Tuesday 10 July 2018

Last Battles

Which of Poul Anderson's characters kill as many as they can, knowing that they themselves will die in this their last battle?

Uldin the Hun;
Hathawulf and Solbern;
Hrolf Kraki;
Draun on Avalon;
probably others.

Their position is that of the Aesir at Ragnarok or of Travers, Bowie and Crockett at the Alamo. But it is also ours. Our bodies strive to survive and cannot do so indefinitely.

Some gods survive the Ragnarok. One of Anderson's spaceship crews survives this universe.

Death and renewal. And that is probably all that there is to say.

1 comment:

David Birr said...

Paul:
Not apropos of your post, but that's a seriously weird cover picture: the Vikings' Poetic Edda ... with the seal of the Knights Templar? Somebody at the publishing house didn't do his/her historical research, it appears. The Templars weren't even founded until well after what's usually acknowledged as the end of the Viking Age.