Bifrost Guardians by Mickey Zuchert Reichert
Bifrost Guardians is a 5 book series from the 80s and early 90s about, basically, a Vietnam War soldier named Al Larson(incidentally, it didn't click until the last book that "Larson" indicates nordic descent...) who is pulled into ancient Norway by the Norse god Freyr(Al jokingly sent out a prayer to Freyr before going into battle and dying) and put into the body of an elf. Al gets himself dubbed Allerum and soon learns that his elfen body only has a fraction of the strength his own body had, leaving him rather peeved. He's even less pleased when he's given a sword that talks back to him in his head(there's a god imprisoned inside) and learns he has to help a sorceress, Silme, and her samurai assistant, Gaelinar(he had a proper samurai name, but Silme renamed him) defeat the sorceress's evil brother. I knew I liked it from the start, but I was in love when the samurai announced he was raiding Hel to bring back the dead, and invited the angsting lead to join him.
Meanwhile, across the world (or at least, in ancient Germany, so I suppose not THAT far...) a thief named Taziar is able to get revenge for the death of his father, who was executed as a traitor when Taz was a child. In the process, he meets and falls in love with a young sorceress, Astryd, an apprentice from Silme's school. After she's forced to return to her studies, Taz decides to cross the ocean to find her and prove that, contrary to popular belief, a person really can break into the school. This brings him into contact with Al, and they bond and do things like raise the dead(not as zombies, thankfully) jumpstart Ragnarok, slay dragons, insult gods, and travel to the present, invading SCA meetings and scaling the Sears and Roebuck building. And, naturally, teaching each other bad words in their own languages.
Al is, literally, insane from the war. Even when his mind is fixed (it's nice to have gods needing you to be sane) he largely skirts on the edge of reason. He is, however, very committed and driven, and loyal to his friends, which keeps him from losing it. Most of the time. Taz is also very driven and loyal, but not as angsty about it, and he thinks that words like "impossible" and "forbidden" mean "give it a whirl, maybe you'll be the lucky guy to pull it off without dying." He tends to be right about that. One of the more appealing parts of the series is that, while Silme and Astryd were raised to follow the norse pantheon, Al, Taz and Gaelinar weren't, and as they have no fear of the gods, they aren't afraid to back talk, leading to some of the funnier scenes I've read in fantasy that weren't complete riffs.
The two omnibuses the series clock it at about 1100 pages total, less than some single books these days, and, while it may not be the best fantasy series ever, it's quite good.
Meanwhile, across the world (or at least, in ancient Germany, so I suppose not THAT far...) a thief named Taziar is able to get revenge for the death of his father, who was executed as a traitor when Taz was a child. In the process, he meets and falls in love with a young sorceress, Astryd, an apprentice from Silme's school. After she's forced to return to her studies, Taz decides to cross the ocean to find her and prove that, contrary to popular belief, a person really can break into the school. This brings him into contact with Al, and they bond and do things like raise the dead(not as zombies, thankfully) jumpstart Ragnarok, slay dragons, insult gods, and travel to the present, invading SCA meetings and scaling the Sears and Roebuck building. And, naturally, teaching each other bad words in their own languages.
Al is, literally, insane from the war. Even when his mind is fixed (it's nice to have gods needing you to be sane) he largely skirts on the edge of reason. He is, however, very committed and driven, and loyal to his friends, which keeps him from losing it. Most of the time. Taz is also very driven and loyal, but not as angsty about it, and he thinks that words like "impossible" and "forbidden" mean "give it a whirl, maybe you'll be the lucky guy to pull it off without dying." He tends to be right about that. One of the more appealing parts of the series is that, while Silme and Astryd were raised to follow the norse pantheon, Al, Taz and Gaelinar weren't, and as they have no fear of the gods, they aren't afraid to back talk, leading to some of the funnier scenes I've read in fantasy that weren't complete riffs.
The two omnibuses the series clock it at about 1100 pages total, less than some single books these days, and, while it may not be the best fantasy series ever, it's quite good.