The Demon Of Scattery. See here.
"...Halldor saw clasped hands and knew she was calling on her White Christ - in a whisper, but it might reach far. He touched the small silver hammer at his throat and drew Thor's sign." (pp. 12-14)
In Halldor's world-view, Thor and Christ are competing gods. Christ is not near but might hear. Thor is supposed to have challenged him. See here and here. Historical fiction presents characters with different world-views whereas historical fantasy can assume a polytheist world-view. We were told on p. 7 that the narrator of this story, Mananaaan, "...had been a god..."
Halldor is prime-signed. (p. 20)
"...by it he did not forswear his friend Thor..." (pp. 20-21)
In a far future, when a child dreams of monsters, an immortal spaceman tells her that he knows of someone "'...who can take care of that.'"
"'Fellow name of Thor.'" (Anderson, World Without Stars, Ace Books, New York, 1966, p. 14)
Thor endures although not as a literal being.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And in Anderson's THE GOLDEN SLAVE, a historical novel set in the time of the Late Roman Republic, we see speculations about the origins of Thor. He was a human warrior favoring the use of a hammer as a weapon who came to be a follower of Eodan (the original of Odin).
I would classify Anderson/Broxon's THE DEMON OF SCATTERY as historical fiction with some flashes of fantasy (mostly near the end of story).
Sean
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