As an Elysian war rages onward and spills upon the Earth, an ethereal gift is all that stands between the dark minions of Hell and their malignant conquest of the Heavens. An unlikely protagonist, Suzanne Bancroft is a single nurse at a small Colorado hospital who only wants to live a safe and sheltered life. However, she has been chosen to hold the key to both heaven and hell in the palm of her trembling unsure hands.
Philosophic action and adventure continue in this new saga starring Bluewater's Norse hero and written by Day Prize-nominee Chris Studabaker. Suzanne Bancroft is going to die, and the end of the world will be her fault. A relentless demi-god has declared he will murder Suzanne and her death will begin a chain of events culminating in Ragnarok. Worse yet, her murderer can see her fate! While still trying to understand her new role as the Valkyrie, Suzanne must seek the true nature of fate and ask herself a hard question: how do you fight a battle you're destined to lose?
Using textiles to understand gender and economy in Norse societies In The Valkyries’ Loom, Michèle Hayeur Smith examines Viking textiles as evidence of the little-known work of women in the Norse colonies that expanded from Scandinavia across the North Atlantic in the ninth century AD. While previous researchers have overlooked textiles as insignificant artifacts, Hayeur Smith is the first to use them to understand gender and economy in Norse societies of the North Atlantic. This groundbreaking study is based on the author’s systematic comparative analysis of the vast textile collections in Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands, materials that are largely unknown even to archaeologists and span 1,000 years. Through these garments and fragments, Hayeur Smith provides new insights into how the women of these island nations influenced international trade by producing cloth (vaðmál); how they shaped the development of national identities by creating clothing; and how they helped their communities survive climate change by reengineering clothes during the Little Ice Age. She supplements her analysis by revealing societal attitudes about weaving through the poem “Darraðarljoð” from Njál’s Saga, in which the Valkyries—Óðin’s female warrior spirits—produce the cloth of history and decide the fates of men and nations. Bringing Norse women and their labor to the forefront of research, Hayeur Smith establishes the foundation for a gendered archaeology of the North Atlantic that has never been attempted before. This monumental and innovative work contributes to global discussions about the hidden roles of women in past societies in preserving tradition and guiding change.
Philosophic action and adventure continue in this new saga starring TidalWave's Norse hero and written by Day Prize-nominee Chris Studabaker. Suzanne Bancroft is going to die, and the end of the world will be her fault. A relentless demi-god has declared he will murder Suzanne and her death will begin a chain of events culminating in Ragnarok. Worse yet, her murderer can see her fate! While still trying to understand her new role as the Valkyrie, Suzanne must seek the true nature of fate and ask herself a hard question: how do you fight a battle you're destined to lose?
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield. They protect some, but guide spears, arrows and sword blades into the bodies of others. Viking myths about valkyries attempt to elevate the banality of war – to make the pain and suffering, the lost limbs and deformities, the piles of lifeless bodies of young men, glorious and worthwhile. Rather than their death being futile, it is their destiny and good fortune, determined by divine beings. The women in these stories take full part in the power struggles and upheavals in their communities, for better or worse. Drawing on the latest historical and archaeological evidence, Valkyrie introduces readers to the dramatic and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland, a culture able to imagine women in all kinds of roles carrying power, not just in this world, but pulling the strings in the other-world, too. In the process, this fascinating book uncovers the reality behind the myths and legends to reveal the dynamic, diverse lives of Viking women.
Philosophic action and adventure continue in this new saga starring StormFront's Norse hero and written by Day Prize-nominee Chris Studabaker. Suzanne Bancroft is going to die, and the end of the world will be her fault. A relentless demi-god has declared he will murder Suzanne and her death will begin a chain of events culminating in Ragnarok. Worse yet, her murderer can see her fate! While still trying to understand her new role as the Valkyrie, Suzanne must seek the true nature of fate and ask herself a hard question: how do you fight a battle you're destined to lose?
Suzanne Bancroft, once your average citizen working as a nurse in a tiny Colorado town, has been pulled into an alternative reality where Nordic Viking gods rule. The great god Odin pulls Suzanne out of the "real world" and to his magnificant castle Valhalla. She is introduced to his son, Thor, who is to train her to embrace her destiny and become the Valkyrie. However, there is a traitor in the midst who is also eyeing the all powerful sword of the Valkyrie. Will Suzanne be able to hold her title against this new threat, not to mention the evil god Loki? Find out in the latest installment of the action packed series "Power of the Valkyrie!"