''Wolfskin'' is the first book of the
Saga of the Light Isles
''The Saga of the Light Isles'' is a historical fantasy duology by Juliet Marillier. The two books are:
* ''Wolfskin
''Wolfskin'' is the first book of the Saga of the Light Isles series by Juliet Marillier.
Plot summary
Eyvind is a young V ...
series by
Juliet Marillier
Juliet Marillier (born 27 July 1948) is a New Zealand-born writer of fantasy, focusing predominantly on historical fantasy.
Biography
Juliet Marillier was educated at the University of Otago, where she graduated with a BA in languages and a ...
.
Plot summary
Eyvind is a young
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 ...
man who wishes to be a Wolfskin (a
berserker
In the Old Norse written corpus, berserker were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word '' berserk'' (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). Berserkers ...
warrior of
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
) like his brother. Somerled, a quiet boy of the same age, befriends Eyvind and binds him to loyalty with a blood oath.
After becoming a Wolfskin, Eyvind voyages to the Isles of Light with Somerled, his brother Eirek, Somerled's brother Ulf (the leader of the expedition), and many others. The Vikings quickly establish a peace treaty with the native island folk, and build a settlement.
Then Ulf is murdered sadistically, suspended by ropes from a cliff's edge to die of exposure, leaving his position to Somerled - who immediately breaks the treaty. He sends out the Wolfskins to destroy the small army mustered by the natives in retaliation. Eyvind, seeing that the army is composed of the very young and the very old, suffers a breakdown brought on by the moral crisis.
The native princess and priestess, Nessa, finds him and cares for him, healing his wounds and coldness of spirit. Alone in a hidden cave, with only an old priestess for company, the two young people fall in love.
But Eyvind is soon faced with another crisis: he must face Somerled with newfound proof that the current ruler killed his own brother.
In the Viking hall, Eyvind's accusations are smothered with violence, and he is imprisoned, despite the efforts of his few remaining friends to help him.
Finally, Nessa creates and brings to the hall a harp made out of Ulf's bones, with Ulf's voice (magically restored) as the final voice of truth that cannot be ignored.
Somerled is banished from the Isles, bound by an oath to Eyvind to live as long as possible, and Eyvind stays in the Isles.
Characters
*Eyvind - A young Wolfskin warrior who later falls in love with Nessa.
*Eirek - Eyvind's brother.
*Nessa - The Princess of the Isles of Light and a Priestess-in-training. She later falls in love with Eyvind.
*Somerled - A young man who is Eyvind's bond-brother. He is exiled from the Isles of Light at the end of the book.
*Ulf - Somerled's brother, killed by Somerled during the book.
*King Engus - King of the Isles of Light, killed by the Norsemen.
*Rona - Priestess of the Isles of Light, teaches Nessa.
{{Juliet Marillier
Books with cover art by Kinuko Y. Craft
Australian fantasy novels
2002 fantasy novels
Pan Books books