# Please help identify this fantasy book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845 "2004-01-24T00:41:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gmork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Gmork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gmork)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/1 "2004-01-24T00:41:37Z")
My bosses and I (I work in a second-hand bookstore) are attempting to find a book for a client. Unfortunately he remembers only vague details of the plot, no title or author, and only roughly when he read it. If we could find even the title/author information for him I’m sure he’d be grateful, and we’d be satisfied. Anyway, the information below is all he can give, it doesn’t ring a bell with any of us - you guys? - It is a fantasy trilogy apparently set in a medieval period, moving between Britain and and a Scandinavian area. - A character’s name (main or otherwise) is possibly Harold - This book was read 25-30 yrs ago, but obviously could have been written anytime before that. - The main character is some sort of berserker, apparently possessed repeatedly (or something) by a bear, or Bear-God. - The presence of the Norse god Odin is also recalled. Yes, the details are sketchy but I’ll leave it with this board and cross my fingers. Thanks for any help, Cheers, Gmork ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/2 "2004-01-24T00:52:05Z")
It rings some very tiny distant bells. It sounds vaguely like a ‘fable’ (is that the right word?) of some sort. It reminds me of ‘His dark materials’ but it’s obviously not that. It might come to me sooon. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/3 "2004-01-24T02:53:50Z")
I was about to wander off, but it sounds almost like _The Hammer and the Cross_ by Harry Harrison, but that’s a single book (as far as I know). Lemme quote from the back… > [@](#): > > Warring kings rule over the British Isles, but the Church rules over the kings, threatening all who oppose them with damnation. Only the dreaded Vikings of Scandinavia do not fear the priests. > > Shef, the bastard son of a Norse raider and a captive English lady, is torn between the divided loyalties and driven by strange visions that seem to come from Odin himself Not exact, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/4 "2004-01-24T02:56:03Z")
Another series is 5 books and called “The Bifrost Guardians” by Mickey Zucker Reichert. I don’t remember a Harold in it, but the Norse gods play a major role in the plot. I know these aren’t exact, but I also know how sketchy these customer recollections can be. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/5 "2004-01-24T18:20:43Z")
I believe it is Harry Harrison’s ‘The Hammer and the Cross Trilogy’. [Here.](http://www.iol.ie/~carrollm/hh/n27-.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/6 "2004-01-24T18:28:23Z")
Thanks, **Danalan**. I dunno if it’s what the OP needed, but I’m glad to round out my series. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/7 "2004-01-24T20:57:03Z")
If I understand the link given by Danalan, the Harrison books are too recent to be the ones. Perhaps it was one of Poul Anderson’s books. Take a look at _Three Hearts and Three Lions_, _The Broken Sword_, or _Hrolf Kraki’s Saga_. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/8 "2004-01-24T21:05:10Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s Raymond H Thompson writing as Chris Carlsen _The Shadow Of The Wolf_, _The Bull Chief_ and _Mythago Wood_. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/9 "2004-01-24T21:08:41Z")
[This](http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/intrvws/holdst.htm) may assist your customer if I’m right. ---
**Author:** ![Gmork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Gmork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gmork)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/10 "2004-01-24T23:25:52Z")
Thanks guys, all leads will be followed, though my money would be on either the R.H Thompson or P. Anderson books, I’ll let you know! Thanks again, I feel justified now in telling my boss I know a group of people online who can probably help… Cheers! Gmork ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-fantasy-book/225845/11 "2004-01-25T06:10:49Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > If I understand the link given by Danalan, the Harrison books are too recent to be the ones. Perhaps it was one of Poul Anderson’s books. Take a look at _Three Hearts and Three Lions_, _The Broken Sword_, or _Hrolf Kraki’s Saga_. It could be his Last Viking trilogy, too. [Thel Golden Horn](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0890835977/qid=1075010869/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-2249119-0251259?v=glance&s=books) [Road of the Sea Horse](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0890836108/qid=1075010869/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-2249119-0251259?v=glance&s=books) [Sign of the Raven](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0890836256/qid=1075010869/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/002-2249119-0251259?v=glance&s=books) Published in It’s been so long since I read those…