Oedipus Borealis

"After examining characters widely disparate from the saga skalds, the model holds: only in the narratives having a Christian purpose do we find the link among disability, deformity, sexual aberrance, wisdom, craft, and power broken. With the would-be Icelandic saint, Gudmund the Good, disability is no longer the mark of a great man, but now appears in its modern interpretation: a character-building setback that the hero must overcome."--BOOK JACKET.