The Broken Sword
#6053.87 adjusted 3.88 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1954 Reading commitment Low Poul Anderson Last reviewed 2026-08-26
Overview
The Broken Sword (1954) is a standalone heroic fantasy novel by Poul Anderson, drawing heavily on Norse mythology and Icelandic saga style and language rather than the more chivalric, Arthurian-inflected tone common in fantasy of its era. It follows Skafloc, a human child stolen and raised among elves, and Valgard, the changeling left in his place, whose entangled fates are shaped by a cursed sword and by the enmity of trolls, elves, and the Norse gods themselves, building toward a doom neither can escape. Published the same year as the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, it is frequently cited by critics and later fantasy writers as one of the two great mythic fantasy novels of that decade, prized for its unsentimental, tragic tone and its unusually close fidelity to genuine saga sources, though it has remained far less widely read than Tolkien's work.
Dark fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Broken Sword (1954) core · 3.87 (7,912 ratings); A revised text with different opening and closing chapters was published in 1971; this catalogue follows the original 1954 text as the first edition.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Broken Sword? The Broken Sword's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Broken Sword finished? Complete (1954).
- How much reading does The Broken Sword take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~208 pages).
- How is The Broken Sword ranked? #605 in this site's official ranking, based on 7,912 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #605?
Ranked #605 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.87 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (7,912 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #604, The Minotaur Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 1 book · Complete · 8k ratings · Ranks #605 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark 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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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.87 across 7,912 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: Admit The Broken Sword (Poul Anderson) accepted 2026-08-26
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26
Rule: Core Canon is the single 1954 novel. A revised text with a different opening and closing chapter was published in 1971; this catalogue follows the original 1954 text as the first edition.