Dear Mr. Cornwell,
My name is Andreas Schneider, I am 24 years old and I study English and Spanish in Essen, Germany. I have just finished “The last kingdom” and first of all I wanted to thank you for writing such a thrilling and entertaining series of novels set in one of my favourite historic epochs, the Viking Age. I have already ordered “The pale horseman” and I cannot wait to read more about Uhtred’s and the other protagonists’ lives.
I have two questions, though, which are connected to two comments the narrator Uhtred makes on Norse Mythology. First, on page 259 he states that “the world was made by Thor from the carcass of Ymir”. But wasn’t the earth created by Odin and his two brothers Vili and Vé in Norse Mythology? I am not an expert on the subject, just an interested student, but I have never read “your” version of this event. The second question deals with a similar subject. On page 302/303 it is said that “Ran was Njord’s wife”, although I only know of sources where she is described as the giant Aegir’s wife (whereas Njörd’s wife, as far as I know, is the giantess Skadi). I know that sometimes in Norse Mytholgy we lack definite knowledge, but I always thought these two cases to be relatively clear.
I really do not want to be a small-minded bother debating with you on “stupid little details”, I just thought that maybe you, as a succesful author, might have knowledge or sources about Norse Mythology that I do not possess, and then I would really like to be enlightened by you.
Again, I much enjoyed reading the first novel of the series!
Best regards,
Andreas Schneider