Carl Farness And The Death Of Swanhild

"The Sorrow of Odin the Goth."

In 300:

Hathawulf and Solbern, sons of the late Tharasmund, will lead an attack on Ermanaric in revenge for their sister, Swanhild, whom Ermanaric had trampled to death by horses;

their mother, Ulrica, urges them on;

she scorns Alawin, son of Tharasmund's leman, Erelieva;

Alawin intends to accompany his half-brothers in the attack but their ancestor, the Wanderer, intervenes and forbids this.

In 1935, we learn that the Wanderer is Carl Farness of the Time Patrol.

In 1980, Farness tells Manse Everard that:

he, Farness, will travel to the fourth century to research the Ermanaric story;

the Gothic king called Jormunrek in the Volsungasaga and the Eddas was really Ermanaric;

in the different accounts, Jormunrek had Svanhild, daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun, trampled to death by horses;

Gudrun urged her sons, Hamther and Sorli, to kill Jormunrek in revenge for Svanhild;

their half-brother, Erp, offered to accompany them but they killed him;

Farness guesses that there was bad blood because Erp was the son of a concubine.

Slow down there, Farness. We, the readers, already know that you are going to experience some of what you are describing!