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    Signy Kráka - Part 3: A story of völva magic and survival in Viking Scandinavia: Signy Kráka Saga, #1.3
    Signy Kráka - Part 3: A story of völva magic and survival in Viking Scandinavia: Signy Kráka Saga, #1.3
    Signy Kráka - Part 3: A story of völva magic and survival in Viking Scandinavia: Signy Kráka Saga, #1.3
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    Signy Kráka - Part 3: A story of völva magic and survival in Viking Scandinavia: Signy Kráka Saga, #1.3

    By NH Kerr

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    About this ebook

    "The best of the 3 parts so far all the way through to the unexpected turn and ending. Now I sit here with that soft sadness I get when a good book ends." ~ Graureiher

    Part Three: Signy's saga continues
    A new arrival throws her. An ally finds fault with her. An enemy seeks to undermine her.     

    Signy struggles with her fear after Uppsala and with what she truly wants the future to bring. Just when she begins to feel stronger, a new arrival in Birka impacts her thoughts and feelings. An ally finds fault with her, and an enemy seeks to undermine her. Only the gods can help her now.

    Will Signy's strength hold, and what will she do to impress the gods?

    In Viking Scandinavia in the ninth century, life is a matter of both fate and will. The gods smile on the brave, but the world holds plenty to fear. Heroes choose to be bold, and this is the story of a heroine.  

    Please note: This is the third and final part of a novel told in three installments. You need to begin with Part One and read all three to get the full story.

    Signy Kráka is a story of völva magic, fortitude, friends and foes, survival and betrayal. This is historical fiction with a twist of Norse mysticism and will also appeal to fantasy fans.

    "A story that keeps you coming back for more." ~ zyffyr

    "I have nothing but praise for this book. I have finished all three in less than a day. You can feel the world of the story in every page." ~ Miranda M.

    " I loved how the history and belief system was woven into these books and learned quite a bit by reading this book." ~ M.Hodgin

    "These books walk the tight rope of historical reality and magical story telling, while making it look easy. The storyline grabs you from the beginning and keeps you wanting to know more. The author's understanding of the period and gift for words submerges you in a realistic picture of the pre-christian viking world that leaves you with all the sights, sounds and smells even after the last word is read." ~ naomi

    If you find the mystical world of the Vikings fascinating, you will enjoy this story.

    Written with attention to historical detail and sweeping imagination, this atmospheric story transports the reader into the culture and beliefs of Viking-Age Scandinavia.

    Dive into a deep and different world

    Let the saga of Signy Kráka whisk you away to pagan Scandinavia

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNH Kerr
    Release dateFeb 17, 2017
    ISBN9781386152408
    Signy Kráka - Part 3: A story of völva magic and survival in Viking Scandinavia: Signy Kráka Saga, #1.3
    Author

    NH Kerr

    NH Kerr writes historical fiction with a twist of Norse mysticism. The mystical and mythological flavour to her stories has also attracted fantasy readers. Educated in England, Scotland, Denmark, and Spain, Danish-born NH Kerr writes with a joy for language and storytelling. Before her career as a novelist, NH Kerr taught literature and second languages to older teens in Denmark. It is her firm belief that fiction is a gift we give ourselves and each other; that stories have the power to change us and our world.

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      Book preview

      Signy Kráka - Part 3 - NH Kerr

      A few tips before you begin reading:

      NAMES:

      I have chosen to use Old Norse forms for the names of the characters, most mythological elements, and certain characteristic practices or features which lack a good English equivalent. A little basic pronunciation help is that an accent above a vowel means that vowel is longer, so blót has a long o. And names ending in three consonants have an unwritten vowel hidden in them, so Thorulfr is pronounced Thorulfur with the final u sounding like the vowel in book.

      TELLING TIME:

      The time references are what is known as sun marks or day marks. These are landscape features beneath the sun as it moves across the sky. They can be a bit confusing to our modern minds. Mid-evening in the sun-mark terminology is 6 p.m. for instance, and not what we today would consider the middle of the evening. But the term is actually quite logical when you consider midnight and midday, I think. What the Scandinavian people called day mark is 9 a.m., and not when the sun rises as one might think. Of course, the sun doesn’t rise at the same time year round, anyway.

      The exact sun marks used in the story are explained in the glossary at the back of the book.

      EXCLAMATIONS:

      Exclamations used in the story are purely my own invention. Inspired by Norse myths and mythology, and in a style somewhat influenced by exclamations we use today.

      BOTANICAL NAMES (PLANTS):

      Some of the plant names are also inventions or loose translations of Scandinavian common names. I found it too incongruent to use names with Latin roots. You can find a translation of them in the glossary at the back of the book.

      I have also opted for the term wort for herbs. This is because of etymology again. Wort is not only old usage, it is related to the Scandinavian urt which is still in use and means herb. And speaking of etymology …

      WORD CHOICE IN GENERAL:

      Some word choices are influenced by the word’s etymology. Some of these are naturally connected to modern Northern English dialects, e.g. clough, lass. I have sought to favour Scandinavian and Germanic over Latin and Norman French. Sometimes for clarity this is not possible. Hopefully, I have managed to pepper the story with enough words of that flavour to create the illusion of a Norse voice and yet kept the reading experience pleasurable.

      Part Three

      This is the third and final part of the complete novel. Much of it will not make sense if you have not read the first two

      You can get them here:

      Signy Kráka - Part One

      (Just click above)

      Signy Kráka - Part Two

      (Just click above)

      Scandinavia

      830 CE

      The Norns know

      The Norns know who you truly are

      and who you long to be

      The Norns know you

      better than you know yourself

      The Norns know all

      1. Which Way

      Signy tilted the large wicker basket and let off a small heap of new dark earth. The magical new earth that the trusted landvéttr, or land-wight, crafted from rotten household waste, dead leaves, and old branches.

      Further down the garden, a trio of blackbirds hopped about in the first load of fresh earth she had spread between the slowly awakening plants. Signy sank to her knees and buried her fingers in the small, dark mound. Lowering her face to her hands, she drank in the smell. The strong, sweet tang of life itself.

      Green shoots stuck their heads up everywhere. Buds thickened on the branches. Tiny tails of catkins dangled from the hazel by the hut. The last shrinking patches of snow clung to the shadow on the north side of houses, thickets, and the town wall. Summer had most definitely come. Sitting back on her heels, she turned her face towards the sun.

      How good it was to be outside for hours on end again. For too many days she had hidden away inside the house. She was fed up with fearing the outside world. A world that had always been her true home, where sun, wind, rain, and snow made her blood sing. Oh, to run free in a forest where you had made friends with every tree and stone. Where the véttir knew you respected life and let you safely roam with their goodwill to watch over you. Like in her childhood.

      Through the door in the hut, she could just make out the back of her owner in the dim light inside. She thought about her owner’s words for at least the hundredth time. The idea of becoming a völva pierced her like a sharp spike. It couldn’t be ignored. It wouldn’t let her go. But was it really her path? How would she know? Surely one would know… one would feel it and have no doubts. Becoming a völva couldn’t be a simple matter of choice. Signy rubbed her forehead. How amazing it would be to be able to do all the things her owner could do. To know as much as she knew.

      Frúa Helga hadn’t spoken of the subject again, and neither had Signy. She chewed her lower lip and got earth in her mouth. The sound of her spitting it out startled the blackbirds who retreated to another part of the garden. What if Frúa Helga regretted saying anything about being a völva? It wouldn’t be the first time she had left words between the two of them behind in the night, never to refer to the matter again. Signy sighed and reached forward to spread the pile of new earth evenly around young shoots, stems, and bushes. Concentrating on the feel of the earth beneath her hands stopped her racing thoughts.

      Empty basket in hand, she steered back towards the corner of the garden where the véttr’s mound of crafted earth sat next to the new midden. A movement by the gate caught her eye. Standing between Thorulfr and Einarr, Jórunn smiled and waved when Signy looked over.

      A pang of guilt twisted inside Signy. She had been a lousy friend to both Jórunn and Thorulfr since Uppsala. After a quick glance towards the hut door, Signy set the basket down and hurried over to the gate.

      I wanted you to be the first outside the family to know. Jórunn pressed her lips together, and her eyes looked like they might pop out of her head.

      Know what? Signy looked from Jórunn to Thorulfr, who smiled and rolled his eyes

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