Two Norsemen, Eirik Blood-ax and Harald Hardrada, fall in battle in Northern England, in 954 and 1066, respectively. Appropriately, Harald dies near the end of the third volume of his trilogy, The Last Viking by Poul Anderson, whereas Eirik dies near the end of the third of the six Books in Anderson's Mother Of Kings because, as its title indicates, this latter work primarily focuses on Eiric's wife, then widow, Gunnhild - and her children and enemies.
Both Eirik and Harald were King of Norway. Eirik was also twice King of Yorkish Northumbria with intervening exiles in Orkney. Only by summarizing plots in blog posts like this am I able to keep track of such up and down careers.
Mother Of Kings Books Four, Five and Six recount the subsequent careers of Eirik's widow and heirs. I have read the novel once before but remember nothing of its contents beyond this point so it is like entering new territory. Gunnhild has had to acknowledge Christ as a powerful deity but has not foresworn the old gods, still practices magic and has committed murder. Will she improve morally in what remains of her life?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Unfortunately, one thing to remember about men who live by the sword is that some of them WANT to die by the sword. They don't want a quiet, peaceful life. I'm also reminded of Poul Anderson's "The Tale of Hauk." That story tells us how MUCH Hauk's father hated the idea of a "straw death," dying in one's bed..
So I can easily some of the wilder Scandinavians of the Viking Age, both chieftains and warriors, PREFERRING to die in battle.
Sean
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