This is a title.
Sent an email to Hearne asking for clarification on matters previously brought up in Series Continuity Error (see the edit history). Posting a copy of his answers at seekquaze's request.
My Q: Iron is a noted magical deterrent, so much so that Atticus is the only person known to have mastered using it together with magic. So what exactly are magical weapons like Fragarach and Mjolnir made of?
Hearne's answer Don't believe I ever said Atticus was the only person to master iron + magic. He's the only one to bind it to his aura and cast around it, and in that sense he's unlocked an achievement no one else has. He is also using cold iron (from a meteorite, and therefore not part of Gaia) which is different from the normal sort. Magical items with iron content, however, are quite common in many mythologies.
My Q: The Morrigan commits suicide because she is bound by mortals' perception of her, but Thor is noted to be, putting it lightly, a thug. But was Thor not greatly regarded by his people? They wore replicas of his hammer in defiance of Christian rule. I don't know all about that. What's different between Thor and the Morrigan?
Hearne's answer Thor was not prevented from being a dick by human belief any more than the Morrigan was prevented from committing suicide by the same belief. And being a dick does not mean Thor could not also be heroic and worshipped as such by humans. He was heroic most of the time, in fact, and only dabbled in dickishness. Few people knew about his dick moves, though; he had great PR.
My Q: Related to that, it is known that gods rely on mortal belief and thoughts for power, but how was Perun able to remain a viable combatant against the Norse, despite his stated lack of the same amount of followers?
Hearne's answer And Perun didn't fare well against Loki (he had to run). He's not a match for Thor. But though he is diminished, he's not powerless. He never fought directly against any of the biggies in Asgard. But even as a weakened thunder god he could take out a god of skiing.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
This is a title.
On Atticus and the Norse. During Atticus' first visit to Asgard, he entered on the back of Ratatosk, climbing up Yggdrasil. When he arrived the Norns immediately tried to kill him without warning. During the ensuing confrontation, Atticus remarks:
I hadn't come to throw down with them.
He subsequently kills the Norns and observes:
Whether I liked it or not, killing the Norns in self-defense made me an enemy of the whole pantheon.
and
There was no way Odin would let the deaths of Sleipnir and the Norns slide - nor should he. Though I could argue that I'd slain them in self-defense...
Sleipnir having been killed during Atticus' escape attempt, at which time Odin and the Valkyries were doing their duty and reacting to the deaths of the Norns at the hands of an unidentified intruder and said intruder's subsequent theft. Atticus acknowledges his culpability in that particular case, but dismisses it with Sunk Cost Fallacy, which in itself may be subject to some deliberation but is unimportant here.
Sleipnir was murder (Probably. Not 100% sure how the law applies murder to killing animals. Since the Norse aren't really human either I figure we let it slide). The Norns was not. Manslaughter, sure, but not murder.
Atticus' subsequent visit to Asgard was marked by a number of deaths on the Norse side, which Atticus either contributed to or enabled. None of these may be mitigated because Atticus and the others were there with the express purpose of killing Thor, and had allied with the enemies of the Norse, the Frost Giants, whose first act on arriving in Asgard was to kill Heimdall.
I don't remember exactly, but I believe the only one Atticus directly killed was Freyr, though he did also seriously injure Odin by killing Hunin (or was it Mugin. I forget). I also think he injured Gullinbursti (giant gold pig).
Edited by 71.252.224.228 You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! Hide / Show Replies
Just saw this, to be fair did the ancient Norse draw a difference? I've read conflicting accounts. Since Odin is the king of Asgard and thus the one primarily making the law I would think it would be up to him to decide the matter. Regardless of how you wish to label it Atticus was a thief who should not have been there. The Norns had the right to be there and were reacting to what they foresaw was a threat to their existence which I admit becomes a question of the chicken or the egg scenario. Regardless, law, custom and honor would demand justice and vengeance. Attticus came across as someone trying to weasel his way out of responsibility for his actions when he knew he was in the wrong, but is trying to refuse to admit it.
Anyway, I reworded it to try and make it more neutral to resolve the matter.
An inconsistency I've noticed in the later books. Earlier, Atticus mentions that he needs trees to bind for shifting planes, but in Shattered and Staked, they repeatedly shift to a banana grove in India, without other mentions of actual trees, as normal in other locations.
Bananas are short-lived. individual 'trees' (botanically technically an herb) fruit once then die, while the roots will create new 'trees' for up to 25 years... neither of which are conducive to long-term planeshifting.