Thor- IV

"One day, making his rounds in Hordaland, [King Sigurd Eiriksson] came to the dwelling of the hersir Klypp Thordarson. For this while, the weather had turned lovely. Light flooded from an utterly blue sky. Breezes drifted warm, laden with smells of the greenwood that decked the hills around. Though grain stood sparse in the fields, a lark sang above them and everywhere else wildfowl flew by or called from among the trees."
-Poul Anderson, Mother Of Kings (New York, 2003), Book Six, Chapter IV, p. 480.

Here we have one more Thor- name, "Thordar," and four of the senses:

light from the blue sky;
warm breezes;
smells of growth;
birdsong.

A beautiful setting for a friendly visit - except that, in Klypp's absence, Sigurd rapes his wife. The Eirikssons are villains unopposed by any hero. Anderson faithfully recounts the history of kingship. They consume wealth and are generous hosts who reward their followers but the wealth is gained by forcing yeomen to pay scot and by going in viking. Even then, we are told that feasting is less than it should be because larders are low. (Chapter II, p. 477) The Eiriksson's only solution to low larders is more fighting and killing, sometimes the treacherous murder of those who have come in peace. These are not heroic or just rulers like some of Poul Anderson's other characters. Their generosity surely rings very hollow.