The Broken Sword (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Poul Anderson
- First Published: 1954
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—high fantasy
- Time of Work: The time of Alfred the Great (849-899)
- Setting: The realm of Faerie (primarily the British Isles and Northern Europe)
- Genres: Long fiction, Fantasy
- Subjects: Changelings or cuckoos, Folkloric or magical people, Elves, Swords, Ninth century
- Locales: Mythical lands
The Plot
The Broken Sword is populated with elves, trolls, dwarfs, and other creatures of Northern European folklore and myth. It is set in the land of Faerie, which is part of the known world but invisible to most humans. The story begins with Orm, a Viking settler in the Danelaw (northern and eastern England). Orm is cursed by a witch after he seizes her family’s lands. She swears that Orm’s son will be stolen and that he will rear a beast instead. Orm ignores her, building and marrying on the lands taken from the witch.
Orm’s first child is indeed stolen,...
[The entire page is 959 words long]
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