I appreciate the details in Poul Anderson's narratives by summarizing the narratives and therefore having to notice the details like the Finnish wizard and the Roman poet in Gardariki and the multiple realms traversed by Odin in search of wisdom. Starting from Asgard, he travels through:
Midgard
Ironwood
hell
Niflheim
the outskirts of Muspellheim
the highest mountains of Jotunheim
the hall of Farbauti and Laufey
glaciers
wastes
the sea
a wildwood
the Tree
its upper branches
death
These two chapters, XI and XII, are particularly rich and also very dissimilar, recounting Odin's search and Hadding's rise, respectively - the worlds of gods and men.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
A Roman poet in what is now Russia, around the mid fifth century? That I find hard to believe!
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Sean!
The Roman Empire more or less included Crimea, so a band of adventurers, some from as far away as Denmark or Sweden, might have come down the Don to a Roman outpost, and heard someone recite verses in Greek or possibly Latin. A Roman poet where Moskva is today would have been unlikely, and even if he had somehow found his way up there, he would scarcely have brought a Greek temple with him.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Kaor, Nicholas!
Good points. Over and over in his stories, such "Ivory, and Apes, and Peacocks," Anderson stressed SOME travelers could be found in King Hiram's Tyre coming from very remote places.
Ad astra and Regards! Sean
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