re: You always sacrifice the one you love

From: Guy Hoyle <ghoyle1_at_airmail.net>
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 17:09:26 -0600

>Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 18:23:45 +0000
>From: Michael Cule <mikec_at_room3b.demon.co.uk>
>Subject: You always sacrifice the one you love
>
>>What is THE GOlDEN BOUGH???
>
>A HUUUUUGE book written in the 1920s in an attempt to clarify the
>origins of a particular religious practice of the Classical Age, to wit:
>the King of the Wood at Nemi, who was a sacred king who had to defend
>his kingship against all comers in combat. He was invariably an outlaw
>or runaway slave who lost his kingdom and his life to whoever could kill
>him.

Poul and Karen Anderson use a variation of this idea in their series of books THE KING OF YS; I have all four volumes, but keep losing one or the other somehow. This is a historical fantasy series set in the waning days of the Western Roman Empire; Ys is a city originally founded by the Carthaginians in Brittany. It involves Celtic, Phoenician, Mithraic, Christian, and Norse folklore and mythology, as well as magic. Quite a damned good read, though the series is out of print; you may have to hunt for it.

Guy

We Meddle in God's Domain So That You Don't Have To

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