''Troll Blood'' is a children's

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

, the third volume of the

Troll Trilogy A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

written by

Katherine Langrish Katherine Langrish is a British author of fantasy for children and young adults. She was brought up in Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far ...

. It follows the events of

Troll Fell ''Troll Fell'' is a children's fantasy novel written by Katherine Langrish, the first in the Troll Trilogy which comprises ''Troll Fell'', '' Troll Mill'' and '' Troll Blood''. It is set in Viking Scandinavia and is centred about the eponymous mou ...

and

Troll Mill ''Troll Mill'' is a children's literature, children's fantasy novel written by Katherine Langrish, the second in the Troll Trilogy. It follows the events of ''Troll Fell'', but takes place three years later. Synopsis

The hero Peer Ulffson ...

Synopsis

In contrast to the first two books in the trilogy, Troll Blood opens far from

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, across the ocean in

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...

, where a young Native American boy, Kwimu, and his father Senumkwe, see two Viking ships in the bay and witness the massacre of one crew by the other. As the victors sail away, leaving the other longship scuttled and burning, Kwimu and his father find the sole survivor, a little boy called Ottar, whom they adopt. Back in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, Peer's friend, Hilde, is impatient with life and longing for adventure, so when a Viking ship arrives at their village looking for crew, she and Peer set sail. They soon find plenty to occupy them. The sailors believe the ship is haunted by the ghost of a murdered man. The captain's handsome young son Harald Silkenhair is a dangerous psychopath who becomes Peer's deadly enemy. And the voyage is taking them far away to Vinland, where the dark forests are full of mysterious creatures, and where danger and treachery awaits.

Background

Both the US and the UK editions of Troll Blood carry an explanatory note on the historical interaction of

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

and Native American people in the 10th century. The US edition of Troll Blood also includes a

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

listing primary and secondary sources for the Native American culture references in the book, most of which were based on the Mi’kmaq of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

References

{{TrollTrilogy Children's fantasy novels 2004 novels Novels set in the Viking Age HarperCollins books ca:El Turó dels Trolls