Thursday 23 June 2016

Bjarki

Poul Anderson, Hrolf Karki's Saga (New York, 1973).

The Skjoldung Kings of Denmark are descended from Odin.

The Yngling Kings of Sweden are descended from Frey.

The Kings in the Keel mountains of Upland Norway are descended from Thor.

In the Keel, when the old king Hring's young son, Bjorn, refuses the clandestine advances of his father's new young wife, Hvit, she transforms him into a were-bear which kills the king's herds until it is hunted down and killed. However, Bjorn's lover, Bera, bears his three sons, Frodhi, Thori and Bjarki. I have condensed this account as far as I could. At last we have found our way to the title character of Part V, The Tale Of Bjarki. How Bjarki becomes Hrolf's son-in-law will have to wait till a later post.

Meanwhile, when Bera lived with Bjorn in the wilderness, she might have encountered:

a niss;
a nicor;
a dwarf;
a troll;
the Asgard's Ride;
the elves.

The elves are described on p. 153, tall, grave and Tolkienesque.

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