The Cross and the Sword

by Evangeline Walton

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Evangeline Walton was the pen name of Evangeline Wilna Ensley, an American author of fantasy fiction. She remains popular in North America and Europe because of her “ability to humanize historical and mythological subjects with eloquence, humor and compassion”.

Reviews

[Lorinda Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This historical novel, by one of the premier fantasists of the 20th century, deals with the conflicts between the English and the Norsemen in the 10th and 11th centuries – events that led up to the reign of the Danish King Knut. It was a tempestuous period, when Christianity was trying to establish itself in the world of Odin-men – feeling its own way along a tentative path and not doing such a good job of living up to its own principles.
If you tackle this book, don’t expect light bedtime reading, with romanticized, plastic heroes and heroines, simplistic villains, or knights fighting dragons. This book is meaty, the kind that requires attention to be paid. Its style is strenuous and its diction demanding; the plot drives forward relentlessly and is full of violence, dealing as it does with the St. Brice’s Day Massacre. It may indict Christianity on one level, but it also both indicts and exalts the human spirit.
The best thing about the book is the characterization. Walton takes a few terse references from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and weaves a credible fictional tale around these unexplained remarks, building a fully developed character – Sweyn the Norwegian, who becomes Edwy the Christian and later Black Thrym, who experiences a kind of miracle.
The Cross and the Sword is on a par with Evangeline Walton’s best novel, The Island of the Mighty, and I strongly recommend it to any aficionado of historical fiction who can get hold of a copy of this unfortunately out-of-print book.

[Mely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread.