A DARK HORN BLOWING

These gentle doings, couched in one of those neither-nor styles that span the adult and YA fantasy audiences, are mistily compounded of Norse mythology and Celtic folklore, with a mild dose of psychology. Four days after the birth of her first child, Nora is lured by a shape-changing ""go-between' to the chilly splendors of ""Erland,"" there to nurse the Erlking's starving newborn heir, Prince Fiver. While Nora's husband back in ""Midgard"" is being changed into a goat after marrying the witch Bab Magga--the original summoner of the go-between--Prince Elver remains unable to walk despite his eager mastery of every Erlish power. Only after delving back into his first neonatal memories is he able to gain the use of his legs, defeat his feared and hated father, and reunite Nora with her husband and son in Midgard. One wishes Ipcar had restrained herself from working in such an almighty hodgepodge of motifs and allusions (from the powers of rowan trees to the ravens of Odin), but it's mostly done with poise. Bland but attractive.