Around the turn of the twentieth century, several retellings of Homer’s epic and Greek mythology were published for children in Sweden. Fridtjuv Berg’s Trojanska kriget (The Trojan War, 1901) in the canonical publication series Barnbiblioteket Saga (The Children’s Library Saga) became one of the most long-lived. This article examines the characteristics of Berg’s rewriting by an analysis of the organization of the narrative, paratextual features, and the depiction of gender. Berg’s strategies are compared with another contemporary rewriting of The Iliad, Kata Dalström’s Grekiska guda- och hjältesagor (Greek Tales of Gods and Heroes, 1893). The article shows that the two rewritings mainly depict the same events and in the same order. Trojanska kriget foregrounds the historical content of The Iliad in the paratexts and by structuring the narrative around the foundation and fall of Troy. Dalström’s paratexts stress the timelessness of the work by references to a long cultural tradition, which is reinforced by illustrations depicting artworks from different eras. Berg’s book is more richly and uniformly illustrated, and Louis Moe’s illustrations highlight the action of the tale. Furthermore, Berg and Dalström focus on different aspects when abridging the tales, which influences the depiction of gender. While both rewritings describe a patriarchal society, Berg puts greater emphasis on male relationships and heroism. The women are mainly described as passive victims of war or masculinist power structures. Dalström’s version contains a greater variety of women. The comparison makes clear that Berg’s greater interest in the historical and factual aspects of Homer’s epic may have contributed to a more conservative gender ideology. At the same time, the rapid action of Trojanska kriget together with the publication context in Barnbiblioteket Saga are probably two of the factors behind the book’s success.

A common trend in modern fantasy literature for children and young adults is to describe theworld from the monster’s point of view. Frances Hardinge’s Cuckoo Song (2014) exploreswhat it means to be a girl from the perspective of a changeling. In the article, I analyze thechangeling motif with a focus on gender and humanness. The article shows how non-normativefemininity and the non-human are intertwined in the depiction of the changeling. The girl’sfeeling of otherness is portrayed through her unruly and makeshift body that threatens to betrayher by falling apart or taking control of her actions. Only by moving beyond restrictive notionsof girlhood and affirming the non-human, can a resolution be achieved. The changeling in Cuckoo Song juxtaposes the non-human with humans that have been represented as the otherin Western society, like women, children, and foreign people. Thus, the narrative sheds lighton practices of othering and the gendered, racialized, and age-specific norms of human life. Through an exploration of the effects of dehumanization, Hardinge’s novel devises a posthuman ethic underlining all creatures’ right to life.