I have finished my Rita reading and have discovered several authors whose books I will actively look for. It is one of the great treats -- being forced to read new authors, maybe on themes that one would not normally read and discovering -- YES, what a fantastic read.
There are several more books in my TBR pile but my daemon is going crazy. I keep getting whispered to. My daemon dislikes being ignored. The worst part is that the instant I start, my daemon is very likely to up sticks and go into a corner etc. But for now I am grateful and have the general plots mapped out, plus characters for my next Viking (Ivar's story)
The primary source documents for the Vikings are the Icelandic sagas. I know Tolkien drew heavily on them, but it always makes me blink when I discover little bits. Basically at the moment, I have been researching the old places of South Eastern Norway and Southern Sweden, in particular Bohuslu which was subdivided into two districts during the early Viking period. It is the area right next to Viken. Thankfully Ranirike fits my story as Alfhiem sounds a little too Tolkienesque for me.
Tolkien of course drew heavily on the Icelandic sagas. And there is a certain amount of debate on how close to a true historical record they were. Yes, there is embellishment, but did the initial storytellers draw on kernels of fact? Did they root their stories in the fabric of time? Was there an actual Gandalf, not a wizard but a Viking king? How much did the Prose Edda shape Tolkien's imaginings? And ultimately because he created something new and different does it matter?
Lloyd Alexander also drew on the same legends. Hence the reason for the similarities between the two worlds.
The skill in the writer (or some would argue the ancient historian) is to take the bits and create her own world.
But I do find it interesting...fossicking about and suddenly thinking -- oh, I can see echoes.
Showing posts with label viken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label viken. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
On remembering small snippets
I am in the midst of my second Viking book. In Taken by The Viking, I decided the vikings had come from Viken. I knew I had good reasons for doing so at the time. But when I came to write the second book, could I find the piece of research that told me -- yes it was okay. For several days I worried -- had I made some sort of horrible conjecture? Would I get letters on it? That sort of thing.
Then I opened the latest non fiction book my dh bought me -- Queen Emma and the Vikings -- the woman who shaped the events of 1066 by Harriet O Brien. Not becuase I was hopeful of find a solution to my problem, but rather because I was interested to seewhat she said about women during the Viking age -- even if it was slightly later than my Vikens.
On page 15 I found it -- a reference to Viken -- an area around the Oslo Fjord. And MsO Brien went on to speak about the orgin of the word viking. Vik means bay in Old Scandanavian. By the end of the period, viking had come to mean raider, but did it originate from a trader/raider who kept his ship in a bay or from Viken, that area around Oslo and gradually come to be applied to all Norse raiders? O Brien ponder the question, and decided that the answer is lost in the mists of time.
The clouds in my mind cleared. I still don't know where I saw the original citation, but now I can press forward with my Vikens. Confident that they are in the right geographical place. The morale of this story I think is to keep better track of my notes.
Queen Emma and The Vikings despite the sort of YA adventure book title is a very interesting read. It has already sparked several ideas for future novels. Queen Emma was also an extraordinary woman -- a Norman descedent of Rollo, the Viking founder of Normandy, she married two kings and witnessed the coronation of two of her sons. The book appears to be fast paced and full of intrigue. Just the sort of thing I like to read, even if it two hundred years after the events I am currently writing about.
But the feeling of relief is enormous. I actually had a sound historical basis for naming my vikings Viken -- even if I could not remember it when it came to write the second book.
Then I opened the latest non fiction book my dh bought me -- Queen Emma and the Vikings -- the woman who shaped the events of 1066 by Harriet O Brien. Not becuase I was hopeful of find a solution to my problem, but rather because I was interested to seewhat she said about women during the Viking age -- even if it was slightly later than my Vikens.
On page 15 I found it -- a reference to Viken -- an area around the Oslo Fjord. And MsO Brien went on to speak about the orgin of the word viking. Vik means bay in Old Scandanavian. By the end of the period, viking had come to mean raider, but did it originate from a trader/raider who kept his ship in a bay or from Viken, that area around Oslo and gradually come to be applied to all Norse raiders? O Brien ponder the question, and decided that the answer is lost in the mists of time.
The clouds in my mind cleared. I still don't know where I saw the original citation, but now I can press forward with my Vikens. Confident that they are in the right geographical place. The morale of this story I think is to keep better track of my notes.
Queen Emma and The Vikings despite the sort of YA adventure book title is a very interesting read. It has already sparked several ideas for future novels. Queen Emma was also an extraordinary woman -- a Norman descedent of Rollo, the Viking founder of Normandy, she married two kings and witnessed the coronation of two of her sons. The book appears to be fast paced and full of intrigue. Just the sort of thing I like to read, even if it two hundred years after the events I am currently writing about.
But the feeling of relief is enormous. I actually had a sound historical basis for naming my vikings Viken -- even if I could not remember it when it came to write the second book.
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