Nevernight is the first instalment in an adult Fantasy series The Nevernight Chronicle by best-selling author Jay Kristoff. Nevernight is a complex book with many wonderful aspects and qualities revealed amid the violence inherent to the story. It is told on a grand scale and never pretends to be anything else. Mia Corvere is the… Continue reading Nevernight
I recently read Wolfskin, the first volume in the duology, The Saga of the Light Isles by Australian author Juliet Marillier.Wolfskin begins in Rogaland among the Norseman of the Viking Age, following a young protagonist Eyvind on his journey to become a wolfskin warrior, one of the most esteemed warrior class in Rogaland. Eyvind befriends… Continue reading Wolfskin
Much of the information about Norse mythology is gleaned from the historical texts called the Eddas. As recounted in the Eddas, two separate hosts of deities initially existed, the Vanir and Aesir . These two hosts waged several unsuccessful wars against each other until they united as a single host, combining their strength against the… Continue reading Norse Gods: The Vanir
Much of the information about Norse mythology is gleaned from the historical texts called the Eddas. As recounted in the Eddas, two separate hosts of deities initially existed, the Vanir and Aesir. These two hosts waged several unsuccessful wars against each other until they united as a single host, combining their strength against the giants.… Continue reading Norse Gods: The Aesir
In Norse mythology, the giantess Angrboda is mentioned only fleetingly in connection with her affair with Loki and the three monstrous offspring she bore. The "Hag of the Iron Wood" is one title she is referred to but the other is her name, Angrboda meaning "the bringer of sorrows". Norse myth is full of tales… Continue reading Angrboda: Mother of Monsters
The Lord of the Darkwood is the final installment in the Fantasy series The Tale of Shikanoko by Lian Hearn. The Tale of Shikanoko is inspired by medieval Japan and although the series takes place in a fictional setting, the beautiful descriptions of the Snow Country and the wilderness of Japan are clearly taken from the… Continue reading Lord of the Darkwood
Idunn is a Norse goddess, the guardian of a sacred fruit that provides immortality to the Aesir. There are several accounts of Idunn in the Prose Edda where she is often described as possessing child-like trust, giving her a sense of naivety. The first account of Idunn is in the Gylfaginning of the Prose Edda,… Continue reading Idunn: Guardian of Youth
The texts in the Poetic Edda are considered older than those recorded in the Prose Edda. The Poetic Edda consists of ancient Norse poems, the mythologies and legends recounted in a specific style of stanzas found only in the Icelandic texts, a written version of ancient Nordic oral traditions. As such, the poems recorded in… Continue reading Yggdrasil & the Eddas
Yggdrasil, also known as the World Tree or The Great Ash, upholds the Nine Realms and is a prominent part of Norse Cosmology. Yggdrasil has three main roots which each connect to one of the three planes that support the Nine Realms. One of Yggdrasil's roots is located in Nifelheim, the realm of the dead.… Continue reading Yggdrasil
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is the first book in the Winternight Trilogy, beautiful retellings of Russian folktales. The Bear and the Nightingale recounts the childhood and adolescence of Vasilisa, the youngest daughter of Pytor, a minor lord from northern Rus. Vasilisa, last child born to Marina, the daughter of the former… Continue reading The Bear and the Nightingale
Leanbh Pearson 
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