(no subject)
Aug. 22nd, 2023 10:38 pmI really wanted to write up Sarah Tolmie's novella All the Horses of Iceland immediately after reading it, but for various reasons I ended up writing other posts instead and now I'm feeling regret, because I liked it so much and I think I will no longer be able to convey as effectively what made it so good as I could have a month ago! But so it goes and I will nonetheless make an attempt.
There's a certain style that certain authors are able to catch (and which I'm wildly envious of) that manages to create the illusion of reading something profoundly non-modern, something in translation, while also being so charming and smart about it that it draws the reader in to the same extent that it distances. All the Horses of Iceland is really phenomenally good at this. It's the story of a Norse trader, Eyvind, who joins up with a Jewish merchant from the steppes on a trading expedition through Central Asia, despite their cultural differences:
"Your bak is Jewish, then?"
"He is," replied David, "and so is his court. Many nobles. Some merchants. Myself, for instance. But not everyone in the empire, by any means. Not even Alp Tarkhan. There are many religions here. We in Khazaria are caught in a trap of God: Christians to the north and west of us and Sarks to the south. Those of us who prefer one God have chosen the God of the Hebrews. He is very old and we prefer old things. I have heard old men say that the God of the Israelites, whose name is not to be uttered aloud, is like the ancient Kok Tengri, the God of the blue sky. He is widely worshipped here and right across the blue steppes, as far north as Bjarmland."
"I despise gods," said Eyvind. "I see no need for them. Men, animals, ghosts, and luck. That is what the world is composed of."
"But who makes the luck?" asked David.
"The interactions of men, ghosts, and animals."
Fortunately or unfortunately for Eyvind, the interactions of men, ghosts, and animals proves to be profoundly relevant to his life when he ends up in the middle of a Ghost Situation in the middle of the steppes that results in the acquisition of, among other things, a large herd of horses. Eyvind then spends the rest of this slim little book trying to get said horses home to Iceland, where they will make his fortune, but the plot isn't really the point -- it's the joy of seeing Eyvind bring his own particular viewpoint to the various places he moves through, and how beliefs and traditions and languages move and travel through the world, bouncing against each other like marbles as they go and sometimes leaving unexpected legacies behind them. It's also a little bit about a magical intelligent horse. idk it's really good and you should read it (and thank you to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jiggit for posting about it such that I was convinced to read it likewise!)
There's a certain style that certain authors are able to catch (and which I'm wildly envious of) that manages to create the illusion of reading something profoundly non-modern, something in translation, while also being so charming and smart about it that it draws the reader in to the same extent that it distances. All the Horses of Iceland is really phenomenally good at this. It's the story of a Norse trader, Eyvind, who joins up with a Jewish merchant from the steppes on a trading expedition through Central Asia, despite their cultural differences:
"Your bak is Jewish, then?"
"He is," replied David, "and so is his court. Many nobles. Some merchants. Myself, for instance. But not everyone in the empire, by any means. Not even Alp Tarkhan. There are many religions here. We in Khazaria are caught in a trap of God: Christians to the north and west of us and Sarks to the south. Those of us who prefer one God have chosen the God of the Hebrews. He is very old and we prefer old things. I have heard old men say that the God of the Israelites, whose name is not to be uttered aloud, is like the ancient Kok Tengri, the God of the blue sky. He is widely worshipped here and right across the blue steppes, as far north as Bjarmland."
"I despise gods," said Eyvind. "I see no need for them. Men, animals, ghosts, and luck. That is what the world is composed of."
"But who makes the luck?" asked David.
"The interactions of men, ghosts, and animals."
Fortunately or unfortunately for Eyvind, the interactions of men, ghosts, and animals proves to be profoundly relevant to his life when he ends up in the middle of a Ghost Situation in the middle of the steppes that results in the acquisition of, among other things, a large herd of horses. Eyvind then spends the rest of this slim little book trying to get said horses home to Iceland, where they will make his fortune, but the plot isn't really the point -- it's the joy of seeing Eyvind bring his own particular viewpoint to the various places he moves through, and how beliefs and traditions and languages move and travel through the world, bouncing against each other like marbles as they go and sometimes leaving unexpected legacies behind them. It's also a little bit about a magical intelligent horse. idk it's really good and you should read it (and thank you to
jiggit for posting about it such that I was convinced to read it likewise!)
