"'Do you remember the Sagas? We'll name her to please Niorn, the god of the sea... For Niorn controls the fire and the water, the twin enemies of a tanker captain; the explosion and the sea herself... So we will name her after the daughter of Niorn, Freya, the most beautiful of all the goddesses. We will call her the Freya.' He raised his glass. 'To the Freya.'"
-Frederick Forsyth, The Devil's Alternative (London, 1980), 4, pp. 101-102.
Niorn is a new spelling but we have recently discussed the deity, Njord/ Niaerdh/Nerthus, in relation to Poul Anderson's historical fantasy, historical time travel fiction and future history fiction:
the god Njord and his human incarnation;
the goddess Niaerdh and a Time Patrolwoman who poses as her;
a planet called Nerthus.
2 comments:
Testing. My first comment disappeared.
Sean
Kaor, Paul! I remember Anderson's discussion of the difficulties posed by Norse spelling and names in his introduction to HROLF KRAKI'S SAGA. Ad astra! Sean
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