The Broken Sword
| The Broken Sword | |
|---|---|
 Dust-jacket from the first edition. |
|
| Author(s) | Poul Anderson |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Abelard-Schuman |
| Publication date | 1954 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 274 pp |
| ISBN | 0-575-07425-6 |
| OCLC Number | 59499019 |
The Broken Sword is a fantasy novel written by Poul Anderson in 1954. It was issued in a revised edition by Ballantine Books as the twenty-fourth volume of their Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in January 1971. The original text was returned to print by Gollancz in 2002.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The book tells the story of Skafloc Half-elf, son of Orm the Strong. The story begins with the marriage of Orm the Strong and Aelfrida of the English. Orm kills a witch's family on the land, and later half-converts to a Christian, but quarrels with the local priest and sends him off the land. Meanwhile, an elf, Imric, seeks out the witch to capture the son of Orm, Valgard. In his place he leaves a changeling called Valgard. The real Valgard is taken away to elven lands and named Skafloc by the elves. He grows up among the fairies there. Later, he has a significant part in a war against the trolls.
[edit] Reception
Anthony Boucher praised the original edition as "a magnificent saga of the interplay of gods, demigods, faerie, heroes and men."[2] Groff Conklin described the novel as "a rip-snorting, bloody, imitation-Norse epic containing all the elements of faerie".[3] Michael Moorcock declared The Broken Sword superior to Tolkien, calling it "a fast-paced doom-drenched tragedy in which human heroism, love and ambition, manipulated by amoral gods, elves and trolls, led inevitably to tragic consequences."[1]
[edit] Influences and adaptation
- The novel is set during the Viking Age and the story contain many references to the Norse mythology. It was influenced by the 1891 novel The Saga of Eric Brighteyes, by H. Rider Haggard.[citation needed]
- British fantasy writer Michael Moorcock has written that The Broken Sword greatly influenced his stories; Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné series features a magic sword, Stormbringer, which has many similarities to Skafloc's sword.[citation needed]
- A partial adaptation of the novel, done as a serialized black-and-white graphic novel, was adapted by fantasy writer Tom Reamy and illustrated by professional fantasy artist George Barr. This was published during the mid-to-late 1960s over several issues of Reamy's twice Hugo Award-nominated science fiction fanzine Trumpet; the adaptation was never completed, though there were revived plans underway to do so at the time of Reamy's untimely death in late 1977.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tolkien times two
- ^ "Recommended Reading," F&SF, February 1955, pp.97.
- ^ "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", Galaxy Science Fiction, May 1955, p.115
- ^ Gravett, Paul (January 6, 2008). "Bryan Talbot: An Artistic Wonder From Wearside". http://www.paulgravett.com/index.php/articles/article/bryan_talbot/. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. pp. 9.
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