The Witch’s Heart
by Genevieve Gornichec
When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology.
Angrboda’s story begins where most witches’ tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.
Their union produces three unusual children, each with a secret destiny, who Angrboda is keen to raise at the edge of the world, safely hidden from Odin’s all-seeing eye. But as Angrboda slowly recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life—and possibly all of existence—is in danger.
With help from the fierce huntress Skadi, with whom she shares a growing bond, Angrboda must choose whether she’ll accept the fate that she’s foreseen for her beloved family…or rise to remake their future. From the most ancient of tales this novel forges a story of love, loss, and hope for the modern age.
The Witch’s Heart is a mythology retelling familiar to me in premise, but not in subject. Retellings that bring light to the experiences of women who were often ignored by traditional myths, giving voices to those who have been brushed over and voiceless for centuries, are some of my favorite novels. The Witch’s Heart does just that with Angrboda of Norse mythology—a culture and mythology I am less familiar with, though still love.
Tackling mythology is quite a task. Gornichec delivers Angrboda’s story through intimate storytelling and characterization, drawing readers close. From the first page, her storytelling is gripping. A witch with a history mostly unknown even to herself, Angrboda awakens in the Ironwood after being killed by the gods, alone until her heart is returned to her by the trickster god Loki. It is here, within the gray and desolate wood at the edge of the worlds, that Angrboda carves out a new existence for herself, living in her cave-home and practicing her witchcraft. She has lived whole other lives and was burnt thrice by the gods, her heart carved from her chest. In the wake of her most recent life, of which she remembers only pieces, she is happy with a quiet existence in which the gods may have forgotten her or truly think her dead.
The story was built upon a foundation of isolation, woven through with an ever-growing sense of unease that a god’s eyes may be upon Angrboda after all. She shifts from lone witch of the wood to mother of monsters as that sense of fear grows, injecting the otherwise unhurried, pleasantly quiet reading experience with intrigue and urgency. As her life—as the wife of Loki and mother of three strange children that include a wolf and a snake—unfolds before us, Angrboda’s history becomes more of a mystery. Threads expertly woven throughout the novel begin tightening, fraying as the sense of intensity increases, moving towards something that feels inevitable. The story was written with such depth and heart. It was gripping and exciting with a fittingly epic conclusion that felt powerful and moving, anchored within who we’ve come to know Angrboda to be: mother of monsters and the Nine Worlds’ most powerful witch.
This story and its characters were so brilliantly crafted, woven with such depth and focus on complexity. I absolutely loved Angrboda. She was intriguing and compelling, steeped in mystery and power. Though Loki wasn’t a god I’m very familiar with, I knew enough about him to thoroughly enjoy seeing a different side to him through Angrboda’s eyes. The complexity of their shifting relationship was compelling, as was Angrboda’s relationship with Skadi, another god I was unfamiliar with. I loved learning about these mythological figures through Gornichec’s interpretation.
The plot and pacing of The Witch’s Heart were fantastic. The story takes its time, letting readers settle into the rhythms of Angrboda’s life. An element of mythological retellings I typically enjoy is the way the sense of sweeping grandeur mythology often necessitates is balanced with realistic, grounded storytelling and characters that feel believable. The Witch’s Heart forgoes the somewhat distant loftiness of life among the gods within the storytelling and language for that quiet sense of isolation, giving glimpses of familiar mythological occurrences in the Nine Worlds beyond the Ironwood through stories Loki and Skadi brought back to Angrboda’s cave. Gornichec created an atmosphere rich in the unknown and strange, godly magic and brought it to life with characters impossible to turn away from—mainly Angrboda. The tone of the novel—quiet, steady, steeped in magic—surprised me with the lightness that could be found within moments of humor and sarcasm between characters. It felt modern and relatable in the way the characters and dialogue were crafted, but so grounded in mythology as to not change the essence of the story. It was fantastic.
The Witch’s Heart took a relatively small figure from Norse mythology—one who was defined by her husband and her children—and wove a powerful, real story about her as her own person. I fell head first into this world and didn’t want to leave. What a brilliant, compelling novel.