The Loki Sword (Fire Born 3)
Bjarki Bloodhand trudges through the snow; he seeks his mother’s people, the White Bear Clan of the Sami. The old woman caring for him, Fire Dancer, is his grandmother. He and his half-sister, shieldmaiden Tor, had killed their father, driven mad by his gandr. Bjarki experienced the same madness when he killed his love, Yoni. Fire Dancer helps Bjarki tame his gandr.
Tor is feeding the pigs when she encounters a band of men from Starki, Jarl of Norrland. The leader, Hafnar the Silent, demands tribute, an encounter with consequences for the farm. Tor kills him, and his son Rorik seeks revenge. A visitor, Valtyr, tells them the tale of Loki’s cursed sword, Tyrfingr, with which the tricky god killed the giant cockerel, Vithnofnir. ‘I know where the sword is today,’ he says; it’s in the tomb of an ancient king of the Goths. He invites Bjarki to come with him to retrieve it and seize its treasure. Valtyr plans to give the sword to Widukind of Saxony, to fight against Karolus the Frank.
The ship which takes them, Wave Serpent, is owned by Lars, commissioned by Aistulf the Lombard to carry furs. Aistulf will trade his furs for amber in Truso, which they will transport to Carnuntum. An old song, sung by a skald, tells the way.
Tor and her half-brother Bjarki are the dual protagonists, she the brains, he the brawn. Their enemies, the Christian Franks, and their allies and their foes, enter the story, and battles are fought along the Amber Road. Who will wield the magical sword? The prophecies come true in more ways than one. This inventive mix of Norse myth, real history and author’s imagination is a story of international travel in the 4th century. It is Book Three in the Fire Born series.
