The Sword of Summer is the first novel in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy,

written by American author Rick Riordan. It is a fantasy novel based on Norse mythology. It was
released on October 6, 2015 by DisneyHyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. It is narrated
in the first-person view by Magnus Chase, 16-year-old demigod and homeless orphan.[1] After his
death and arrival in the Norse afterlife, Magnus discovers that he is the son of the Norse deity, Frey,
and must stop Fenris Wolf from escaping his prison and ending the world.
The Sword of Summer has appeared on the New York Times children's Best Seller list and the USA
Today Best Seller list. Reviewers such as Publishers Weekly have praised the book, saying,
"Riordan plays much of the material for laughs...and brings the Norse gods into the 21st century...
The sensibility is right in line with the Percy Jackson novels, and the audience will be just as
large."[2]
A sequel, The Hammer of Thor was released on October 4, 2016.[3]

Contents
1 Development
2 Plot
2.1 Prophecy
3 Characters
4 Publication
5 Reception
6 References

Development
During Riordan's book tour for The House of Hades, he announced that he was writing a Norse
mythology series that would take place in Boston. He also stated that his plans for the setting were
unrelated to his recent move to the city, although living in Boston made researching for the series
less difficult.[4] On September 23, 2014, Riordan broadcast a webcast from the Empire State
Building and announced the name of the series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.[5] The title
of the first book, The Sword of Summer, was revealed in the final page of The Blood of Olympus.
On June 18, 2015, the cover and the second chapter were released on USA Today.[6] The first five
chapters were revealed on September 28, 2015.[7] To prepare readers for the new book, Riordan
posted images of Norse vocabulary words on his Twitter account starting August 28, 2015, along
with the hashtag #norsecrashcourse. Words such as Valhalla, Ragnarok, and Yggdrasil were all
included and defined.[8]
In the months preceding The Sword of Summer's publication, Disney-Hyperion and Rick Riordan
advertised even more heavily for the new book. Riordan embarked on a tour across the U.S.,
speaking to hundreds of fans on each stop of his tour.[9][10][11][12] An online myth-writing
competition was sponsored by Scholastic just before the novel's publication, with the grand prize of
a "virtual visit" from Rick Riordan.[13] Finally, Riordan signed 10,000 copies of The Sword of
Summer, to be distributed on Black Friday at Barnes & Noble stores nationwide, as yet another
massive advertising campaign.[14]

Plot
The novel opens on the sixteenth birthday of the protagonist Magnus Chase, who has been living on
the streets of Boston since his mother Natalie's death two years ago. After learning that his uncle
Randolph has unexpectedly sent his uncle Frederick and cousin Annabeth to search for him,
Magnus breaks into Randolph's house to look for answers. Randolph catches Magnus and drives
him to Longfellow Bridge, cryptically claiming that Magnus is the son of a Norse god, giving him
magic powers and placing him in the sights of an unnamed magical enemy. Randolph tells the boy
that he must magically retrieve an ancient sword (Sumarbrander, or the "Sword of Summer") hidden
in Boston Harbor to protect himself. A fire giant known as Surt appears demanding the sword, and
begins to destroy the bridge. Magnus attacks Surt to allow other pedestrians time to escape. As he
realizes that he is about to die, he manages to wound the demon and hurl the two of them off the
bridge. He dies on impact with the water.
Magnus awakens in a place called Hotel Valhalla as an einherjar, where he is told he will spend
eternity training for the day of Ragnark. He is introduced to a Valkyrie named Sam who brought
him to Valhalla, and to his new einherjar roommates. During Magnus's welcome feast, the three
Norns pronounce Magnus a son of Frey and deliver a confusing prophecy. The hotel's ruling council
banishes Sam the Valkyrie for apparently "wrongly [choosing]" Magnus. That night, Magnus's
"human" friends Hearth and Blitz arrive and reveal they are actually an elf and dwarf, respectively.
They convince him to leave the hotel. In Midgard, the trio joins up with Sam. The group then meets
with the god Mimir, who tasks them with finding the Sword before Surt and bringing it to the island
of the Fenris Wolf. They retrieve the sword from the sea goddess Ran and journey to Nidavellir to
secure a new binding for the Wolf. During his quest, Magnus experiences dream-visions of Loki,
and once even of the goddess Hel offering to reunite him with his late mothera proposal he
struggles to refuse.
After a detour to Jotunheim, where they help the god Thor and Magnus discovers new magical
powers, they finally arrive at Fenris's island. Despite being attacked by a group of Valkyries, some
Magnus's hallmates, and Surt, they successfully rebind the Wolf. Magnus has a brief vision of his
father Frey before returning to Hotel Valhalla to stand trial for his disobedience. Before he can be
punished, however, Magnus's hallmate X stands and reveals himself to be the god Odin, in disguise.
Odin rewards each of the heroes in turn, finally offering Magnus a chance to return to life or choose
a different afterlife. Magnus declines, but returns to Boston to speak with his cousin Annabeth. The
two hold a funeral for Natalie Chase and exchange stories of each other's lives as demigods.
The novel ends with an epilogue, in which Uncle Randolph is punished by Loki for not being able
to stop Magnus from rebinding Fenris. Loki implies that Randolph's family will be in danger if the
man does not cooperate.[1]

Prophecy
The prophecy that was given to Magnus by the Norns reads:
Wrongly chosen, wrongly slain,
A hero Valhalla cannot contain.
Nine days hence the sun must go east,
Ere Sword of Summer unbinds the beast.[1]
The first line of the prophecy was initially taken as confirmation that Magnus was unfit for duty as
an einherjar; later, Odin interprets it to mean that Loki chose the wrong hero to manipulate. The
second line refers to how Magnus manages to leave Valhalla despite claims that the hotel is
impossible to escape. The final two lines describe how Sumarbrander was fated to free Fenris (as it
did before rebinding him), and how the one day of the year where Fenris's island can be reached by
a mortal was exactly nine days from the date the prophecy was given.[1]

Characters