A Dark Horn Blowing
#6243.98 adjusted 3.95 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1978 Reading commitment Low Dahlov Ipcar Last reviewed 2026-11-01
Overview
A Dark Horn Blowing is a standalone fantasy novel by the American writer and painter Dahlov Ipcar, first published by Viking in 1978. A young mother, Nora, is taken from her husband and newborn son in the human world of Midgard and brought to Erland, a cold land drawn from Norse and Celtic myth. There she must nurse the sickly infant prince of the Erlking, while her husband is caught up in the schemes of a witch. The story is told from four viewpoints and uses old ballads and Norse legend. Ipcar's other fantasy novels are set in separate worlds, so the universe holds one book.
Mythic fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
A Dark Horn Blowing Dahlov Ipcar
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | A Dark Horn Blowing; Reprinted in paperback by Penguin (1980) and Harcourt Brace (1996). | 1978 | 1 | core | 3.98 (147 ratings) |
A standalone novel with no sequels.
Quick answers
- How many books are in A Dark Horn Blowing? A Dark Horn Blowing's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is A Dark Horn Blowing finished? Complete (1978).
- How much reading does A Dark Horn Blowing take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is A Dark Horn Blowing ranked? #624 in this site's official ranking, based on 147 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #624?
Ranked #624 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.98 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (147 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #623, The Oran Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 147 ratings · Ranks #624 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what A Dark Horn Blowing and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Moribito Mythic fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 4.11
- Six Crimson Cranes Fairy-tale retelling / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.07
- The Leaving Room Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.01
- Elatsoe Urban fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Ongoing · Low commitment · 3.98
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.98 across 147 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 22 universes, among them The Ordered and Reflections of Eterna; four candidates ruled out accepted 2026-11-01
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Kirkus Reviews Tier 2
- Fantastic Fiction Tier 2
- L. W. Currey Tier 2
- Dahlov Ipcar bibliography Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-01
Rule: Core Canon = A Dark Horn Blowing (1978), a single standalone novel.