Three Hearts and Three Lions Revisited: Appendix N Revisited, Part 1

Three Hearts and Three Lions Revisited

Appendix N Revisited, Part 1

     Hello, and welcome to the first installment of my "Appendix N Revisited" project! As I mentioned previously, in the course of this project, I want to revisit the classics of fantasy fiction, weird fiction, and science fiction that made up "Appendix N" to the original Dungeon Master's Guide by Gary Gygax, both to explore their influence on my Hobby (RPGs) and my own writing and conception of fantasy fiction. I decided to go through the list in order, looking at a work from each author in turn before returning to authors with multiple listings. So, the first author on the list: Poul Anderson. The first reading for my project? Three Hearts and Three Lions. If you have never read the book and wish to avoid spoilers, you should stop reading at this point, as I shall be discussing the book in some detail.

     Three Hearts and Three Lions was first published in 1961, expanding a novella from 1953, written by Poul Anderson, an American-born Golden Age science fiction author of Danish descent whose family moved to Denmark after the death of his father, returning to the United States due to the outbreak of the second World War. This novel is one of a peculiar breed popular in the middle of the 20th century, when the bounds between science fiction and fantasy were not so clearly established, and indeed Anderson (though his protagonist, Holger Carlsen) is at some pains to provide possible scientific explanations for various fantastic phenomena, though there is plenty of outright magic (hand-waved with the implication that the scientific laws of parallel worlds operate differently). The principle is that more succinctly put by Arthur C. Clarke that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," though this is more like the explanation for many stories of magic has at least some scientific basis. Anyway, this is actually one of the aspects of Appendix N literature with which I am least comfortable - I grew up later, when a stricter wall of separation had been erected between science fiction and fantasy.

Ease of Availability

     This one is easy to find. I love Amazon Kindle; I have a great part of Appendix N in a format I can carry with me wherever I go! Anyway, I most recently reviewed this on on Kindle and also listened to the Audible audiobook (I enjoy the experience of reading a good book, then hearing it as well). 

Summary and Commentary - SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!

     Three Hearts and Three Lions tells the story of the Holger Carlsen, who was a foundling  (found on the steps of Helsingor, the castle known as Elsinore in Hamlet!) adopted by the Carlsens of Denmark as a baby, but it is later implied that he may have been born in another world altogether. His apparent namesake, Holger Danske, also known as Ogier the Dane, a character from the folklore of Dark Age Europe, is later revealed to be his true identity, though the exact mechanism of his displacement in spacetime and indeed in parallel universes is not revealed, other than the sorcery of Morgan Le Fay and the forces of Law attempting to balance those of Chaos. Anyway, the narrator states that he met Holger "more than 20 years ago" in 1938, and that the Dane had traveled extensively in the United States. He returned to Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1941 to join the Resistance. In 1943, he was part of a mission to get a very important scientist - apparently Neils Bohr - out of Denmark, and ends up in a firefight with the Nazis. There is an explosion, and he mysteriously awakens elsewhere . . . or elsewhen . . . 

     In this respect, Three Hearts and Three Lions exhibits a trope in common with much of the rest of Appendix N literature - The Man Out of His Time and Place. Appendix N abounds with tales of men (almost always men, not women) from our world who somehow end up in another place - Mars, Faerie, Dreamlands, the past, the future, fantasy worlds, etc. It is so common, in fact, that I'm almost surprised it wasn't a founding trope of fantasy RPGs - characters drawn from our world into fantasy realms. Oddly enough, though this wasn't part of Dungeons & Dragons or other early fantasy RPGs, it was part of the plot of the first novel of which I know that was directly inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, Quag Keep by Andre Norton (who was an associate of the creators of D&D). Anyway, the effects of the transference need to be addressed when you have The Man Out of His Time and Place. Holger awakens with the fresh scalp wound he sustained in the fight with the Nazis, so he knows that very little time has passed. He is naked, in a deep forest of a sort that was extinct by the 1940s in Denmark. Nearby he finds clothes, a warhorse named Papillion, chainmail, a sword, and a shield bearing his device - the eponymous three hearts and three lions. He finds that he instinctively knows how to dress in the strange medieval clothing and how to rise the horse (though his experiences in horsemanship from the past were never positive before). He soon discovers that he also speaks the local language (a form of Old French) when he comes to the cottage of Mother Gerd, the first inhabitant of this world he meets. 

     Mother Gerd (possibly named after the giantess of Norse Mythology "Gerðr," often Anglicized to "Gerd"?) is clearly a witch. She doesn't even really try to hide that fact. We, the audience, know this. One gets the feeling that Holger would know it too, if he could accept the reality of what he was experiencing. But he cannot, so he assumed at first that she must be a madwoman . . . until he witnesses a little of her witchcraft. She even remarks upon the fact that though he appears to be a Christian knight, he doesn't cross himself or invoke the holy names as a defense against her witchcraft. She does refer to him as a "paladin," and in the history of fantasy RPGs, Holger is often cited as the inspiration for the "paladin" class found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and many other fantasy RPGs. He explains something of his situation to her, and she offers to summon a being that might be able to give some answers. She performs a rather Hermetic-inspired summoning using Latin and the sort of pseudo-Semitic stuff found in much Hermeticism, including the traditional names of some demons. She summons a demon who reveals that Holger is indeed Out of His Time and Place, and that it will be difficult to restore him to his home. The appearance of something in the summoning circle convinces Holger that something without a simple explanation is going on, but he still cannot accept the full reality of it. Anyway, after her consultation with the demon, Mother Gerd offers the only advice she can - that perhaps the local lord of Faerie, Duke Alfric (the name is Old English for "Elf-rule"), can help him. She even gets him a guide to Faerie - a wood-dwarf named Hugi (similar to "Huginn," the raven of Odin whose name means "thought").

     Hugi is an interesting character. He is identified as a dwarf, more specifically a wood dwarf or woods-dwarf. His folk are of Faerie, but apparently have dwelt long enough in the lands of men that they are not bothered by the touch of cold iron nor holy words. Oddly enough, for some reason, Anderson gives him a distinctive way of speaking - an accent described as a "burr," and a vocabulary reminiscent of Scots English. One feels Hugi would be right at home with Robert Burns. I don't know why Anderson did this - but is this the origin of the whole "dwarves sound Scottish" thing? Old-school D&D players will know what I mean. It's an unspoken agreement among many D&D players that dwarves speak with a Scottish accent of some sorts, and this can be seen reflected in, for example, the dwarves of The Order of the Stick or the podcast Science Fiction Writers Play Old-School D&D. Is Hugi the spiritual ancestor of Durkon Thundershield? Anyway, much like the "standard" version of dwarves in fantasy RPGs (which, remember, evolved long after the publication of Three Hearts and Three Lions), Hugi likes his ale and beer (he agrees to help Holger for Mother Gerd in hopes that she will reward him with ale) and gold. In fact, he can smell gold and treasure, as well as having a great sense of smell generally - a feature of dwarves found in Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. Hugi certainly influenced later tropes regarding dwarves!

      On the journey to Duke Alfric, Hugi explains to Holger some of the metaphysical underpinnings of the world he now inhabits, in particular the perpetual struggles between the primeval forces of Law and Chaos (another concept from early fantasy RPGS that has evolved on its own since, though the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG certainly gets back to its roots on this point!). Law is not necessarily "good," but represents Order, and the kind of stability that is salutary for humans and near-human life. Indeed, "humans were the chief agents on earth of Law" in this world. Against this is arrayed the forces of Chaos - again, not necessarily "evil," but often inimical to human life and human interests. Warlocks and sorcerers were often aligned with Chaos, even if human, because they employed magic to overturn the natural Order of things. So humanity and the Holy Empire established by Charlemagne spreads the dominion of Law, but around it are the forces of primeval Chaos - dragons to the south, giants to the North, Faerie on the border marches of the east, and so forth. The struggles between the Holy Empire and the Saracens aids only Chaos, as humankind battles itself, giving monsters free reign. This odd metaphysical ordering of the cosmos as a Balance between Law and Chaos was adopted by other authors who were seminal to Appendix N, particularly Michael Moorcock. So it is no surprise that this orientation was part of the original "Alignment" scheme of Dungeons & Dragons. 

     Hugi introduces Holger to Alianora, a swan-may (a fey woman who can adopt the form of a swan, found in Scandinavian and other Northern European mythologies, and also found in Dungeons & Dragons). Alianora is a helpful companion on the quest, as well as a love interest for Holger. Like Hugi, her folk apparently have inhabited the world of men long enough that iron and holy names do not affect her. She speaks with the wild creatures of her environment. She, interestingly, speaks with a "softer" version of the same "burr" as Hugi. She is the first to mention to Holger rumors of a Saracen who has been seeking after someone fitting Holger's description (including the arms of three hearts and three lions) in the region. This raises the issue of whether the mysterious Saracen is an enemy or unknown ally. 

     Approaching the territory of Duke Alfric, Holger and his companions encounter a faerie knight who challenges them, demanding that Holger show his arms. Upon seeing the three hearts and three lions, the faerie knight immediately attacks. Holger strikes the faerie knight - Alianora refers to faeries as "Pharisees," a usage that does reflect some medieval customs - and the faerie knight goes down. Alianora exclaims, "belike he is slain, for the Pharisees canna endure touch o' cold iron" - leading Holger to speculate what the fey folk use for their weapons. Rather than invent a fantasy metal for them, as some later authors do, Anderson has Holger speculate - "aluminum alloys? beryllium, magnesium, copper, nickel, chromium, manganese-" . . . did this kind of thinking underlie Tolkien's creation of mithril as the favored metal of dwarves and elves? There is much speculation about the origin of the myth that fey creatures cannot bear the touch of iron, from the idea that iron was originally viewed as supernatural (since mankind's first encounters with the metal were with meteoritic iron - literally, a metal not of this world!) or that the Bronze Age tribes that gave rise to legends of fey were conquered by tribes who had entered the Age of Iron. Regardless, when Holger examined the fallen faerie knight, he finds the armor empty! Anderson returns to the theme of faerie use of strange metals later with the "dagger of burning." 

     Duke Alfric greets Holger courteously enough, though he mist "leave cross and iron outside," though he would be given "arms in exchange." Duke Alfric agrees to try to help Holger return to his place and time, but we later discover that he is trying to imprison Holger in Elf-Hill, where time runs differently, on behalf of Morgan Le Fay, who is at least partly responsible for Holger's displacement in time and space. It seems that she, like many who practice sorcery, is aligned with Chaos, and since she knows Holger is the fated Defender of Law, she seeks to remove him before Chaos can launch a grand assault on the world of men. At any rate, Alianora saves Holger from entering Elf-Hill, and they escape the clutches of Duke Alfric . . . 

     Holger and company later encounter a dragon that Hugi believes was sent by Duke Alfric (50 ' long, and fiery breath fueled by sulfur dioxide, but no speech or sentience apparent), and still later they encounter a giant (who declares that Duke Alfric set him on their trail, but is tricked into a riddle contest - like Tolkien's Gollum in The Hobbit - and turned to stone by sunlight, a device employed by Tolkien with the trolls in The Hobbit - but Anderson's giant bears a sack of gold, and it is noted that the folk of this realm believe treasure gained thus is cursed! As Hugi is about to retrieve the gold, Holger smells ozone, and drags them away - he had heard of the "transmutation experiments of Rutherford and Lawrence," of "radium burns," and knows the gold would be highly radioactive, due to its proximity to the transmutation of large mass of carbon into silicon!

      At the small settlement of Lourville, Holger and his allies face a werewolf, and at the larger settlement of Tarnburg, they find a wizard named Martinus Trismegistus who sets them on the path to find the enchanted sword Cortana from the accursed ruin of the church of St.-Grimmin's-in-the-Wold. The holy sword Cortana was mentioned earlier, and Holger has come to recognize that he himself bore this blade in some other incarnation, but up until now, all he knew was that the sword was lost - buried away from the sight of men. Now Holger has his quest! I note that Martinus has drinks served by an apparent magical effect referred to as an "invisible servant" - an inspiration for the spell invisible servant? Maybe, maybe not, it's a common enough theme in fantasy. Martinus also lays an enchantment of disguise on Holger, allowing him to pass as "Sir Rupert of Graustark."

     Tarnburg's castle stands empty, for the baron and his sons fell in battle, and the Holy Empire had yet to send anyone to replace them - humanity is on its own against Chaos in this lonely outpost! - "part of the general bad luck in the last few years, the radiation of Chaos as the Middle Worlders readied their powers." In Tarnburg, Holger and his companions finally encounter the Saracen that has been seeking Holger, though Holger is still disguised, and does not reveal himself. The Saracen is Sir Carahue, onetime king of Mauretania. The Moor explains to Holger that he is "a Christian like [Holger]. Once, true, I fought for the paynim, but the gentle and chivalrous knight who overcame me also won me to the True Faith" - this kind of talk is the staple of Carolingian chivalrous romances, of course, and Anderson works in little slips in which Carahue swears "by the Prophet" and then catches himself, amending to "by the Prophet . . . Jesus!" or "Allah akbar! . . . by the saints, I meant to say!" and the like. Sir Carahue joins them on their quest to St.-Grimmin's-in-the-Wold. 

     As they approach the location of the ruined church, they encounter tribes of wild heathen humans corrupted by Chaos, turned to dark magic and cannibalism, who stand against Law. These Hill Men or Hill Folk are footsoldiers of Chaos, preparing for war with the Holy Empire and Law. To avoid them, the companions would have to take a pass haunted by a troll, described as the worst of the monsters they might encounter, said to be "unkillable." 

     Fishing in a small lake near their camp, Holger is captured by a nixie (another fey creature that shows up in fantasy RPGs with some regularity), who pulls him below the lake (her magic guards him from drowning). Her name is Rusel, and she wishes to seduce Holger, both in service to Morgan Le Fay and her own unholy lusts. The heathen Hill Men sacrifice treasures to her by dumping them in the lake. Holger escapes Rusel by igniting the magnesium-bladed "dagger of burning" he acquired from Duke Alfric - magnesium will burn under water - another place where Anderson inserts science into his fantasy.  

     Holger and his companions fight the troll - it regenerates when harmed, even lost limbs reattach, until it is burned by fire - the inspiration for "trolls" in Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy RPGs who regenerate damage unless killed with fire or acid! My research into the history of D&D and RPGS indicates that the "regenerating" troll so familiar from D&D originates from this novel, and caused some initial confusion between other troll-like monsters (which eventually came to be termed "ogres" and the like) and what Gygax thought of as "true trolls" (inspired by Anderson's horrors).

     They reach St.-Grimmin's-in-the-Wold, evade the "Hell's Horse" outside (something like a D&D "nightmare" . . . or is it more like an equine "catoblepas" . . . ? to look upon it is said to be death!) and find the enchanted sword Cortana. This dissolves the spell of disguise on "Sir Rupert," revealing him to be Holger. It is revealed that Sir Carahue has been the companion of Holger, or Ogier the Dane, in different centuries - yes, it was Holger who "won him to the True Faith" - and Holger finally realizes his destiny as the Defender of Law. I am reminded of the D&D idea of a paladin bearing a +5 holy avenger sword. They hear the "trumpets and clangor of arms" - "It is the host of Chaos . . . riding forth on mankind." But it is not too late. In Cortana "is locked that before which they cannot stand." Holger "rode out on the wold, and it was as if the dawn rode with him."

      Holger tells us, "I rode out and scattered the hosts of Chaos, scattering them before me" - and then suddenly woke up back in 1943 in the firefight with the Nazis (nude, again, from transference between the worlds and times). He successfully defeats the Nazis and gets the scientist to safety. He later converts to Catholicism (he had been Lutheran, but his realization of his life as a Catholic Christian knight centuries before the Protestant Reformation has changed him). He theorizes that he was fighting the same war in both realms - defending Law from the forces of Chaos in both realms, whether the Nazis on Earth or Morgan Le Fay's Middle Worlders in the Holy Empire. Without the imbalance caused by the advance of Chaos, there was nothing to tether him to that other world, He wants to return to Alianora., however, so he has been researching ancient books and grimoires, looking for magic that might bring him back to that other world . . . 

     As I have mentioned, Three Hearts and Three Lions was a book that deeply influenced Gary Gygax and the creation of Dungeons & Dragons in particular and fantasy RPGs in general. As such, it influenced the Hobby to which I have devoted so much of my free time since about 1985 or so. Additionally, it ought to be noted that Anderson's ideas influenced other Appendix N authors, notably Michael Moorcock (one of my favorites!). So it would be impossible for this story not to have seriously affected my Gaming and my own writing, if only indirectly. Interestingly, I came late to Three Hearts and Three Lions - the greatest agreement between my own writing and that of Anderson is in the conception of the fantasy world. My Midhgardhur is very much like the world of this story and the Middle World (essentially, the same name!); I conceive of a world very much like our own in some ways, but the existence of other worlds and sorcery has caused it to be very different in other ways. Even the time periods in which our stories are set are similar - my stories generally occur in the Dark Ages of Midhgardhur, about a century after my version of Charlemagne, and though Anderson never gives an exact date, it would seem to be a couple of centuries after his Charlemagne. But I began writing about Midhgardhur just under a decade before I read Three Hearts and Three Lions for the first time, so any similarity to Anderson's Middle World is coincidental, or the result of cross-pollination of ideas with other authors. We also share a certain Euro-centrism. The borders of Anderson's Middle World grow more than a bit misty beyond the confines of Europe. While I have fleshed out much of the globe of Midhgardhur in private notes, my world is focused almost entirely on the equivalent of Dark Age Scandinavia (hence the name "Midhgardhur"). Other cultures certainly exist, but are not the primary focus of our stories. 

     I hope you enjoyed my thoughts about Three Hearts and Three Lions. Please join me again for future installments of Appendix N Revisited, on or around the Ides of each month! 

Until next time . . . Happy Reading! Skál!

~ Colin Anders Brodd
Villa Picena, Phoenix, Arizona
Ides of January, 2017

Next up for Appendix N Revisited: The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs