Poul Anderson, Mother Of Kings (New York, 2003).
History
Gunnhild was probably a Danish princess, sister of Harald Bluetooth, politically married to Eirik Blood-Ax.There is no evidence that she was unusually ruthless or a witch. However, making an enemy of the great skald Egil probably contributed to her legend -
Legend
The daughter of a Norwegian chief, she learned magic from two Finns and became "...a sinister enchantress." (p. 593)
Fiction
Anderson's novel is a synthesis, as historically accurate as possible apart from incorporating the legend. His treatment of Gunnhild is analogous to Shakespeare's of Macbeth.
Eirik's father was Harald Fairhair whose great-great-grandsons included Harold Hardrada, as Anderson notes at the end of his Afterword to Mother Of Kings. Thus, Anderson's The Last Viking Trilogy about Hardrada is a perfect sequel to his five Viking era novels which culminate with Mother...
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, but why did Poul Anderson write a long, fascinating, very interesting historical novel about Queen Gunnhild? It's been a long time since I read that book (and high time I reread it!) and I can't help wonder why PA wrote about them, when you recall how "questionable" were Gunnhild, Eric Blood Ax and most of their sons. In fact, my memory is that many of their enemies, such as King Haakon the Good, were far preferable!
Maybe Anderson thought Gunnhild, from what he could determine from the sources, was so interesting a woman that she deserved a book? That's a legitimate reason for writing about anybody, I agree. Not all historical novels HAVE to be about persons we like.
Sean
Sean,
She was "...the embodied female spirit of the Viking age...," according to Johannes V. Jensen, quoted in PA's Afterword.
Paul.
Kaor, Sean,
As I commented many years ago (I think on a post to the Bujold email list), Anderson doesn't make Gunnhild a misunderstood Mother Teresa of the Viking Age, but he does make her a protagonist, rather than the villain in someone else's story, which she was in several of the Icelandic sagas. She isn't all sweetness and light, but she is intelligent and determined, and one can understand her determination to be strong for herself, her man, and her children. She lived in a hard age, and she had been bent by her encounter with the outlaws and near-rape.
Best Regards,
Nicholas D. Rosen
Kaor, Nicholas!
A very fair point, since Gunnhild lived in a VERY hard age, she felt the need to be even harder if that was what it took for she and her family to survive. I can't help but think, however, she made some very serious mistakes. One being to persuade her sons not to acknowledge any of their children AS their children. Which meant, in Norwegian law and custom of that time, they had no claim to the throne.
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
Granted! And, as Nicholas said, Gunnhild was hard and ruthless because that was simply what she had to be in a VERY rough age.
Sean
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