The Norse myths are a rich source of inspiration, so much so that they have been done poorly far more often than they have been done well (see Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology for an example of a deeply faithful example of the latter).
So I picked up Genevieve Gornichec‘s The Witch’s Heart (2021) with some trepidation.
Happily, the book delivers. It focuses on Angrboða, who appears in the Norse canon as the wife of Loki and the mother of three figures tightly entwined with the apocalyptical happening of Ragnarök (the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Jörgmungandr, and Hel, who becomes the ruler of the underworld). Angrboða is a Jötunn, belonging to the category of beings that are neither human nor gods and her story is closely entwined with the familiar stories from the source material which, for the most part, happen off-screen.
Instead, The Witch’s Heart is centered on Angrboða’s friendship and loves, and the mixing of the two. Most successfully, it depicts the two primary love affair of Angrboða’s life–Loki, with whom anyone who has glanced at the Norse material is familiar, and Skaði, who may be new to many. Each is presented with great emotional care and compassion–quite the challenge in Loki’s case, given his consistently … selfish? self-centered? self-serving? take your pick … outlook on the world.
But Gornichec manages to make Angrboða’s love for the trickster God to resonate as honest and true, and the journey from friendship to more-than with Skaði is equally moving. All of this is done without losing an essential Norse quality–a disregard for suffering, a welcoming of a glorious death, a recognition that prophesy has decreed a looming end-times (in this case, one in which your offspring and your lovers all play vital roles).
This is not a romantic fairy tale, however: the title refers to Angrboða’s relationships, but also to her actual heart, which spends a fair bit of time outside of her body, and plays a key role in the resolution of the narrative. There are battles and blood and witchery a-plenty; but there is also a mother mourning being rejected by her daughter, and railing against the impudence with which the (mostly, but not exclusively, male) Gods do as they will, ignoring the consequences.
If that mixture of mythic source and love story sounds intriguing, The Witch’s Heart is highly recommended.