Ah, The Vikings

Post by Doris McCraw

One Yutletide Knight on Amazon

I will start with a disclaimer- I am not an expert on the Vikings, but in the process of writing the story for "One Yuletide Knight", I did do a bit of research.

What started as a fascination with female warriors soon went further into the story of Vikings and their explorations and trading skills.

The journey began with a book called "The Heimskringla, Or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway" by Snorro Sturleson, translated by Samuel Laing, Esq. originally published in 1844. This book, while bringing the stories of these people to light, also gave glimpses of everyday life. The translator was a defender of the Vikings, which he called Northmen. It was from here the idea of the story "Gunvar's Gift" began to take shape.

Next a study of the various outpost and journey's of the Northmen showed that in addition to the raiding along the Western coast of Europe and in Great Britain, they also traversed the rivers through what is now Germany and into the Empire of Byzantium. It seemed there were less conflicts with the more established governments so I felt the story could progress as I was seeing it.

Next of course was the idea of a female Viking warrior. The jury is still out on this idea, but there are many who believe there were such warriors. As more grave sites are found and new ways of viewing and examining remains, the more the idea seems to be accepted. For me, I know there have always been female warriors throughout history, so I felt comfortable having one of my characters in that role.

The next piece of good luck which brought the story to fruition was a Nova documentary on a special sword, the Ulfberht sword that was prized by Viking warriors. If you are interested, here is a link to that show.  Secrets of the Viking Sword

The one thing that all my writing goes back to is history and research. Both are passions and inspire my stories. When writing about the 400 to 1400s, I love the clash of societies, ideas and countries. The clash creates so much drama and when you put the human element in, magic happens, at least for me.

So as you snuggle in this winter and during the holidays, enjoy the eight stories in "One Yuletide Knight". I think you will be glad you did.



To purchase One Yuletide Knight


Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

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