"He was Frey's sword, first," Magnus says. "They were together for centuries. Then Frey fell in love with the frost giant, Gerd. He had to give Sumarbrander up to his servant, the god Skirnir, as payment for Skirnir entreating Gerd on his behalf. Or kidnapping her? Legends vary, and I haven't exactly asked him if he was cool about consent." Magnus is clearly embarrassed by this. "Anyway, Sumarbrander was so upset that Frey gave him up for love that he vowed never to be his sword again. One of Skirnir's demigod kids was maybe Leif Erikson? Or maybe some other explorer, who bore Sumarbrander on a ship to America -- um, it's across the ocean from England; it's where I'm from. The ship went down; Sumarbrander got lost under the water for centuries. Only a child of Frey can call him, so he was lost in the water until my uncle made me rescue him." He makes a face. "That's how I died, actually. Surt -- a fire giant -- is destined to bear Sumarbrander during Ragnarok. He wanted to take Jack the second I got him out of the river. I didn't let him."
He's quiet for a few minutes, partly to let Galahad digest the information, and partly because it's harder, now, to talk about his own death than it was when he first arrived in the Mansion. Then he says, "Surt is destined to kill Frey with Sumarbrander at Ragnarok, because Sumarbrander is the strongest and sharpest sword in the Nine Worlds, and Frey gave him away for love. Frey will only get these wicked sharp antlers to defend himself. He's going to kill a lot of giants with them first, but. Well. You know."
A shrug -- a careful one; he doesn't want to dislodge their mini-cuddle. "But Sumarbrander is supposed to kickstart Ragnarok, basically. Like, there are other events, too: a worldwide winter, the World Tree dying, certain mythological animals will trumpet the alarm -- but nothing can really kick off until Surt takes Jack and frees the Wolf, and Surt leads the giants into attacking Asgard, the world of the war-y gods. So I've been thinking. What if Ragnarok can't happen at all, because Jack isn't in the Nine Worlds and can't fall into Surt's hands? At the very least, my dad..."
no subject
He's quiet for a few minutes, partly to let Galahad digest the information, and partly because it's harder, now, to talk about his own death than it was when he first arrived in the Mansion. Then he says, "Surt is destined to kill Frey with Sumarbrander at Ragnarok, because Sumarbrander is the strongest and sharpest sword in the Nine Worlds, and Frey gave him away for love. Frey will only get these wicked sharp antlers to defend himself. He's going to kill a lot of giants with them first, but. Well. You know."
A shrug -- a careful one; he doesn't want to dislodge their mini-cuddle. "But Sumarbrander is supposed to kickstart Ragnarok, basically. Like, there are other events, too: a worldwide winter, the World Tree dying, certain mythological animals will trumpet the alarm -- but nothing can really kick off until Surt takes Jack and frees the Wolf, and Surt leads the giants into attacking Asgard, the world of the war-y gods. So I've been thinking. What if Ragnarok can't happen at all, because Jack isn't in the Nine Worlds and can't fall into Surt's hands? At the very least, my dad..."
He trails off.