The Valkyrie's Choice


Book Description

In the realms where war is a constant hum, Elara, a shieldmaiden yearning for a different fate, stumbles upon a hidden truth. The Valkyries, her celestial sisters, are not the protectors they seem to be, but pawns manipulated by a sinister entity known as the Weaver. Fueled by whispers of rebellion and a newfound connection to the ancient power of the Wyrd, Elara embarks on a perilous journey to expose the Weaver's web of control and forge a new destiny for the realms. Join Elara and her band of renegade shieldmaidens as they defy the Valkyries, challenge the Weaver's reign of terror, and fight to restore balance to a world ravaged by endless conflict. Witness their battles against celestial warriors, their struggles to unite a divided populace, and their ultimate confrontation with the entity that thrives on bloodshed. This epic tale of rebellion and hope explores themes of destiny, free will, and the fight for a better future. As Elara and her companions rewrite the fabric of fate, they redefine the role of the shieldmaidens, transforming them from instruments of war into guardians of the Wyrd, the life force that sustains all existence. If you seek a story that blends action, intrigue, and a deep exploration of the human spirit's fight against oppression, then step into the world of the Shieldmaidens' Rebellion. It is a tale that will leave you questioning the established order, celebrating the power of hope, and forever remembering the shieldmaidens who dared to dream of a world at peace.




Valkyrie


Book Description

From the bestselling author of the Pegasus books, Kate O’Hearn, comes an exciting new series that puts a fresh twist on Norse mythology. Valkyrie: Norse Goddess. Reaper of Souls. Defender of the Weak. Not someone you want to mess with… Freya is dreading her upcoming birthday when she’ll officially have to take up her duties as a Valkyrie. She doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of the legends before her—legends including her mother and sisters. And she certainly doesn’t want anything to do with humans! Freya thinks humans are cruel, hate-filled creatures, but as she observes their world, she begins to wonder what it would be like to make friends with the girls or laugh with the boys she sees. And what would it be like to live without the fear that she could cause someone’s death with a single touch? Then when she’s sent on her first mission, she reaps the soul of a fallen soldier with unfinished business…business that sends her on an epic quest to the mortal world. Will Freya find the true meaning of being a human, or will she finally accept her destiny?




The Real Valkyrie


Book Description

In the tradition of Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra, Brown lays to rest the hoary myth that Viking society was ruled by men and celebrates the dramatic lives of female Viking warriors “Once again, Brown brings Viking history to vivid, unexpected life—and in the process, turns what we thought we knew about Norse culture on its head. Superb.” —Scott Weidensaul, author of New York Times bestselling A World on the Wing "Magnificent. It captured me from the very first page." —Pat Shipman, author of The Invaders In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many scholars that a Viking warrior in a high-status grave in Birka, Sweden was actually a woman. The Real Valkyrie weaves together archaeology, history, and literature to imagine her life and times, showing that Viking women had more power and agency than historians have imagined. Nancy Marie Brown uses science to link the Birka warrior, whom she names Hervor, to Viking trading towns and to their great trade route east to Byzantium and beyond. She imagines her life intersecting with larger-than-life but real women, including Queen Gunnhild Mother-of-Kings, the Viking leader known as The Red Girl, and Queen Olga of Kyiv. Hervor’s short, dramatic life shows that much of what we have taken as truth about women in the Viking Age is based not on data, but on nineteenth-century Victorian biases. Rather than holding the household keys, Viking women in history, law, saga, poetry, and myth carry weapons. These women brag, “As heroes we were widely known—with keen spears we cut blood from bone.” In this compelling narrative Brown brings the world of those valkyries and shield-maids to vivid life.




Old Norse Religion in Long-Term Perspectives


Book Description

Consisting of more than 70 papers written by scholars concerned with pre-Christian Norse religion, the articles discuss subjects such as archaeology, art history, historical archaeology, history, history of ideas, theological history, literature, onomastics, Scandinavian languages, and Scandinavian studies. The interdisciplinary aim of the book brings together text-based and material-based researchers to improve scholarly exchange and dialogue and provide a variety of contributions that elucidate topics such as worldview and cosmology, ritual and religious practice, myth and memory, as well as reception and present-day use of old Norse religion.




Valkyrie


Book Description

Freya is dreading turning fourteen - that marks the official end of her childhood and when she takes up full duties of a Valkyrie - a collector of souls from humanity's battlefields. But Freya is unlike any other Valkyrie. She doesn't want to follow in the footsteps of the legends before her. As she observes from Asgard, she tries to understand what it is to be human: to make friends with girls her own age and laugh with boys, without the fear of causing their death with one touch. Little does she know that her dreams will soon be realized: on her first battlefield mission, Freya reaps the soul of a soldier with unfinished business that will send her to the human world on a deadly quest. And there she must battle both ordinary and extraordinary enemies to create a new VALKYRIE legend. 'Kate O'Hearn serves up a winning mix of modern adventure and classic fantasy.' Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson




Valkyrie's Conquest


Book Description

Can a dragon’s fire warm a reaper’s heart? Tyra is a Valkyrie, a winged warrior who reaps the souls of dead heroes. Her kind experience no emotions—not joy, nor anger, nor pity for the fallen. Not even love. Yet now the powers that bind her sisterhood are weakening, and Tyra’s heart is coming to life. Bron of the Flameborn is a dragon shifter. When he sees Tyra flying through the city night, he instantly follows. At first, he is curious—and captivated—though even as Bron melts Tyra’s icy reserve, he learns that defying the gods has its price. War rages between Tyra’s masters and their demon foe. Bron has no part in the conflict until Tyra is betrayed, and he must take a side. But some fires are too hot to bear, even for a dragon. If he means to save Tyra, he must sacrifice all. Second edition. Previously published in 2014 by Harlequin Nocturne Cravings




The Westminster Review


Book Description




Valkyrie Freed


Book Description

Killing immortals doesn’t take as much effort as one might think. Killing gods? That’s a whole other story. And when it comes to killing my mother… Don’t get me started. I thought I knew everything about my life, until a Norse god of war showed up at my family’s retreat with literal centuries of baggage—some of it mine. Turns out I’m a woman with lifetimes of magic that I knew nothing about. Now, I’m a Valkyrie. Did I mention, my father turned out to be immortal and my best friend is now my boyfriend? Oh, Diego’s a dragon, too. And said Norse god? Tyr’s my boyfriend too. All of that is plenty of crazy for any one person. It doesn’t stop there for me—my mother has tried to kill me twice now, and is allied with my enemies. And Loki—the one god’s blood I crave to give me vengeance—might be the one who has the answers I need to give me peace. On the rollercoaster that is my current life, I’m faced with one turn after another, and a couple of loopty-loops, of magic and possibility. Power that could bring more of my past back from the grave, and in doing so rekindle smoldering embers that were snuffed before they became more, hundreds of years ago. The big question is—what will I have to sacrifice to see him again? Valkyrie Freed is book 3 of Astrid's slow-build, #Whychoose story within the Valkyries Rising series consisting of Valkyrie Lost, Valkyrie Renewed, and Valkyrie Freed. Valkyrie Freed MUST be read after the events of Valkyrie Renewed and Valkyrie Unchained. Valkyries Rising is a #WhyChoose series where the heroine doesn’t have to pick just one mate. In these pages you’ll find strong heroines who don’t back down, and the shifters, gods, dragons, and other supernatural immortals who love them and fight by their sides. --- Valkyries Rising Valkyrie Destined (#1) Valkyrie Lost (#2) Valkyrie Renewed (#3) Valkyrie Restored (#4) Valkyrie Confused (#5) Valkyrie Condemned (#6) Valkyrie Unchained (#7) Valkyrie Freed (#8) Valkyrie Shattered (#9) Valkyrie's Legacy Heart in the Sand (#0.5) Valkyrie Reborn (#1) Valkyrie Hunted (#2) Valkyrie Concealed (#3) Valkyrie Crowned (#4) NEON Subversion (#1) Corruption (#2) Sabotage (#3) Annihilation (#4) Exploitation (#5) Decimation (#6)




Tolkien the Medievalist


Book Description

Interdisciplinary in approach, Tolkien the Medievalist provides a fresh perspective on J. R. R. Tolkien's Medievalism. In fifteen essays, eminent scholars and new voices explore how Professor Tolkien responded to a modern age of crisis - historical, academic and personal - by adapting his scholarship on medieval literature to his own personal voice. The four sections reveal the author influenced by his profession, religious faith and important issues of the time; by his relationships with other medievalists; by the medieval sources that he read and taught, and by his own medieval mythologizing.




Beowulf


Book Description

The Old English epic poem Beowulf has an established reputation as a canonical text. And yet the original poem has remained inaccessible to all but experienced scholars of Old English. This book aims to present the poem to readers who want to know what makes it such a remarkable work of art, and why it is of such cultural significance. Most readers will only have encountered Beowulf through one of its many translations or adaptations; others have had to take on this unique survivor from a past era as a challenging translation exercise, part of their academic study of the poem. This book sidesteps scholarly debates about the poem's unknowns – its date, provenance or author – and focusses instead on its poetic artistry, its interleaving of heroic pasts and Christian present, and its poet's extraordinary breadth of reference, from biblical history to Old Norse myth. But the strange intricacies of Old English metre and poetic language are explained, and the poet's evocation of the ethics and material world of an imagined pre-Viking Scandinavia is explored. Beowulf: Poem, Poet and Hero follows the story of the poem through its many interwoven voices from different times and places, and the poem emerges as a work of reflective beauty, its human characters full of touching pathos and wisdom, its notorious monsters still speaking to our own societies' abiding insecurities. The final section, on post-medieval responses to Beowulf, shows how the poem has been taken up as a European cultural icon. This book restores its status as a literary masterpiece.