Mother of Kings

by Poul Anderson

With this novel, science fiction and fantasy grandmaster Poul Anderson has crafted a powerful story of a mighty queen, magic, and the mastery of ancient nations.

Blending characters both historical and mythological, Mother of Kings is the tale of Gunnhild, Queen of England and Norway, who loomed so large in the tenth century--at the end of the Age of the Vikings--that she became a figure of legend, even of myth.

As a child of just seven summers, Gunnhild finds herself fascinated with the powers of a witch-woman who is a concubine of her father's, a powerful Norse chieftain. She also finds another fascination in handsome and lordly Eirik, son of their king. When her mother dies, Gunnhild promises "I will never yield," and that, "through me, our blood shall flow greatly."

Gunnhild has learned from her cheiftain father the way the powerful use the weak. But there are other lessons and other powers she seeks. Sent away to learn the magic of a pair of shamans, Gunnhild becomes a Spaewife--a knower of the Gods, a master in the ways of witchcraft and sorcery. Aided by her new abilities, Gunnhild marries Eirik. She is destined to become queen, and her magic is a fearsome complement to Eirik's strength. But Eirik's enemies are cunning, and Gunnhild is soon without his might.

If Gunnhild can keep the promise she made as a child to never yield, her family's blood will flow greatly, and she sons she bore Eirik will each become a king.

Her own struggles, though, are far from over...

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, 10th Century, Medieval

640 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Pseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.

Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]

Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.


Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poul Anderson has written some great books. "Mother of Kings" is amazing. One of my favorites of his work and one of my overall favorite books. It is historical fiction following the battle for control of the Scandinavian viking lands around the late 900's.

The story is told through the vehicle of Grunhild. Grunhild, was sister or half-sister, to Harald Gromsson Bluetooth. She was the wife of Eirik Haraldson Blood-Axe , himself the son of Harald Fairhair (Son of Haalfdan) and first King of an united Norway. Grunnhild is an awesome character. Smart, devious, ruthless and highly intelligent. She and her husband, Eirik, are a power couple.

Her children will become jarls and Kings all throughout the Scandinavian world. grunnhild is a witch, a Queen and a very intelligent political player. This is the tale for the struggle for the control of Norway and the Scandinavian lands. It is also the tale of the turmoil caused by the infringement of Christianity into the Nordic lands and challenging their pagan beliefs.

While a reader unfamiliar with this period of history, many of the names seem to be similar. It is best to use the Dramatis Personae at the end for reference. Beautifully written, exciting and very informative. if you want a very entertaining and fairly accurate historical fiction account of the life and times of Eirik Blood-Axe, his Queen Grunnhild and their children-this book can not be recommended highly enough. Even for those who do not care about history, this is an excellent tale of viking warfare and deeds.

A pleasure to read and very informative. This was a superb book and one I am proud to list among my favorites. You can't go wrong with this superbly written book.

[Ron Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a large historical saga about the Norwegian Vikings of the 10th century, which has some signs of fantasy.

Plot. Rating 4
The plot focuses on the various deeds of Gunnhild, Mother of the Kings, her husband and nine sons. It is varied and rich, as the story tells about sixty years of the life of the main character.
I liked the plot, although for the most part it has the features of a chronicle. There are too many events going on, so it is difficult to consider any of them more emotionally, densely and in detail.

Characters. Rating 4
Gunnhild is well portrayed in the book, I especially liked her personality in her youth. I think she is not a positive character, but her tenacity, intelligence, dark art, determination and vindictiveness are interesting to watch. Her closest characters such as her husband and her main enemy Egill Skallagrimsson are also well shown. Among the huge number of minor characters, there are also well-developed ones, but most of these characters do not go beyond the chronicle narrative.

Dialogues. Rating 5
The book has tense dialogues. They reflect the real dangers of Viking life, in particular their constant wars, squabbles, power struggles and desire to prove themselves. The book contains a large number of adversary dialogues, as well as intrigues, conspiracies and crimes that are prepared in the dialogues.

Writing style. Rating 5
I would say that the writing style is excellent in terms of descriptions, metaphors and dialogues. I liked it, even if the plot enumeration of historical events is somewhat dry.

Worldbuilding. Rating 4
It seems to me that the life of the Vikings is described correctly and in detail. The book contains many little things about their way of life, navigation, beliefs, weapons, and so on. A slight decrease in the rating at this point was due to the descriptions of fights and battles. In my opinion, they are shown a little fluently and schematically.

Conclusion. Overall rating 4
Most likely, the book is one of the best books about the Vikings.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this one and I think, despite his greater fame as a writer of sci-fi, that Poul Anderson is at his best when he tells tales of his ancestral northern homeland, and this is one of his finest. Partially this is a re-telling of Egil’s Saga, at least in its early stages, from the point of view of Queen Gunnhild, one of the most infamous figures from saga literature. Known as ‘the mother of kings’ for bearing the progeny of Erik Bloodaxe, she was also known as a sorceress, poisoner, and schemer who you definitely didn’t want conspiring against you.

Throughout her life Gunnhild plays a game of chess (I should probably say hnefatafl!) with the fates, and any who stand against her, to ensure the safety and supremacy of her family. Initially this is centred on Erik and his ill-fated and relatively short kingship of Norway, after which it moves to the lives and fortunes of her sons by Erik in the hopes of regaining for them their lost patrimony. Initially her motives seem to be much more selfish, centered primarily on her own self-love, though as the story progresses and she weathers the vicissitudes that the fates send against her and her family, we come to see that Gunnhild has her own kind of fierce love for them.

Above all Gunnhild is cunning. Willing and able to use every tool at her disposal, whether it be a carefully crafted network of spies, the influence her name and reputation gives her, the power and military strength of her husband and sons, or more eldritch means learned in her youth, she is constantly working to further the power and security of her family. She is also a dangerous foe due to her willingness to learn from her mistakes, changing tack and making allowances for new circumstances as they occur. In essence she comes across as an admirable, if not often likeable or completely sympathetic, figure. In Anderson’s hands she does not quite come across as a revisionist ‘hero’, but neither is she purely a villain doing evil deeds for their own sake. She is a complex character learning to survive, and thrive, in a harsh world and working to bend it to her will…something that will definitely garner you some enemies and force you to undertake deeds often not seen as purely ‘good’.

Despite her central role in the stoy, a reversal from her normal appearance as simply a secondary character and antagonist in the Icelandic sagas from which her legend grew, the tale that Anderson tells becomes as much one about her foes as it is about the infamous ‘witch queen’ herself. Early on, as referred to above, we get some glimpses of Egil Skallagrimsson, one of the most famous (if also ambivalent) of saga heroes. His antagonism with Gunnhild and Erik drives much of the early plot, creating tension even within the household of the King himself, and allows us to see some of the events from his famous saga from the other side. Next is King Haakon ‘the Good’ who, even more than Egil, becomes the sworn enemy of Gunnhild and her brood of would-be kings and finally, after him, of his namesake Haakon Jarl…perhaps the most formidable, and certainly the wiliest, of the foes with whom the Erikssons must contend. We also see some nice cameos from other famous figures from the Icelandic sagas, which is not surprising really given the interconnected and recursive nature of this most unique of medieval literature, and so we see figures such as Hrut Herjolfsson, and Olaf the Peacock rounding out the cast and providing fun references for those familiar with the other family sagas in addition to the feuding kings and nobles of Norway.

Anderson did his homework for this one and he displays a real feel for the place, culture, and era in which he’s working and I think it’s fair to say that his love for, and knowledge of, the Sagas is obvious. He does allow for magic to explicitly exist in this world, but I would still tend to classify this book as historical fiction as opposed to pure fantasy, or even historical fantasy which (to me at least) implies a much higher level of magic than is apparent here. I also have to say that I enjoyed Anderson’s prose which, while perhaps somewhat archaic, felt utterly appropriate to his subject matter, especially given his penchant for using Anglo-Saxon derived words and utilizing his own kenning-style metaphors. This may perhaps not be to everyone’s taste, but it made me feel as though I was being immersed into one of the Sagas themselves (though with some additional touches of novelistic detail and characterization that helped to fill out the story, and especially the characters, a bit more). In a nutshell this is a great piece of historical fiction with some nice fantasy flavour that I’d recommend to anyone interested in the era, or especially in the sagas themselves.

[Kathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, really.

The authenticity comes through on every page, and I respect the research that went into writing the book. Gunnhild, the title character, is fascinating and well-developed. The other major characters, and several of the minor ones, also felt like real people.

So why only 3.5 stars? The style did not draw me into the story the way I wanted to be drawn in. I felt the narrator was a bit removed and therefore, the reader was as well. And, no fault of the author's, there were way too many similar names. I had trouble keeping track of the complicated family relationships and a simpler character list or family tree would have been a helpful addition to the Dramatis Personae already included. Thank goodness for the maps--that is not a part of the world with which I am very familiar, so the maps were indispensable.

I do think bits of the story will stay with me, so perhaps the rating should be higher.

[Redsteve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a big sweeping historical novel, but one that generally sticks to the facts and embellishes only in the areas that are not specifically documented. Anderson owes a lot to the contemporary and near-contemporary histories and sagas of this period. The “magic” is pretty low key and, in fact, as case could be made for chalking it up to coincidence and the wishful thinking/superstition of various characters. The characters themselves have attitudes and motivations that seem pretty accurate to the period in general and the available information on the historical figures in specific – as a result, few are entirely “sympathetic” to a modern reader. I enjoyed this novel, but never really got lost in it – it didn’t grab me the way that McCullough’s Masters of Rome series did.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Poul Anderson as a writer of SF and fantasy. As a history writer, he seems to find no fact too minute to crowd into his tale. The result is a rambling, unfocused tale that meanders through tenth century Norway. No, I didn't find it enthralling. In fact, as the book plodded on I confess I started skimming. I haven't recently been so happy to be finished with a book.

Unlike War of the Gods, here Anderson manages to have an engaging protagonist. Gunnhild's inner conflicts between the old gods, the new Christ and the older magic are well presented.

[Annette Summerfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was most interested in Gunnhild. I was disappointed that she didn't become a great witch.
I had to read about Gunnhild's real-life story when I was done.

[J.K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author is well versed in his subject, lots of details. Almost too many details. As soon as the reader starts to track a character, he or she is killed off and Gunnhild's reaction in the midst of all this intrigue is not wholly relatable. The many characters dilute focus from the protagonist, Gunnhild, and despite all the details she feels under developed. It becomes tempting to put the book down because it does not hold interest.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written book about Queen Gunnhild. She and Eric Blood-Axe had nine children together, eight were sons. The first half of the book I found more interesting since it dealt with her early years and marriage. The last half bogged down somewhat, overall a good book.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been one of my favorite books. I love the mix of a historical feeling with the fantastic element. The language is also rich.

[Sue Mchenry · Rating 2 out of 5]

ponderous

[Larry Wegman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite fictionalized telling of true history of the struggle for the kingship of a united Norway in the 900s, with witchcraft added.

[Donie Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating, colorful language, intro to heathen rites & beliefs

[Anthony Faber · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of his historical sword and sorcery books. I tend to like these better than his SF.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great retelling of Gunnhild's life, wife of Eirik Haraldsson.

[Ginger Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Previewed, written almost entirely in Germanic English. Heavy witchcraft content

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of hard to read. If I didn't already know some of the players from reading other books, I would have had an even harder time keeping up with everyone, even with the character list at the back. It's a lot, and the style was difficult for easy reading too. But there's a lot of high drama here and the high-falutin' style did work at times, especially for battles where blood rains down, etc.

[Khardiss · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my style of book. I tried; managed to read thru page 157, but it was boring me. Probably enjoyable for people who like historical Viking fiction.

[Mario Toulon · Rating 4 out of 5]

M O K

Intriguing and entertaining. Had to guess the meaning of some words but think I did a good job of that.