The Vikings are Back

Soft men are dead men in the novels of two tough, intelligent women and their new style fantasy literature.

By : Steffen Larsen

What is the literary term for the fantasy literature these two women - each with their own distinctive style - write? It has an unprecedented intensity; it borders on brutality. They write about struggles for domination and about raw strength. We could call it female fantasy power writing. And it is not such a new phenomenon, either.

Indeed Josefine Ottesen has been writing for almost 30 years. She "founded" fantasy literature in Denmark with the novel Fjeren og rosen (The Feather and the Rose) And she just keeps it coming.

The Krigeren (The Warrior) trilogy looks as if it will become the great literary breakthrough. The second volume has just come out and the title is Bag borgens mure [Behind the Castle Walls]. It is an impressive task she has set herself: her aim is to write about the process of a boy maturing into a man. She uses the adventure story as her vehicle and evokes all the stages on the path of his development, without contravening any of the rules for the classic scenes. All the folkloric elements hit the mark; the story is told with subtlety and a sense of dramatic tension. Ottesen has you jumping out of your chair as the foundling Odd fights his way to the top with guile and grit. He is strong (and silent) like a man, but on the inside he is still a boy - for now. And full of rage. The third volume in "The Warrior" series comes out later this year.

Karen Skovmand is overtaking Josefine Ottesen in the fast lane. Her Ainshas historie (Ainsha's Story) is all about a 'power girl', who rises from being a robber princess to becoming the warrior queen - with license to kill. This writer also sticks to the classic rules of the fantasy game, and she has a similar purpose in mind. And that is to describe the development of a character as beset by violent events, hatred and unbridled emotions. This time it is the development of a girl. But Ainsha is a million miles off being soft and effeminate. It all begins on the banks of Lake Nikita where the girl grows up alongside her mother in the firm belief that she is a boy! Daddy is the brigand chief living up in the mountains. He robs his son, who turns out to be a daughter, and after many hard years in the robbers' stronghold Ainsha is forced to marry a northern warrior under strict instructions that she is to kill him during the wedding night. Ainsha fails and instead becomes the warrior queen.

This is an exceptional story that takes place within fixed storytelling conventions. Karen Skovmand guides her headstrong protagonist through the explosive events of the novel with a sure hand. In much the same way that she plays on the gender of the protagonist she also plays with the reader and it borders on the indecent. We ARE really right in the middle of the primitive, foul-smelling, medieval universe where most fantasy literature is situated. Karen Skovmand's writing has a neutral, controlled tone. Ainsha can fight and dominate like a man. But on the inside she is still a girl, full of self-doubt.

Translated by Don Bartlett