Eric Brighteyes in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Sep 05, 2017 Joseph rated it really liked it

Second of Haggard's big historical epics (after Cleopatra). In this case, we have a viking story modeled very consciously on the old Icelandic sagas [ASIDE: I hadn't really realized how much of a presence the vikings had in Iceland, nor that so many of the big stories we know are actually from there, not from up in Scandinavia.] Our hero, Eric Brighteyes is, of course, young, handsome, strong and brave (and possibly not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but let's never mind that for now). Natura ...more

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Dec 30, 2022 Jason Ray Carney rated it it was amazing

This is an excellent pre-sword-and-sorcery late-19th-century homage to Icelandic Sagas. The plot is labyrinthine and difficult to summarize briefly. In essence, the main character, the heroic and virtuous Eric Brighteyes, is beloved by two woman, Gudruda the Fair and Swanhild the Witch. Gudruda is honorable and good and Swanhild is a witch and spiteful. Most of the conflict originates from Swanhild's machinations as she attempts (and mostly succeeds) to disrupt and destroy Eric's life and loving ...more

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Apr 01, 2019 Derek rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: that-northern-thing

The villain is always the really interesting one. Eric Brighteyes is on stage for the vast majority of the story and is framed as its tragic hero, but this could just as easily have been titled "Swanhild the Fatherless".

In one remarkable scene she agrees--the most tepid agreement possible--to accept damnation in exchange for a last-ditch attempt at winning Eric for herself, so that she would know bliss in life for eternal horror and separation from him afterwards. Her initial plan fails, of cou ...more

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Jan 04, 2023 Jim Kuenzli rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure-action-pulp, vikings

This was a beautiful version from the Professor's Bookshelf series of books that inspired JRR Tolkien. Be prepared for thouests and harkens and other archaic forms of speech because the book is entirely written that way. For me personally, the archaic prose lend beauty to the tragic saga of one Eric Brighteyes, Icelands greatest hero. This is my favorite Haggard book to date, and I really like many of his books. Be prepared for many fabrics of Norse lore consisting of witchcraft, Valkyries, Fate ...more

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