The Gods Abide

by Thomas Burnett Swann, George Barr (Cover Art)

Thomas Burnett Swann was a brilliant fantasy writer who died in 1976. He wrote primarily about the ancient Greek and Roman world, blending myth with romance and adventure. A reviewer in the Village Voice sums his work up well: "Swann's neo-romantic fantasies of the past are unique. He uses the stuff of myth but with twists and inventions of his own."

In this tale of the time of Rome and the Celtic kingdoms, Swann tells the story of the retreat of the pagan gods and all their array of sprites and nymphs and little folk. Facing the ruthless practicality of the new religion that denies their very right to exist, the varied prehumans face utter destruction unless they can find a sanctuary beyond detection. This short novel tells their tale and that of two of their defenders, who follow the trail of the legendary immortals to the very waters of the Styx. It is a masterpiece of poetic imagery, fantastic adventure, and sheer literary delight.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 21, 1976

About the author

Thomas Burnett Swann was best known as the author of numerous fantasies published in the 1960s and ’70s. Many of his bucolic tales were set in the Ancient World and populated by mythic creatures. His best-known works include the novel DAY OF THE MINOTAUR and the shorter works “Where Is the Bird of Fire?” and “The Manor of Roses,” all nominated for Hugo Awards. Swann was also a poet, professor, and literary critic.

Reviews

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe this is a late novel, if not the last published, from this author. In this, the world of pagan creatures which populated the land and seas is being driven into extinction or hiding. The author is firmly on the side of the pagans: Christianity is on the ascendant with its sexual prudery and attendant hypocrisy.

The story follows two male characters. One, Dylan, has been living on the coast of Caledonia for some years although he has amnesia and cannot recall his family. He is a boy of about sixteen years and also a Roane - I am not sure if these are actually taken from mythology but he has gills and can breathe underwater it seems, although he uses a sealskin for streamlining in the sea. (Towards the end of the story we discover that the seals bring the skins of naturally deceased seals for Roanes to use; Roanes do not hunt them.) His companion is a friendly giant - ant it seems, at least that is how it is shown in the line drawings which accompany the text - called Angus. Their life is shattered when a boat arrives, crewed not by the friendly Romans who had previously visited and taught Dylan Latin, but slave traders. Dylan is sold to be a galley slave and Angus ends up as a performing animal somewhere but makes his way back to Dylan eventually.

The other male character is Nod, seemingly a corn sprite, adopted by a sympathetic woman and her curmugeonly husband. As the story develops we discover a much darker side to the husband who on the surface is a pious Christian. Things change when two women, Stella and Tutelina, arrive at the city who are, to Christian eyes, prostitutes, but just might be sprites of some kind or perhaps more. Nod is invited to a fertility festival in the fields outside the city by the two women and, keen to lose his virginity, tries to find some wine in his father's cellar to take along, but encounters a demonic creature. Escaping he meets Dylan, and they start to form a friendship which becomes firm throughout the story.

The story is about the clash of the two cultures, but is also rather 'dodgy' to modern sensibilities, especially a scene where the heroes escape from Tritons by offering them sex voluntarily rather than the worse alternative that would involve murder as well. By the end of the story, not only is Dylan's amnesia resolved, but the identities of certain other characters are made known.

I liked the more complex character of Dylan in this, which was a change from the often one dimensional protagonists of the author's other books. On the whole, I am awarding this 3 stars.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one surprised me. First, when I found it by accident on the shelf of a used-book store yesterday, and today when I zipped through it.

It's a fantasy, set during the years when the old ways were giving way to Christianity, and the author is decidedly on the side of the pagans. It's very 1970s in its storytelling (like The Mote in Gods Eye in that respect, though different in every other possible way), and for that reason has a voice very different from the urban fantasists or Pratchett or Gaiman, etc., and that I would say is its strength. It's an earnest book, not an exercise in post-modern belief systems or cultural referents. Swann seems very much to want to believe, and the story he's telling as one of loss and the ending of things (but then, it's a fantasy, after all).

It's only fair to say that it's also a story from a male perspective, and the sexual politics are sometimes. . . complicated. Particularly in one scene where the heroes escape from adversaries in a way that will be trigger-y for some readers. And yet, even that scene ends very differently from how a Martin or Goodkind would have handled it. Swann is reaching for a 'pagan' worldview in this story, and he's allowing the possibility that certain actions could be taken without the judgment we would normally have of them. Whether he succeeds in that or not is open to debate, but I would say that if he's deeply sympathetic to his interpretation of a 'pagan' world, he doesn't deny that it would have darker aspects as well as positive ones.

Anyway, the story is about two young men, living in the Italian peninsula shortly after the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Those who follow pagan ways are being persecuted and killed, and the creatures that once populated the forests and countryside are being driven out, with the more fortunate ones fleeing North in the hope of finding some refuge. Both our heroes share mysterious origins, so it's not long before they find themselves on the run too, joined by two corn sprites and a surprisingly personable giant ant (no, really) as they make their own way to Caledonia.

You can probably tell, it's one of those fantasies that's better read than described. But there's a bit of John Crowley in how Swann handles pagan ways (including a memorable harvest festival) and that 70s fantasy tone reminded me a little of Patricia McKillip's Riddlemaster of Hed. It's a perfect book for a summer afternoon, and while I'm not ready to call it a lost classic (it might just have hit me the right way this weekend), I think it did deserve a longer shelf-life than it got.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a half stars. Definitely more high fantasy than sword and sorcery but pretty good. Strange and weird, which is a good thing in this case.

[Plonkaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun and quick fantasy read.

The story follows four pagan characters in a world where paganism is in its dying throes to the new and upcoming religion of Christianity and their Desert King (Jesus).

The book pokes fun at Christianity, criticizing how violent it can be and how prudish Christians are, but in my eyes it is done in a harmless and humorous way.

The writing was very good and my book had a few drawings scattered throughout which were nice to have.

3.5/5

[John Wills · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is only barely a novel. When I reached the halfway point I realized nothing had happened, and that what had happened was laughably juvenile. Though the novel condemns repression it is too innocent for the message to have any weight. Swann’s prose, sometimes poetic, is the only reason I give two stars.

[Marko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ave the german translation.

[Alien · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fantasy based on Roman mythology. It tells the story of 2 half-men. One of them is a sea-man with gills, who is captured and abused as a galley slave.

I hated the style and was unable to read it to the end. Maybe the German translation ("Die heimlichen Götter") is to blame, I don´t know.
I must admit, that the chosen background of Greek/Roman mythology was somewhat original