John Carter, the self-proclaimed best swordsman of two worlds, could defeat any number of sword-wielding antagonists. He thought that he and his friend, Tars Tarkas, would have been able to fight their way across Mars killing all before them.
Some fantasy heroes are not only blessed with fighting skills but also cursed with magical swords. (I do not honestly know how many magical swords are cursed but Skafolc's is.) Shortly after he has attacked and killed six trolls, Skafolc is stalked by two more. He hews through the shield, shoulder and heart of the first and the second spits himself on the upraised sword which simultaneously gives Skafloc an "...unearthly strength..." (p. 169) enabling him to withstand the impact.
Again, two perceptions of reality: snow-devils whirl on a mountain and trolls storm an elvish fortress. Skafloc's horse leaps a ravine and gallops through the troll camp as Skafloc burns the tents. He kills three besieging trolls while his horse tramples three. He mows trolls down. They cannot touch his iron. He severs a head, opens a belly and cleaves through a helmet, skull and brain. His horse mortally kicks and bites most of the infantry.
Metal clangs and screeches. Blood steams. Snow is trampled. Corpses wallow. Trolls panic and scramble between burning tents and castle wall, recognizing a Jotun horse and a haunted sword. Skafloc rides back and forth. His mail gleams. Trolls think that he is Odin, Thor, Loki, a possessed man, Death...
Elves sally. The Erlking leads. Swords and axes rise and fall. Metal is shattered. Spears and arrows cloud the sky. Horses trample. Warriors die. Illrede leads a wedge to split the elves. Skafloc charges. Man and troll-king fight. Illrede's axe splits Skafloc's shield and dents his helmet but:
"...the uncanny strength lent by the sword kept Skafloc from swooning." (p. 173)
Axe bursts on sword. Skafloc kills Illrede.
There are nuances but this is a summary.
Before their fight, Illrede says that it was a wicked deed to bring back that sword:
"'Whatever his nature, which the Norns and not himself gave, no troll would do such a thing." (pp. 172-173)
I agree with Illrede that fate or destiny made us what we are. Although I meditate, I do not buy into the idea of previous lives. But we are responsible now for cleansing our karma.
11 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I do not agree with Illrede, "fate or destiny" does not compel us to become whatever we might turn out to be. Our own choices, good or bad, or even choosing not to make choices, are what shapes our destinies.
Ad astra! Sean
It is both.
As for John Carter, as the Greek saying went: "Even Hercules can't fight two."
In Roman legend, one guy had to fight three so he ran away. They chased him but at different speeds. Then he stopped running and killed each of the three as they came up to him. But you can't do that with an army.
Nasreddin said: "I made 500 bloodthirsty Bedouin run in the desert."
"How did you manage that?"
"Quite simple. I ran and they ran after me."
Horatius on the bridge had the advantage that they could only come at him one at a time.
Still, fighting is -hard work- . You get tired fast.
The Roman army had a drill where a formation eight men deep would rotate the man at the front every ten minutes or so -- and it was a massive advantage.
Larry Niven in the first of his 'Magic Goes Away' stories uses the 'cursed magic sword' trope.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling and Jim!
Mr. Stirling: We see Anderson using that Horatian idea in THE LAST VIKING books. One of the Norse King Harald Hardrede's guardsmen was a formidable soldier who blocked the advance of the English King Harold II's men across the narrow Stamford Bridge for a long time.
Jim: I think I remember that, but I'm not sure. Niven's "The Magic Goes Away" stories was a long time ago for me.
Welcome back, btw! Hope your problem leaving comments here was resolved.
Ad astra! Sean
I can *leave* comments. It is just that I was reading forward and clicking on 'newer post' and found that it stopped going to the next post. I can look at the list of posts to the right of the posts & comments and click on the one I want, but if this bug happens to posts early in a month with more than 100 posts, those posts will be somewhere between hard to reach & impossible to reach.
Kaor, Jim!
Got it! I appreciate seeing comments from you, even tho I don't always feel able to adequately respond.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: Yes, I remember that. He promised him his daughter in marriage, whereupon he fought even harder!
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ha! Nothing like giving a man a good solid personal stake for trying even harder.
Ad astra! Sean
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