The Winter of the World Trilogy by Michael Scott Rohan
The Winter of the World Trilogy is a fantasy series that unfolds in a world threatened by a relentless ice age and the malevolent forces associated with it, particularly the goddess Taounehtar. The narrative follows the journey of Alf, a young shepherd, who, after his village is destroyed by barbaric invaders known as the Ekwesh, becomes an apprentice to the powerful Mastersmith Mylio. As the plot progresses, Alf, now adopting the name Elof, confronts the complexities of loyalty, power, and identity while forging important magical items that play crucial roles in the battle against the Ice and its minions.
In the first book, *The Anvil of Ice*, Elof's quest leads him to ally with the Duergar, a masterful underground race, and to confront Mylio’s sinister intentions. The second installment, *The Forge in the Forest*, follows Elof and his companions as they navigate the treacherous Tapiau-la forest, encountering both allies and threats in their struggle against the Ekwesh. Finally, in *The Hammer of the Sun*, Elof faces his ultimate challenge as he seeks to rescue his beloved Kara from the clutches of Louhi, culminating in a confrontation that reveals Elof's true nature as an avatar of a god.
Throughout the trilogy, themes of friendship, betrayal, and the struggle for autonomy against oppressive forces are explored, making it a rich tapestry of character development and moral dilemmas set against an epic fantasy backdrop.
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The Winter of the World Trilogy
First published:The Anvil of Ice (1986), The Forge in the Forest (1987), and The Hammer of the Sun (1988)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Fantasy—heroic fantasy
Time of work: About 10,000 b.c.e., during the last ice age
Locale: North America and Europe
The Plot
The three novels of the Winter of the World trilogy follow a classic trilogy format, tracing the actions of a hero and his associates in their attempt to defeat a world-threatening enemy. The enemy, in this case, is the Ice, the world-girdling glaciers of the most recent ice age. In the world of the Winter, the Ice itself is the tool of inimical deific powers, most notably the goddess Taounehtar. Humans have fled before its slow advance, abandoning the ancient kingdom of Kerys in Europe and founding Morvan in what is now the eastern United States, only to have to flee again to found Kerbryhaine on the West Coast.
The Anvil of Ice introduces Alf, a mistreated, parentless shepherd boy whose village is destroyed by the Ekwesh, a nation of barbaric warriors who raid the coast from their empire in northern Asia. Saved from the massacre by Mylio, a Mastersmith who used his powers to aid the Ekwesh, Alf becomes Mylio’s apprentice. For apprentice pieces, he fashions three items that later prove important: an armring, a helm, and a sword. The armring he gives to Kara, the servant of a powerful woman named Louhi, who is an ally of Mylio. The helm, which grants the wearer shape-shifting and traveling abilities, Mylio gives to Louhi, while keeping for himself the sword, which attacks the minds of those against whom it is brandished.
Alf discovers that Mylio is in league with the Ice and flees, along with Roc, another apprentice. He is determined to undo the damage he has done in forging the items. After parting ways with Roc and adopting the adult name of Elof, he encounters Kermorvan, a Kerbryhainian privateer who has been attacking the Ekwesh. Together they seek out the Duergar, a reclusive underground race reputed to be unparalleled in smithcraft. Elof apprentices to the Duergar, eventually befriending Ils, a Duergar woman. Elof, Kermorvan, and Ils leave the Duergar tunnels to find that Kerbryhaine has been besieged by Mylio, who is using the mindsword to devastate the city’s defenders. Elof battles and defeats Mylio, saving the city and destroying the mindsword, but he discovers that Mylio was simply a pawn of Louhi, who is an avatar of Taounehtar.
The city of Kerbryhaine does not prove to be peaceful. In The Forge in the Forest, the rescuers are accused by a syndic, Bryhon, of having undemocratic motives. Kermorvan is the heir of the former kings of Morvan, and Kerbryhaine has eschewed monarchy in favor of syndicacy. Rather than contributing to further factionalization, Kermorvan, Elof, Ils, Roc, and a band of adventurers volunteer to travel eastward to find any other remnants of Morvan and ally with them against the Ekwesh.
Their journey is impeded by the great forest, Tapiau-la, which covers the central two-thirds of the continent and which is the domain of the deity Tapiau. After being reduced by a number of dangers, the adventurers are met by the alvar—quasi-intelligent, somewhat apelike servants of Tapiau—and brought to the Halls of Summer, a paradise in the heart of the forest peopled by immortal refugees of Morvan’s fall. Elof, suspicious of Tapiau’s apparent altruism, learns that those who dwell long enough in the Halls lose their ability to think, gradually becoming the animalistic alvar.
After escaping from Tapiau, Elof and his band are again attacked by servants of the Ice. Only Kermorvan, Ils, and Elof survive to be rescued by the intercession of Raven, a trickster deity opposing the Ice. After traveling through the ruins of Morvan, where Kermorvan regains the symbols of kingship, they arrive at the coastal city of Morvannec. The city proves to have been captured by the seemingly ever-present Ekwesh, under the command of Bryhon and Louhi, who has been using the helm for rapid transportation. Louhi orders the unwilling Kara, a minor deity herself, to kill Elof, but Elof uses the armring to break Louhi’s control. The city rises against the Ekwesh, and Kermorvan kills Bryhon. Elof destroys Louhi and weds Kara.
In The Hammer of the Sun, peace again proves fleeting. Overwhelmed with doubts of Kara’s freedom from Louhi, Elof tries to place magical constraints upon her. They instead drive her away and back into the Louhi’s control. She is drawn over the sea to the east, and Elof vows to follow her. Elof and Roc sail across the Atlantic Ocean and, after being attacked by Ekwesh ships, are wrecked on the European shore. They are captured by the Ekwesh and Louhi, who has again incarnated, but they escape eastward to the remnant of the ancient kingdom of Kerys.
Nithaid, the tyrannical ruler of Kerys, cripples and imprisons them on an island, forcing Elof to craft items with which he can fight Louhi. After years of labor, Elof lures Nithaid to his death and escapes from the island. Joined by Kermorvan and Ils in a final confrontation with Louhi, Elof, victorious, learns that he is an avatar of Ilmarinen and that the gods are destined to be reborn as humans.