"He had a weird sense of distortion, as if he had come back from another universe, where suns were black and cold pulsed from them and time ran uphill toward the past." (p. 163)
That could be the setting of another novel. By entering the black sun universe, somehow surviving there for a year, then returning to the home universe, a character might emerge a year in the past?
Also, two more fantasy passages. First:
"He...thought about Grettir the Strong, who had destroyed a draug in single combat. That was eight or nine hundred years ago..." (p. 168)
Grettir sounds like yet another legendary hero whom Anderson could have adapted as the hero a fantasy novel.
Secondly:
"Wednesday...Odin's day. The old one-eyed chief of the Norse gods. But he was a sinister figure, with his wolves and ravens. He made the first witchcraft in the world. Human sacrifices were given to him. At night he rode through the sky with all the dead galloping after him. He's the Wild Huntsman, you see." (p. 173)
This passage is in the past tense, except for the last sentence. Myths are simultaneously long ago and always now. The authentic Odin as described here is, of course, an active participant in several of Anderson's fantasy novels.In my teens, I read what was effectively a Christianized retelling of the Norse myths. Human sacrifice was not mentioned. Odin and Thor were presented as benign protectors of humanity from the personified hostile elements. After I have published this post, I will copy a post on Voluspa from another blog.
Murder Bound also characterizes Thor:
"Thursday comes next. Red-bearded Thor, the thunder god. He was a much pleasanter sort. The common people liked him best. That's why so many Norse names begin with 'Tor.' He gave rain to the fields. And he fought the giants and trolls. Thursday is a good day." (ibid.)
In the North of England, we live in the former "Danelaw" and still have place names incorporating "Thor."
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