Jomsviking

Amon Amarth are a Swedish metal band. For them songs of Vikings are literally songs about their ancestors. This is comparable to an American writing about the Vietnam War, or about Prohibition, or about The Slave Trade; these are the stories who mold us into who we are. In a world where anything that happened more than 80 years ago is dismissed by academia as irrelevant, Amon Amarth brings their culture to life in an exciting way that today's audience - who tires of textbooks - can appreciate.

In one way, this is the story of an adolescent coming of age. We are all alone in our own way, and we all eventually come face to face with our past. How we deal with that determines the adult we become. Yet there are thousands of coming-of-age stories, so why this one?

Because in addition to a mere coming of age story, this is a celebration of the winners who did not get to write their own history.

Which is more plausible? That the Norsemen were bloodthirsty savages? Or that the Christian monks who wrote the history were intolerant and offensive and found themselves facing overwhelming retaliation by the hordes they antagonized (an ancient FAFO scenario)? The English and Irish monks writing the history certainly weren't going to paint themselves in a poor light. The more you build up the victor, the less humiliating your defeat.

In addition, these monks were the bureaucrats of their time. They were likely as lazy as any government employee throughout history. They had deadlines and they had bosses - Abbotts - to please, who in turn had zero interest in an accurate portrayal. There was much more donation money to be made in cloaking themselves in victimhood. Make no mistake, this was a Holy War.

These monks were the most educated Europeans of their era, but they had little or no understanding of Kennings. If that word is unfamiliar, it's a Norse literary device (one more aspect of their culture which has been largely ignored). Referring to blood as "battle sweat" or the sea as "the whale road" are two of the most common kennings. As the Norse intermarried with the Brits, Irish and Scots, the English language adopted kennings as well - but we just call them figures of speech (have you ever seen it rain actual cats and dogs?). Despite this, the monks of old often took those phrases literally - it was convenient. But which is more likely - that "blood eagle" was a misinterpreted Kenning, or that these Norseman - whose goal was plunder and whose method was speed - would take the time to crack someone's sternum and then pull their ribcages apart so it spread out of the man's back like an eagle's wings? Kennings are just one instance of the culture which has been ignored for the past millennia, and as such I have sprinkled a few of them into the story. If you look closely, you will notice Odin, in the form of the one-eyed raven, looking after our chosen one, as well.

While Amon Amarth provided the story, a novelization provides me the opportunity to show multiple facets of the Norse. I portray them as fearsome warriors, yes, but also as craftsmen, traders, and most of all God-fearing humans.

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