her husbands' nephew, Einar Bread-and-Butter, to kill her second husband with the promise that she will marry him;
persuades her husbands' other nephew, Einar Hardmouth, to kill Einar Bread-and-Butter with the implied promise that she will marry him;
marries her two previous husbands' brother, Ljot;
gets Ljot to kill Einar Hardmouth.

"Gunnhild grinned at the news."
-Poul Anderson, Mother Of Kings (New York, 2003), Book Four, Chapter XXIV, p. 374.

A mother grins to hear of multiple murders committed by her own daughter. Yet Gunnhild has the effrontery to call honest Paganism devil worship. Any deviltry is surely in her own family.

4 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

What I thought was that Ragnhild and Gunnhild showed an almost Draka-like ruthlessness!

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
They do resemble the mother and young daughter in Draka Vol II.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Meaning Tanya von Shrakenberg and her "evil eyed" daughter, whom we see in UNDER THE YOKE.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Correct.