Terry Deary’s Viking Tales: The Battle of the Viking Woman
A well-written tale, as one would expect from Terry Deary, from his series Terry Deary’s Viking Tales. This story takes place in the town of Whitby on the Yorkshire coast in the year 867, when Viking raids were prevalent. Two young novices play a trick on the old monk, Brother James, by dropping a blob of candle wax on his bald head. Brother James somehow knows who did it and punishes the instigator, Edwin, by making him go without food and pick rocks from the hillside for a day. Taking pity on the boy’s bruised and cut hands, Brother James bandages them and tells him a Viking story which he learnt in his previous life as a soldier, fighting the Vikings. It is the story of The Battle of the Viking Woman in which an old woman, Elli (meaning old age), battles the strongest warrior but he cannot defeat her, the moral being that you cannot defeat old age. Brother James uses this story to his advantage when Viking warriors attack the monastery. Another excellent tale in the series is The Eye of the Viking God which tells of the life of a young English girl taken as a slave on one of the Viking raids. The stories include tales of Viking gods, as well as giving a taste of daily life in those times. Each story includes a page of factual explanation in the form of an epilogue. Recommended for age 6+. Also published by A & C Black are others in the series: Terry Deary’s Greek Tales; Terry Deary’s Roman Tales, Terry Deary’s Egyptian Tales and Terry Deary’s Knights’ Tales, featuring four titles in each.
