-Poul Anderson, quoted in Lin Carter, "A Changeling In Elfland" IN Poul Anderson, The Broken Sword (London, 1977), pp. 5-9 AT p. 5.
""There was a man called Orm the Strong..."
-The Broken Sword, Chapter I, p. 15.
The first quotation must be the opening phrase of the earlier version of the novel.
One meaning of "orm" is "snake." There is a Lancashire town called Ormskirk:
The name 'Ormskirk' is Old Norse in origin and is derived from Ormres kirkja, from a personal name, Ormr (which means "serpent" or dragon), and the Old Norse word kirkja for church.[4] Ormr may have been a Viking who settled here, became a Christian and founded the church but there are no other records or archaeological evidence to support this and Ormr's identity is unknown.
-copied from here.
The image shows a contemporary street market in Ormskirk.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
My copy of the revised version of THE BROKEN SWORD is the third printing (1977) of the 1971 Del Rey/Ballantine Books edition. Plainly, it's different from the British edition, since it does not contain Lin Carter's preface or Foreword.
I'm puzzled by the bit quoted by Lin Carter, the beginning paragraphs of both the original 1954 version and the 1971 revision are virtually the same. Nothing about Orm HEARING the witch's prophecy or curse.
First paragraph, Chapter I, 1954 edition of THE BROKEN SWORD: "There was a man called Orm the Strong, a son of Ketil Asmundson who was a great landsman in the north of Jutland. The folk of Ketil had dwelt in Himmerland as long as men remembered, and were mighty landowners. The wife of Ketil was Asgerd, who was a leman-child of Ragnar Hairybreeks. Thus Orm came of good stock, but as he was the fifth living son of his father there could be no large inheritance for him."
First paragraph, Chapter I, third printing (1977) of the revised 1971 edition: "There was a man called Orm the Strong, a son of Ketil Asmundson who was a yeoman in the north of Jutland. The folk of Ketil had dwelt there as long as men remembered, and held broad acres. The wife of Ketil was Asgerd, who was a leman-child of Ragnar Hairybreeks. Thus Orm came of good stock, but as he was the fifth living son of his father he could look for no great inheritance."
No mention of Orm hearing a witch's curse or prophecy. Lin Carter may not have been directly quoting THE BROKEN SWORD; rather, he may have had this bit from Chapter I (page 2 of my copy of the 1977 Del Rey/Ballantine Books edition): "It was said that the man's mother, who was a witch, got free--for the burners let any women, children, and thralls who wished go out--and laid the curse on Orm that his eldest son should be fostered beyond the world of men, while Orm should in turn foster a wolf that would one day rend him."
And it was very interesting, you finding some real world allusions to a possibly historical Orm! And Ormskirk is not too far from Lancaster.
Sean
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