The Broken Sword is a fantasy novel by American writer Poul Anderson , originally published on 5 November 1954. It was issued in a revised edition by Ballantine Books as the twenty-fourth volume of their Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in January 1971. The original text was returned to print by Gollancz in 2002. The novel is set during the Viking Age and the story contains many references to the Norse mythology .
16-570: Among Thieves may refer to: Among Thieves, an Australian group, best known for their 1991 single "Faith in Love". "Among Thieves", a 1957 science fiction story by Poul Anderson , published in Astounding Stories Among Thieves , the 2009 début novel by Mez Packer Among Thieves , 2011 novel by Douglas Hulick Among Thieves , the 2009 David Hosp novel inspired by
32-400: A changeling called Valgard. The real son of Orm is taken away to elven lands and named Skafloc by the elves who raise him. As the story continues, both Skafloc and Valgard have significant roles in the war between the trolls and the elves. Anthony Boucher praised the original edition as "a magnificent saga of the interplay of gods, demigods, faerie, heroes and men." Groff Conklin described
48-555: A mad scramble and unconvincing slaughter". British fantasy writer Michael Moorcock has written that The Broken Sword greatly influenced his stories; Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné series features a magic sword, Stormbringer , which has many similarities to Skafloc's sword. Moorcock further declared The Broken Sword superior to Tolkien , calling it "a fast-paced doom-drenched tragedy in which human heroism, love and ambition, manipulated by amoral gods, elves and trolls, led inevitably to tragic consequences." Despite his admiration of
64-445: A wrong impression of my work and me. At the same time, I don’t feel free to tamper with what he has done. A partial adaptation of the novel, done as a serialized black-and-white graphic novel , was adapted by fantasy writer Tom Reamy and illustrated by professional fantasy artist George Barr . This was published during the mid-to-late 1960s over several issues of Reamy's twice Hugo Award –nominated science fiction fanzine Trumpet ;
80-491: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft Uncharted 2: Among Thieves , a 2009 video game See also [ edit ] Honor Among Thieves (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Among Thieves . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
96-522: The family to Texas, where they lived for more than ten years. After Anton Anderson's death, his widow took the children to Denmark . The family returned to the United States after the beginning of World War II , settling eventually on a Minnesota farm. While he was an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota , Anderson's first stories were published by editor John W. Campbell in
112-398: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Among_Thieves&oldid=1100106284 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001)
128-742: The magazine Astounding Science Fiction : "Tomorrow's Children" by Anderson and F. N. Waldrop in March 1947 and a sequel, "Chain of Logic" by Anderson alone, in July. He earned his BA in physics with honors but became a freelance writer after he graduated in 1948. His third story was printed in the December Astounding . Anderson married Karen Kruse in 1953 and relocated with her to the San Francisco Bay area. Their daughter Astrid (later married to science fiction author Greg Bear )
144-470: The novel as "a rip-snorting, bloody, imitation-Norse epic containing all the elements of faerie". E. F. Bleiler , commenting on the 1971 revised edition, declared that "The first portion of this novel is perhaps the finest American heroic fantasy , with good characterizations, excellent surface detail, good plotting, and an admirable recreation of the mood of the Old Norse literature. But the story ends in
160-445: The original 1954 edition, Moorcock criticized the revised 1971 text, stating that the revised edition "weakened" the novel. Diana Paxson stated that reading The Broken Sword as a teen "changed [her] life", and led to her involvement in fantasy as a genre. The original 1954 text is known for its unique prose styling which makes liberal use of archaic words, spellings and phrasings. Examples include spelling "fairy" as " faerie ",
176-613: The other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy . The Science Fiction Writers of America made Anderson its 16th SFWA Grand Master in 1998. In 2000's fifth class, he was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame as one of two deceased and two living writers. He died of prostate cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. A few of his novels were first published posthumously. The Broken Sword The book tells
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#1732780334024192-539: The story of Skafloc, elven-fosterling and originally son of Orm the Strong. The story begins with the marriage of Orm the Strong and Aelfrida of the English. Orm kills a witch's family on the land and later half-converts to Christianity, but quarrels with the local priest and sends him off the land. Meanwhile, an elf named Imric, with the help of the witch, seeks to capture the newly born son of Orm. In his place, Imric leaves
208-555: The word " glaive " in place of "sword", and archaic phrasing such as the word " will " in place of "want". The 1971 revised text frequently replaces and at times altogether removes some of these stylings. Author Poul Anderson explained these alterations in the introduction to the 1971 edition, referring to his younger self in the third person: A generation lies between us. I would not myself write anything so headlong, so prolix, and so unrelievedly savage. This young, in many ways naive lad who bore my name could, all unwittingly, give readers
224-711: Was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) in 1966 and of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), also during the mid-1960s. The latter was a group of Heroic fantasy authors organized by Lin Carter , originally eight in number, with entry by credentials as a fantasy writer alone. Anderson was the sixth President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , taking office in 1972. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of
240-592: Was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until his death in 2001. Anderson also wrote historical novels. He won the Hugo Award seven times and the Nebula Award three times, and was nominated many more times for awards. Poul Anderson was born on November 25, 1926, in Bristol, Pennsylvania to Danish parents. Soon after his birth, his father, Anton Anderson, relocated
256-534: Was born in 1954 . They made their home in Orinda, California . Over the years Poul gave many readings at The Other Change of Hobbit bookstore in Berkeley ; his widow later donated his typewriter and desk to the store. In 1954, he published the fantasy novel The Broken Sword , one of his most known works. In 1965, Algis Budrys said that Anderson "has for some time been science fiction's best storyteller". He
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