Three Hearts and Three Lions
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 Cover of 1962 Avon edition |
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| Author | Poul Anderson |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Released | 1961 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 191 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
Three Hearts and Three Lions is a 1961 fantasy novel by Poul Anderson. It is also a 1953 novella by Poul Anderson which appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
Holger Carlsen, in the course of his work in the Danish Resistance to the Nazis, finds himself carried to a parallel universe, which proves to have the Matter of France as its historical past. There he finds that the evil of Faerie is encroaching on humanity. His quest finally leads him to discover that he is Ogier the Dane, sent to this universe by Morgan le Fay, and to fight the battle that drives back the evil. This also thrust him back into our world, in which he is able to ensure that Nazis can not stop a crucial escape from occupied Europe.
At the end of the novel, he is seeking his way back in the other world, where he had fallen in love with a swan may.
[edit] Other works
Holger later appears as a minor character in Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest, still in search of his return.
[edit] Influences
The original alignment system of Dungeons and Dragons (which grouped all players and creatures into "Law" and "Chaos") was influenced by Three Hearts and Three Lions. The novel also includes a troll from which the D&D description of the monster was derived. Likewise, significant elements of the Paladin class was taken from this novel.
[edit] Awards
The 1953 novella is a NESFA 1953 Retro-Hugo Recommendation.[1]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ NESFA 1953 Retro-Hugo Recommendations. New England Science Fiction Association, Inc.. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
[edit] References
- Tymn, Marshall B.; Kenneth J. Zahorski and Robert H. Boyer (1979). Fantasy Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide. New York: R.R. Bowker Co., 45. ISBN 0-8352-1431-1.
