Q&A Fantasyfestival 2023 in Esbjerg/Denmark

[LaraBeck]

The point here is, Murphy was able to see beyond the very suspicious behaviour Harry was exhibiting in Skin Game (which Butters couldn't, but listed out very succinctly), because she trusted that Harry was still, at his core, the same person. I can't see Harry not doing the same if Murphy comes back with some minor changes in her outlook. I'm confident that at her core, she'll still be the same person, just as Harry is still the same guy from book one where it counts.

Yes, exactly.

Besides, so far, in the books, Einherjar don't seem like a brainless soldiers, they seem to enjoy the battle, yes, as we see in Battle Ground, but we also have instances in Ghost Story and Peace Talks, where they seem just like any other person.

I'm curious, what do you make of this comment by Gard to Harry? It's from Changes where they go to Odin's stronghold in the mortal world (Ch21):

“The leader of the guards eyed us both suspiciously for a moment, then said something quietly and all the rifles stopped pointing at me. Two guards returned to stand on either side of a doorway. Two more took up a station facing Gard and me, evidently cautious about getting more company through the same Way we'd just used. The rest returned to a couple of card tables and a few sleeping cots.”

“Einherjar. Give them a little sip of renewed mortality, and four thousand years of discipline go right out the window”

The whole passage in Changes about this is intriguing in light of what Murph is supposed to be now.

Also, Molly is another character that has gone through some things, to say the least, and she is the one character that acquired a mantle that is actually meant to completely change who and what she is, and yet, she's still herself, mostly. Why would Murph be the only character to do a 180? Besides, what exactly would be the point of recruiting her for who she is if the "mantle" (to call it something) of the Einherjar is going to undo her, right?

This argument that somehow, "she's gonna come back wrong" alla Buffy, doesn't really hold-up, at least until we see the aftermath in the coming books and how much of the norse mythology that we can look up on google is sustained in the books. So far, Jim has twisted different myths at his convenience.

[magnuskn]

Also, Sigrun and Freydis Gard are both pretty cool persons underneath their warrior women role. I don't see how Murphy would not fit right in with them.

[LaraBeck]

Also, Sigrun and Freydis Gard are both pretty cool persons underneath their warrior women role. I don't see how Murphy would not fit right in with them.

Oh, that's another interesting possibility! Considering that Murph is the type of person who might want to subvert the rules as Jim himself said, and that we still don't know for a fact how Valkyries come to be. Heorot hints at them not being the "virgin daughters" (as some myths say, and not even all of them say the same thing), and in Aftermath, Gard suggests that Odin might be interested in offering Murph a position for which she even has the hair for, it wouldn't be outlandish to think that there is a chance that Valkyrie is a "position" one isn't born into but one can access to, so who knows, if it's a promotion from the Einherjar position, Murph would be the kind of person to aspire to it.

[magnuskn]

Oh, that's another interesting possibility! Considering that Murph is the type of person who might want to subvert the rules as Jim himself said, and that we still don't know for a fact how Valkyries come to be. Heorot hints at them not being the "virgin daughters" (as some myths say, and not even all of them say the same thing), and in Aftermath, Gard suggests that Odin might be interested in offering Murph a position for which she even has the hair for, it wouldn't be outlandish to think that there is a chance that Valkyrie is a "position" one isn't born into but one can access to, so who knows, if it's a promotion from the Einherjar position, Murph would be the kind of person to aspire to it.

That is pretty much exactly how I theorize how it will go. We'll see.

[vincentric]

Also, Sigrun and Freydis Gard are both pretty cool persons underneath their warrior women role. I don't see how Murphy would not fit right in with them.

And not to say that Vadderung/Odin can't be progressive, but we haven't seen any female Einherjar or any male Valkyries. Perhaps his magic works differently for men and women.

[Mira]

And not to say that Vadderung/Odin can't be progressive, but we haven't seen any female Einherjar or any male Valkyries. Perhaps his magic works differently for men and women.

    Gard seemed to accept that she wouldn't see her human lover anytime soon though apparently he will become an Einherjar at some point.  What she didn't say since she is immortal I believe, if she'd ever see him because she isn't going to forget him any time soon..

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Not immortal, ageless, big difference immortal means can’t be killed as Odin showed in BGmost Fae are ageless but not immortal, they can and do die, an immortal will self-resurrect like Odin, Erl, Mab .

[Mira]

Not immortal, ageless, big difference immortal means can’t be killed as Odin showed in BGmost Fae are ageless but not immortal, they can and do die, an immortal will self-resurrect like Odin, Erl, Mab .

Like Tolkien's Elves, but the my main point is Gard doesn't think she will see her lover again, and obviously doubts that the her desire will be the exception to the rule.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

She is ageless which means Hendricks will continue to live on in her memory, preventing him from coming back unless she dies. She realises this unless she is exempt from living memory.

[vincentric]

Thinking about it, the easiest way for Murphy (or Hendricks) to be used again will probably be in the "wrestling" book.

As part of the favor Harry owes Vadderung, he and Gard could be sent to the Norse Valhalla in the Never Never and encounter them there.

[Mira]

Thinking about it, the easiest way for Murphy (or Hendricks) to be used again will probably be in the "wrestling" book.

As part of the favor Harry owes Vadderung, he and Gard could be sent to the Norse Valhalla in the Never Never and encounter them there.

Maybe, but only I think if something happens to Harry's mind and he is suffering from amnesia and doesn't know who she is. 

Here is what Gard says in Battle Ground pages 365-366
1] What an Einherjar is

She waved a hand vaguely at her temple.  "It's a limited intellectus, of the honored dead, of their deeds.

So now a limited intellectus, but still dead..  Harry suddenly has hope on the next page that if she is Einherjar he will see her again... But Gard replies

I nodded.  Then after a while, I said, "If she is Einherjar now. . ."
Gard shook her head.  "Not until the memory of her has faded from the minds of those who knew her.  That is the limit not even the Allfather can cross."

Harry replies that she wasn't very forgettable, and Gard agrees.. However a cosmic rule is a cosmic rule, these things cannot be broken without grave consequences. I take Gard at her word,in these matters she is the expert.

[vincentric]

Murphy wouldn't be returning the world, Harry and Gard would be seeing her and Hendricks in Valhalla while seeking information.

[magnuskn]

Harry replies that she wasn't very forgettable, and Gard agrees.. However a cosmic rule is a cosmic rule, these things cannot be broken without grave consequences. I take Gard at her word,in these matters she is the expert.

As we all know, Harry will break all seven laws of magic by the end of the series. I'm pretty sure that he (and Murphy) will be able to circumvent this just made up "cosmic rule" (who made it a "cosmic rule", btw? Or did you just come up with that?) as well.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

At one point it is stated that the Einenjharen have up to four millennia of experience. I find that hard to believe given Odin’s mythological time-line as this would suggest Odin has had Soulfire for 4,000 years, very much pre-Christian. It may suggest that the Einenjharen have returned from the far future when then have been forgotten.

I wonder therefore if Murphy is going to return but more than 2,000 years old. I hope Harry likes older women.

[LaraBeck]

As we all know, Harry will break all seven laws of magic by the end of the series. I'm pretty sure that he (and Murphy) will be able to circumvent this just made up "cosmic rule" (who made it a "cosmic rule", btw? Or did you just come up with that?) as well.

Gard says it in Battle Ground, but yeah, we still don't know who made the rule.

I think it's possible that they meet again because of something Harry does (which IMO is necessary even for that relationship) but I think it's more likely that JB makes it about Murphy doing most of the work.

At one point it is stated that the Einenjharen have up to four millennia of experience. I find that hard to believe given Odin’s mythological time-line as this would suggest Odin has had Soulfire for 4,000 years, very much pre-Christian. It may suggest that the Einenjharen have returned from the far future when then have been forgotten.

I believe it's in this passage from Changes

The leader of the guards eyed us both suspiciously for a moment, then said something quietly and all the rifles stopped pointing at me. Two guards returned to stand on either side of a doorway. Two more took up a station facing Gard and me, evidently cautious about getting more company through the same Way we'd just used. The rest returned to a couple of card tables and a few sleeping cots.

“Einherjar. Give them a little sip of renewed mortality, and four thousand years of discipline go right out the window”

Now that's an interesting thing, I believe it was in WoJs that we're told one of the uses of soulfire is to bring to life the Einherjar, so, if it's pre-christian, then it doesn't go with another WoJ where he said Odin got the soulfire when the christian god took over or something like that. But I guess it could be questionable since those two tidbits of information are not in the books while the 4000 years thing is on them.

I wonder therefore if Murphy is going to return but more than 2,000 years old. I hope Harry likes older women.

Fair question. I really hope the whole time travel thing doesn't become such a heavy feature of the story, though, but that's personal preference.

About the older women, lol, well, Murph is already aprox 3 years older, then there's Luccio too. Plus, if we ask other fans who believe there is attraction for Lash and Lara, well, those ladies are older too. LOL, actually a 2043 year old Murphy fits better with that group!