Wolfwinter

by Thomas Burnett Swann, Gene Szafran (Illustrator)

Genres: Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Fiction

205 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

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 5 out of 5]

Having rated the previous books by this author at 2 or 3 stars I turned to this last one in my collection not expecting much, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that it is much better. Set in the time of classical Greece, but with mythological beings and gods a reality, as is a lot of the author's fiction, it tells the story of Erinna, a friend of the famous Sappho of Lesbos. Erinna is flat chested and has no illusions about her attractiveness, but one night when she attends a festival where it is usual for people to pair off, she meets a satyr Sappho had previously told her about, and finds a brief love for one night. Very soon after, she is married off to a cousin of her father, and has to move far from her island home, to a place where women have far more restricted lives. When her rather snooty and luxury loving husband discovers she is pregnant, he warns her that if the child is either an ugly boy or a girl - unless showing signs of being attractive when grown, and marriageable - it will be exposed outside the city.

When Erinna's boy is born he is almost perfect but has two little horns on his head, which her husband unfortunately discovers under his curls, and Erinna is tricked into handing the baby over to a slave. Almost too late she discovers he has been left outside the city where some large white wolves come to devour the abandoned babies. She has to fight one of them to rescue him, and he suffers an ankle wound. She flees, trying to take him to the forest where other fauns and satyrs are said to live, but with no food and a journey of days, collapses along the way. A man called Tares, a trader with a mule-drawn wagon, finds her and helps her, but when they reach the forest the baby is taken by a young faun who wants to raise him as a younger brother. The story of how Erinna is reunited with her son and finds fulfilment with the forest folk, with the twist of who are the goodies and villains, then ensues.

I found this story much better than previous ones by the author. It is told from the point of view of an unassuming young woman who has been raised more like a boy, her mother having died some years before, and who therefore can run, use a bow and generally rough it in the woods. Despite her initial lack of confidence with men - she makes it clear that she isn't attracted to same-sex partners unlike Sappho - she is a late bloomer and eventually becomes rather a magnet for various male characters.

Unlike some of the author's fiction, the sexual elements are an integral part of the story, companionship and friendship are just as important, and the characters are more fully developed than in other of his novels. There are some touching scenes which derive from the comparatively short lives of the fauns. As a side note, I found it quite amusing that, despite Erinna's references in the novel to being quite flat chested, the cover, although quite well painted, shows her as very well endowed in that department.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, and unlike the rest of his novels it is a keeper, so I am pleased to award it a full five stars.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Wolfwinter on the advice of the myth-master Charles de Lint. He implied that Thomas Burnett Swann had a muse-ic effect on his works.

In Swann I have discovered another great author who makes the ancient stories and beliefs and cultures come to life. He writes spare, but melodic prose, laced with humor and having bittersweet edges. Swann is a modern prose poet. He harkens back to the Nine Lyric Poets of Hellenistic Greece in his prose and his tales. I cannot give enough accolades to the beauty of his writings. I would there be a renaissance of his works for modern readers to discover.

Wolfwinter is the story of Errina a friend of the famous Sappho of Lesbos where she was born. She falls in love with a satyr during Lesbian rites, conceives a child by him, but is given as wife to a Sybaritic cousin of her father. Husband, outraged at the birth of a hybrid boy exposes him on the Field of Wolves. Thus begins Errina's effort to save her son with the help of her Goddess and mythic creatures of the forests of Magna Graecia.

The golden age of Fantasy shines brightly from this novel.

9 of 10 Stars

[lowercase · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was an unintentional read. i was bored, my brother had left for the navy, i went through his (shelves and shelves of) books, and came across this one. as a child, i'd been enamored of the greek pantheon, so ... i ran my finger up the spine and pulled the book down to me, anticipating getting a few pages in before falling asleep. instead, i stayed up for a few hours and read the entire story. what a lovely, lissom, lightsome thing, a delicate poem with a firm foundation. swann was far ahead of his time -- he was born in 1928 and died in 1975 -- with regard to sexuality, and his characters regard intimacy as a celebration of love. it's beautifully done, and never with too much explanation or without sensitivity.

i first read "wolfwinter" when i was 19. i'm 60 now, and just put the book down, having finished reading it for the second time. i feel as if i've been given a gift.

[Joel J. Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before Thomas Burnett Swann is a writer, he is a poet. Flush with moving prose, lush atmosphere, and engaging narrative, this Greek mythology–inspired novel sings like the sound of a mountain stream. Swann doesn’t seem interested in dazzling with complex or heavy themes. Instead he paints a world that feels strangely and otherworldly intimate.

Winterwolf’s strength lies in its imagery and mood. The characters are drawn with a delicate touch, neither fully realistic nor flat, but quietly memorable. They almost exist like Impressionistic figures, blending into the landscape as much as myth itself. Swann’s prose lingers on small details, on light and color, on taste and smell, on the kinds of moments other writers might hurry past. It makes every scene feel less like a narrative you follow and more like a place you live in.

This isn’t a novel that’s necessarily deep or complex, but it’s deeply satisfying. It rewards you not with twists or revelations (though there is one or two), but with the simple pleasure of basking in its warmth. By the very end, I found myself less concerned with where the story went and more interested in how it made me feel. For me, it felt like a modern painter who restores an old Rembrandt painting, following the brushstrokes with the old master because they love it too much to let it fade.

My only “complaint” is that I felt the title of the story didn’t match the overwhelming feeling and setting of the book. Perhaps a better title would’ve been “Faunforest” if they needed the same theme.

[John Peel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Burnett Swann is probably an acquired taste - his stories are all very similar, and deal with loss and love and hope in a mythical setting. This one is the story of a young girl who loves a faun and has a half-breed child that is targeted by a white wolf. There's lots of mythology about dying peoples and such like. It may not be quite your cup of tea, but it's enjoyable in its own way.

[David Allenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated and minimal plot but enjoyable. I read it in one afternoon.

[David K. Nouvel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Wolfwinter" mérite sans aucun doute d'être aussi connu que la Trilogie du Minotaure ou celle du Latium (Folio SF/Les Moutons Electriques). On y retrouve tous les ingrédients qui font des récits swaniens une expérience unique : le rapport libéré à la sexualité et à l'amour (sans l'écrasante morale chrétienne, et sans la vulgarité qui y est souvent associée) ; l'évanescence d'un monde qui se sait en train de mourir ; la simplicité d'un mode de vie en accord avec la Nature ; l'acceptation et la célébration des différences.
Autant de thématiques propres à la contre-culture des années 1960-70 (l'ouvrage a été publié en 1972 et n'est disponible qu'en occasion ; d'où la couverture de mauvais goût, qui est la seule disponible hélas).
Le style poétique de Swann rend l'ensemble très beau. J'ai de nouveau été sous le charme et certains passages, par leur grâce et leur simplicité, m'ont beaucoup touché. J'ai apprécié la symbolique de la vie d'Erinna, qui s'est développée sous les auspices d'Artémis, d'Aphrodite et de Hadès, une "odyssée" à la découverte de sa féminité (et de ses possibilités) et de son rôle dans le monde.
Pour terminer, un extrait de "Wolfwinter"", pour appuyer mes dires :
"Love is a dragonfly, Sappho said. His wings flicker translucently in the sun, and then he is a broken body lying among the asphodels. But what you remember, finally, is that brief translucence, and then you listen for the wings from the next meadow.
(...)
Dragonfly, butterfly, luna moth. There are many kinds of love, and each of them is exquisite. I have loved girls. Boys. Men twice my age. If the body and soul are comely, who am I to quarrel about the colour of wings or the speed of flight?"

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely.