Poul Anderson, The Broken Sword (London, 1977), Chapter XXII.
Entering Jotunheim, Skafloc and Mananaan must fight their way past:
a great white worm;
a great red dog;
"...something big and heavy..." of unknown shape in the dark. (p. 162)
Then they meet Bolverk the Jotun:
so tall that his head is almost invisible in the gloom;
so broad that, despite his height, he is squat;
covered in hair;
wearing only a dragonskin apron;
gnarled like an old tree;
"...muscled like a snakepit..." (ibid.);
with matted black hair and beard hanging to his waist;
short-legged;
lame in one leg;
hunch-backed;
bent forward so that his arms touch the ground;
broad-nosed;
wide-mouthed;
face scarred and seamed;
with empty eye sockets;
voice booming and hissing like the rivers of hell -
- and I wish I hadn't started that description.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
The description of Bolverk certainly makes him very plainly to be ominous, sinister, ill omened, and menacing!
Sean
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