"Then I heard a voice in the world: 'O woe for the broken troth,
"'And the heavy need of the Niblungs, and the sorrow of Odin the Goth!'"
"-William Morris, Sigurd the Volsung" (p. 333)
In case this is unclear: I am quoting Poul Anderson quoting William Morris recounting a first person narrator quoting "a voice in the world."
Someone called William Morris:
wrote poems based on Norse mythology;
wrote News From Nowhere about a visit to the future (like The Time Machine);
was a political campaigner;
was involved with textile design.
I have sometimes wondered whether all of these could possibly be the same William Morris but they were: a Renaissance man.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I too have heard of William Morris, mostly as a poet and (I think) as an illustrator of books and artist. But, aside from bits quoted by writers such as Anderson, I've never read any of Morris' own works.
Ad astra! Sean
Incidentally, there's now considerable archaeological speculation that the "Fimbulwinter/Ragnarok" concepts of Norse mythology are based on actual events in the 6th century.
A set of volcanic eruptions in that period caused worldwide climate disruptions. In northern Europe, there was a succession of 3 "years without a summer" -- heavy haze in the atmosphere, freezing temperatures every month. Temperatures dropped about 3.5C, according to current estimates.
The population of Scandinavia dropped drastically, by 50% or more, and while the worst was over in 3 years, the climate didn't fully return to normal for 80 years. Population took more than a century to recover.
A folk memory of this is now considered likely to be the source of those myths. The descriptions in the sagas (and the Finnish Kalevala) correspond very closely to what actually happened.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And if that population crash had not occurred in the sixth century, the Viking wars, raids, invasions, etc., would probably have started around AD 600, instead of 800. With incalculable consequences to European and world history.
Ad astra! Sean
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