Point of View

The novel is told in the third-person past with a close focus on Angrboda. The traditional perspective of the novel gives it a classic feel, as we see in the opening lines: “Long ago, when the gods were young and Asgard was new, there came a witch from the edge of the worlds. She knew many ancient spells, but she was especially skilled with seid, a magic that allowed one to travel out of body and divine the future” (3). Here, the narrator retains a bit of distance from Angrboda as she is introduced as a classical mythological being.

However, the narrator eventually zooms into her mind to present her thoughts and emotions in order to both humanize and modernize her character, as we see when she and Loki first confess their love to one another: “Angrboda was more tired than she remembered ever being, but...