Moira grew to womanhood in the realm of Myr, wise in the arts of women.. and utterly innocent of the ways of men. All of that changes tonight. Moira wondered, trembling. She passes through the circle of stones into the world of men. There, she meets Wulfsun, every mesmerizing inch a man, hard muscled and tawny maned. No Viking was more feared, until he captures a maiden as beautiful as moonlit shadows, and is enslaved for all time. He would have her willing or not at all, though his blood coursed hot with wanting. And though Moira wore a golden collar of thralldom, her desire for the mighty warrior was the greater bondage.

The Serpent and the Swan is a history and analysis of animal bride tales from antiquity to the present. The animal bride tale, the author argues, is an enduring expression of humankind's need to remain close to and a part of nature. Boria Sax traces the idea of the animal bride through history by drawing upon legends and literary works from throughout the world. He pays particular attention to Eurasian sources which support his thesis that the animal bride theme originated among the serpent cults of Mesopotamia and southeastern Europe. Through time, the details of the animal bride theme changed as a result of mankind's changing perceptions of the natural world. In general, this study is an account of myths and beliefs that have surrounded animals--and women--during the rise of modern humankind. The Serpent and the Swan identifies and explains images of the animal bride that pervade, enliven, and enrich our culture. The bride becomes Eve taking an apple from the serpent, Medea casting spells, Cinderella riding to the royal ball in a pumpkin coach, and the Little Mermaid rising from the waves. The Author: Boria Sax, who holds a doctorate in German and intellectual history, is the author of The Frog King and The Parliament of Animals, among other books.

This unique collection of essays applies significant critical approaches to the mythological poetry of the Poetic Edda, a principal source for Old Norse cosmography and the legends of Odin, Loki, and Thor. The volume also provides very useful introductions that sketch the critical history of the Eddas. By applying new theoretical approaches (feminist, structuralist, post-structuralist) to each of the major poems, this book yields a variety of powerful and convincing readings. Contributors to the collection are both young scholars and senior figures in the discipline, and are of varying nationalities (American, British, Australian, Scandinavian, and Icelandic), thus ensuring a range of interpretations from different corners of the scholarly community. The new translations included here make available for the first time to English-speaking students the intriguing methodologies that are currently developing in Scandinavia. An essential collection of scholarship for any Old Norse course, The Poetic Edda will also be of interest to scholars of Indo-European myth, as well as those who study the theory of myth.

In her compendious study, [of the folktale of the runaway wife] Leavy argues that the contradictory claims of nature and culture are embodied in the legendary figure of the swan maiden, a woman torn between the human and bestial worlds. --The New York Times Book Review This is a study of the meaning of gender as framed by the swan maiden tale, a story found in the folklore of virtually every culture. The swan maiden is a supernatural woman forced to marry, keep house, and bear children for a mortal man who holds the key to her imprisonment. When she manages to regain this key, she escapes to the otherworld, never to return. These tales have most often been interpreted as depicting exogamous marriages, describing the girl from another tribe trapped in a world where she will always be the outsider. Barbara Fass Leavy believes that, in the societies in which the tale and its variants endured, woman was the other--the outsider trapped in a society that could never be her own. Leavy shows how the tale, though rarely explicitly recognized, is frequently replayed in modern literature. Beautifully written, this book reveals the myriad ways in which the folktales of a society reflect its cultural values, and particularly how folktales are allegories of gender relations. It will interest anyone involved in literary, gender, and cultural studies.

A time travel Civil War romance from the award-winning author: “Combining intriguing paranormal elements is Ms. Weyrich’s forte and this is no exception” (Romantic Times). The grand plantation of Swan’s Quarter still echoes with memories of another time. It is there that Ginna Jones meets Neal Frazier, a recovering plane crash survivor. Young and handsome, but disturbingly familiar, Ginna is instantly drawn to this mysterious man. When a walk in the garden sends the pair spiraling back through the veils of time, their fates become entwined with those of two young lovers separated by the Civil War. Plunged into another century, Ginna and Neal will discover destinies still waiting to be fulfilled, and a flame of passion that not even the passage of time can extinguish.

The “lyrical” conclusion to the enthralling medieval trilogy from the author of Swan Bride and Swan Witch (Library Journal). During a moonlit swim, Arrah of Myr finds herself at the mercy of Traeth of Rhune. Headstrong and bold, Traeth quickly seizes the now helpless Arrah and carries her to Rhune Castle, in the world of men. There the handsome knight showers her with gifts and kisses, awakening a wild passion between mortal and swan maiden—the otherworld beauty he vows never to let go. But such a dire crime means a fearsome penalty, and Traeth cannot long escape the Swan Sisters’ wrath at Arrah’s abduction. They decree he must die if he fails at an extraordinary quest—to find what all women desire most. The journey will test him completely, but will he discover what he seeks in time to win Arrah’s heart?

Originally published: Australia: Giramondo, 2013.