Poul Anderson

Thor has broken the sword Tyrfing so that it cannot strike at the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree that binds together earth, heaven and hell. But now the mighty sword is needed again to save the elves in their war against the trolls, and only Scafloc, a human child kidnapped and raised by the elves, can hope to persuade Bolverk the ice-giant to make Tyrfing whole again. But Scafloc must also confront his shadow self, Valgard the changeling who has taken his place in the world of men.

The Broken Sword

The sword Tyrfing has been broken to prevent it striking at the roots of Yggdrasil, the great tree that binds earth, heaven and hell together . . . but now the mighty sword is needed again to save the elves, who are heavily involved in their war against the trolls, and only Skafloc, a human child kidnapped and raised by the elves, can hope to persuade the mighty ice-giant, Bolverk, to make the sword Thor broke whole again. But things are never easy, and along the way Skafloc must also confront his shadow self, Valgard the changeling, who took his place in the world of men. A superb dark fantasy of the highest, and most Norse, order The Broken Sword is a fantasy masterpiece.

Magnus Dahl

Fraser Simons

Probably 3.5 stars? I found it hard to rate. It’s pretty epic and I liked the direct links to Norse mythology. It was really tropey but written in the 50s so it’s another case of just reading it after I’ve read a lot of stuff somewhat like it and diverges from the tropes. Though I did like that Freda was more badass than you’d assume from her intro and like every other woman falling into a standard trope. I don’t know why “evil” back then always leads to like somehow incest or weird sex things but that felt like a constant contrivance that pulled me out of the story. It’s at its best when they’re just doing epic things because pretty much all of the characters are difficult to relate to (as opposed to say, LotR).

The Broken Sword

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