Excerpt from John Snow's next book

Read the first chapter in The Viking War, the fifth and last book in the saga of Sigve.

The chapters begins where the last book ended: in Queen Gunnhild's bed chamber.

In the previous book, The Bitch Queen, Sigve the Awful defeated a fearsome adversary, but he had to pay a high price. In the new book, he has sworn allegiance to King Harald Greycloak of Norway, an old enemy. Queen Gunnhild, the king's mother, demands more and more of Sigve.

War is building in Denmark, and when King Greycloak is dragged into the conflict, Sigve seeks to take advantage of the situation and get out of his thralldom. He still wears his rune sword, and he gets help from Life, the king's subdued lover thrall.

History and myth, love and action in John Snow's next book

1

I could kill for those hands, Sigve thought.
Sigve the Awful watched Life, the woman tending his wounds. She rinsed the cuts at his shoulders and turned to fetch a bowl of soothing ointment. The cut-washing hurt, but Life’s fingers lessened the pain; the salve would relieve the ache even more. It was not the first time Life had treated his sore skin.
They sat on a bench in a small nursing house. A fire was burning in a pit on the floor, and a tiny beam of light swept down from the smoke vent. On a timber along the bench, two oil-lamps were set up to help Life in her treatment. In times of war, the sickroom could be packed with wounded warriors. Today they were alone in the room.
Sigve studied Life. Her hair was bundled up and pinned with a polished bone stick; it was shining black, and usually the hair hung down her back. Life was a healer, not very tall or slim; she was small and oozing of woman. Her hands were warm, and turning to Sigve, she used the tip of her fingers to stroke his shoulders, preparing to rub salve into the wounds. When she turned towards him, Sigve caught her eyes; they were almond-shaped, dark, and sad.
"You’ve grown stronger," Life said. Steering clear of the cuts, her fingers rubbed his bulging muscles.
"Yes," he answered.

Congratulations Tone Almhjell!

Norwegian author Tone Almhjell 

Tone Almhjell is a Norwegian author who has written the children fantasy book The Twistrose Key. The debut novel has been praised by Amazon.com and the Kirkus review begins in this way: "Skillfully blending facets of classic high fantasy, this debut novel will captivate readers with its rich plot and detailed worldbuilding." Tone Almhjell writes in English, and being a Norwegian writer who does the same, Tone's success is definitely an inspiration for me. Again: Congratulations!


The publishers book description:

"Something is wrong in the house that Lin's family has rented; Lin is sure of it. The clocks tick too slowly. Frost covers the flower bed, even in a rain storm. And when a secret key marked 'Twistrose' arrives for her, Lin finds a crack in the cellar, a gate to the world of Sylver.

This frozen realm is the home of every dead animal who ever loved a child. Lin is overjoyed to be reunited with Rufus, the pet she buried under the rosebush. But together they must find the missing Winter Prince that night in order to save Sylver from destruction. They are not the only ones hunting for the boy. In the dark hides a shadow-lipped man, waiting for this last Winter Prince to be delivered into his hands.

Exhilarating suspense and unforgettable characters awaits the readers of this magical adventure, destined to become a classic."

The Twistrose Key

Buy The Twistrose Key on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

Why give books away for free?

For some days copies of The Lethal Oath were
 available at Amazon for free.

Two weeks have gone since the period of free copies of The Lethal Oath ended. Afterwards I've been asked why I gave e-books away for free. The short answer to that question is: promotion. However, in a Google+ post one of my friends answered that he had downloaded at least fifty free e-books without reading any of them.

Claiming that the chances of reading a book is  greater when you have paid for it, he wrote: "I think it is because I have so many print books and e-books that I have actually paid for and rewarded the author for their efforts. I think if you pay for something you want to get your money's worth out of it, whereas if you don't pay for it, it doesn't matter if you never read it."

I tend to agree with him. I believe we are more likely to start reading a book we have paid for. But we don't read in order to satisfy the author, but to reassure ourselves that the book we bought was worth the price; that it will give us a good read.

On the other hand: How many free books haven't we read over the years? Books we have got from others, presents, books lent from friends, or at the library, or classics downloaded from the Internet?

And Hrolf sliced off both his buttocks

The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki by Anonymous
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(This is a review of Jesse L. Byock's translation in Penguin Classics, and if we can talk of spoilers in a legend, here are lots of spoilers.)

The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki is a legendary tale and one of the greatest Old Icelandic legendary sagas.

Hrolf Kraki, king in ancient Denmark, was not as many of the other legendary heroes; he was among the quiet and mild rulers, which, of course, didn’t prevent him from taking action and revenge when required. He is famous for having sowed pieces of gold on the Fyri’s Plane (in Sweden) to distract King Adils and his warriors. Hrolf was fleeing after having regained the gold Adils stole when he killed Helgi, Hrolf’s father. Hrolf also threw a gold ring in front of the pursuing king. When King Adils stopped to acquire the ring, Hrolf said that now “I have made the greatest of the Swedes stoop like a swine.” When Adils bent forward to fetch the ring, Hrolf sliced off both his buttocks “right down to the bone.”

The volva and her herbs

"In a sad voice, Sigurd's mother began to sing, followed by the rest of the women.

It was a song about Freya, daughter of Njord, the goddess of love. The lay caused people to sway, moving to and fro. They sang it slowly, there, inside the hall, they lamented Freya's love of Od.

The song turned really sad when Od ran away. "Where is Od?" the women moaned in the song. In the glowing light of the pit fires, his mother changed into a volva, offering herbs to the flames. Making a flash, the burning leaves filled the room with a heavy and sweet-smelling smoke.

The lay was arousing, and soon the men fell in, enchanted. They all sang about Freya's longing, and the song was for Njord, the god who brought the grain – and the bjor."
(From The Slayer Rune)

Hemp and bjor

Archaelogical findings show that Norwegian Vikings grew hemp. Or as the researchers would say: they cultivated cannabis. Hemp fibers were used in textiles and ropes, and the plant was probably used to make drugs. Cannabis seeds have been found in excavations in Southern Norway and in the Oseberg grave. This has led some researcher to believe that one of the women in the grave was a powerful volva and a master of seid.

"The women had brewed bjor, the strongest beer; the girls had mixed the brew with hemp and other mind-bending herbs. The chieftain was planning a big feast. The hall was painted and decorated with deep-coloured rugs, and tables were set up and covered with bowls and drinking horns." ...

The Thing

"Around the king his soldiers sat, fully armed. They had armour and shields, spears, and swords or axes. With helmets over their faces they looked like evil spirits, but now they were bareheaded, their helmets lying on the ground. The Thing was a place of peace."
(From The Slayer Rune)

Odin

"Of course, Odin was the most unyielding of the gods. He looked terrible, a big tongue dropping out of his mouth. The painted carving made it look like Odin had been hanged, his tongue was blue. But then, Odin was the dead people's god. He was also master-of-runes and knew all the forces, both past and present."
(From The Slayer Rune)