The Gods Of Time

I think of Poul Anderson's "The Sorrow Of Odin The Goth" and "Star Of The Sea" as "The Gods Of Time." Both are based on the same basic concept.

In "The Sorrow...":

"'The time traveler becomes a cause of the selfsame events he set out to study or otherwise deal with.'" (Time Patrol, p. 448)

And in "Star...":

"'...our investigation of a disturbance in the plenum is what brought it about.'" (p. 599)

However, Everard's assessment of the first case changes. While he is dealing with it, he says:

"'...this is no slight ripple in the time stream. This is a maelstrom abuilding.'" (p. 450)

- whereas, long after the event, he says:

"'...that was quite a minor eddy in the time stream, easily damped...'" (p. 566)

And that is indeed how our perspective on problems can change with hindsight.

Carl Farness investigated the story of two brothers betrayed by Odin. He becomes the brothers' great-grandfather and must also play the role of Odin betraying them. An individual's great-grandfather contributes only one eighth of his genes so someone else could played that role. The brothers would been slightly different but could still have fulfilled their roles. However, Carl's materialization on a timecycle was necessary to account for the untimely arrival of Odin.

Anderson also shows how historical details can differ from the myths and legends that are derived from them. In the myth, the brothers killed their half-brother when he offered to accompany them to what became their final fight. In Anderson's account, the half-brother would have accompanied them and died with them but instead Carl held him back and thus preserved the family. Young Alawin leads other survivors, including the elder brother's wife and child, to safety and also becomes prominent in later history. Carl has enjoyed considerable freedom of action despite being bound by his doom at a crucial moment.