The witch's heart, Genevieve Gornichec

The witch Gullveig refuses to teach her craft to Odin and to punish her, he puts the Vanir and the Aesir against her. She is burned at the stake three times and they take our her heart. After the third time she runs away and hides in a deep forrest where there is little life. 

It is here that Loki finds her, who thinks she is not boring, and that interests him. He gives her back her heart. The witch does not remember much of what happened to her before the burning and calls herself Angrboda. 

They become friends and in the end he marries her. Three children they will have, Hel who has already a part of death inside her, Fenrir who is born in the form of a wolf and Jormungand who is born in the form of a snake. Well, a normal life is probably overrated when Loke it involved. 

Angrboda is concerned because she knows her children will have a role to play in Ragnarok, the end of the world and the end of the Gods. She tries to stay hidden from Odin, the Alfather, but in the end she is betrayed and Angrboda must leave her beloved hiding place if she wants to safe her children. 

The witch's heart is a beautiful story, that is on top of my list of favorite books for this year. I loved the new way of using the information we have about the Norse Gods from the sagas and the stories and it had become a story of love, kindness, wisdom and loss. 

It is well written with rounded characters, full of nuance and also with a lot of humour. I especialy loved the relationship between Angrboda and Loki, which is completely believable and both funny and tragic at the same time. 

Absolutely loved this book.  

Published in 2021