The Richness of "Star Of The Sea"

Poul Anderson's short novel, "Star Of The Sea," is extremely rich in diverse kinds of writing. Its opening three sections, numbered I, 1 and 2, are respectively:

mythological writing about a goddess and a god at the beginning of time;

historical fiction about first century Romans and barbarians;

science fiction about time travelers in contemporary Amsterdam -

- while its concluding section, numbered IV, is a devout prayer to the Virgin Mary. Thus this single text contains:

myth;
historical fiction;
science fiction;
in some passages, a contemporary setting equally suitable for mainstream fiction and for genres like romance or detective;
a prayer.

The strands interweave as the time travelers meet an anti-Roman barbarian prophetess who changes the mythology and influences the iconography of the Virgin Mary, hence the title.

In "Star Of The Sea," we find:

powerful mythological writing;
colorful descriptions of contemporary Amsterdam;
vivid descriptions of first century forests and seasons;
ingenious discussion of time travel paradoxes;
concise summaries of historical events;
brilliant characterization, in particular of the prophetess, Veleda, whose personal crisis could change history.

It has recently occurred to me that there is also a moral question, to be addressed in a further post.