Shadow of the Werewolf
Page 16
The two Irishmen staggered through the black smoke towards the docks, where several fishing boats lie moored. As the three climbed into the nearest boat, Faolan grabbed the oars, while Cathal sat at the aft of the boat, cradling his arm.
“Are you going to be alright?” asked Faolan as he started to row out to sea. He seemed to be following the coastline to the mainland.
With an exasperated smile, Cathal nodded his head. “I'll be okay. I can't believe that you of all people made it through that madness. I thought you were dead.”
As he rowed, Faolan engendered a thoughtful look, but said nothing.
“I must say, when I first arrived at the logging camp, I thought you were the werewolf,” admitted Cathal.
“Really? Why do you say that?” asked Faolan.
Cathal slowly exhaled. “A couple of reasons. One, it didn't make sense that the werewolves would kill their own kind. Why would Domyan kill Slavs instead of the other migrants or Norsemen? The other reason is that your name, Faolan, means little wolf in Gaelic.”
Faolan let out a warm chuckle. “I know. When I was a boy, my mother would call me little wolf, and I would run around and howl at the moon.” The Irishman then grew more serious. “Why would Domyan kill his own kind?” he asked.
Slowly shaking his head, Cathal said, “I can only speculate, but I believe the werewolf hates the human part of himself, as it hates all of humanity. I don't know if Domyan hated himself to begin with, or if the beast within him twisted his perceptions, but when he changed into the werewolf, he simply lashed out and harmed those closest to him.” Cathal then barked out a laugh. “I simply can't believe that you of all people made it through that madness,” he repeated.
Faolan continued to row in silence for a few moments. Then, canting his head to the side, he asked, “Do you remember when, after you killed Mirko, you asked me if I was bitten?”
“Yes. Why?”
Faolan looked straight at him, the moonlight glinting off his amber eyes. “Well, I might have lied,” he said, with a wolfish grin.
The End.
After/words
History / Characters / Ending
The History
The first mythological reference of a man turning into a wolf was written in 1550 BC. King Lycaon of Arcadia tried to trick Zeus, father of the Greek gods. Zeus, furious at the attempt to deceive him, turned Lycaon into a wolf. This is where the term lycanthropy comes from.
The idea for Shadow of the Werewolf came from reading the Völsunga saga – an Icelandic saga written in the 13th century. In one part of the story, two men by the name of Sigmund and Sinfjotli broke into a house where they found a couple of magical wolf skins. When they wore the skins, they were transformed into wolves.
In researching the different cultures and mythologies for this book, I was very surprised to find that most of the different mythologies I studied had their own narrative on werewolf lore, whether they be Celtic, Greek, Norse, Turkish, or Slavic. Those comparative mythologies became central to the story of Shadow of the Werewolf.
The frothing disease was, of course, rabies. Incubation time for the disease is generally one to three months. However, to heighten the tension of this story, I had this particular strain affect its victims more quickly. Rabies was documented over 4000 years ago in the Codex of Eshnunna, a Mesopotamian text from 1930 BC.
The town of Birka was an actual settlement during the Viking Age. The town was located on the island of Björkö, which is eighteen miles west of Stockholm, Sweden. In the book, I made the island of Björkö larger, in order to accommodate so many wolves. Shadow of the Werewolf takes place in 950AD, roughly the same year the historical town of Birka was abandoned.
The Characters
The protagonist for Shadow of the Werewolf needed to be someone who understood the history and mythology of different cultures, which is something the average Norseman simply didn't concern himself with. The main character needed to be an outsider – a studious man who could connect the similarities between different histories and mythologies. That's when I came up with the concept of the druids investigating different curiosities across the known world.
While the druids were mentioned a few times by Greek and Roman scholars, including Julius Caesar himself, very little is known about them. The druids maintained all of their history, mythology, laws and poetry in an oral tradition; they simply didn't keep any of it written down. This became another plot point for Shadow of the Werewolf, as Cathal is studying to become a full druid, which takes twenty years to learn the oral traditions. In the meantime, the council of druids sent him on various missions to prove his worth.
For the antagonist(s) of the story, I wanted to approach those characters as an antithesis of the main character – instead of studious and contemplative, I wanted Domyan and Mirko to be close-minded, suspicious, and have total faith in the old, blasphemous gods. In addition, Domyan had a manic-depressive personality; sometimes he was friendly, but most of the time he was not. This dual nature reflected his human/beast dichotomy. On the other hand, Danika was a victim of her curse. She asked Cathal about exorcism, only for the clueless druid to misunderstand the importance of her question. Danika was torn between the loyalty for her brother, and her love for Cathal.
The Ending
The ultimate goal of Shadow of the Werewolf, was to study the psychological contention between man vs. myth, man vs. nature, and man vs. himself.
The story also has an ecological theme. I wanted to impress upon the reader that taking from nature has consequences. This is represented by the industry of Birka – the loggers, the herders, the fishermen and the miners are all taking from the land without care to sustainability. What they don't realize is that nature eventually strikes back, often with deadly results.
While two of the three main antagonists died by the end of the story, I wanted Danika to represent a different facet of the werewolf curse – that of an unwilling and sympathetic character. While Domyan and Mirko embraced their wolfish nature, it was apparent that Danika was at odds with her condition, illustrated by her wearing a blond wig. She wanted to be something that she was not; normal. And while she couldn't bring herself to oppose her brother, she used her power over the wolves to protect Cathal during the final wolf attack. But in the end, she knew that because of her nature, she could never be loved, and so she walks back into the forest, alone. This is where the title, Shadow of the Werewolf, comes from – despite Danika's nature, Cathal is still in love with her. And while he can never be with her, his heart will be forever under her shadow.
The final scene of the story is a classic standoff. Faolan reveals that he is a werewolf, but it is unknown if he can change at will, or if the change comes upon him involuntarily. If he changes into a werewolf and bites Cathal, he will die from wolfsbane poisoning, but as a werewolf, would he even have the rationality to stop himself from such an action? It is also unknown if Cathal himself is a werewolf, or if the wolfsbane protected him from the contagion. I think leaving the story on such a precipitous cliffhanger, pays homage to the nihilistic nature of many classic horror novels, such as those written by H.P. Lovecraft.
The V for Viking Saga
I hope you enjoyed my tale of werewolves, druids, and dark gods. If you would like to read more about the Viking Age, I happen to have a series of books on the very subject. The 'V for Viking' Saga is a series of character-driven stories that focus on Viking society and personal struggles. Each book is a complete stand-alone novel that uses the same supporting characters and locations. However, the books are also written in chronological order, for those who want to experience the full five-book saga.
If you're in the mood for more psychological/wolfish horror, I highly recommend Vision of the Viking. It's the story of a Norse seeress who struggles with her own encroaching madness.
The 'V for Viking' Saga:
SC=Supporting Characters
Book 1 - Vengeance of the Viking
- The story of a hun
ter and his pet bear.
- SC: Chubbers the bear (30-300 pounds), Viggo, Gunnar
Book 2 - Valor of the Viking
- A skald (Viking musician) joins the criminal underground.
- SC: Chubbers (300 pounds), Torleif, Modoc, Viggo
Book 3 - Valley of the Viking
- Germanic barbarians lay siege to a Viking settlement.
- SC: Chubbers (400 pounds), Torleif, Modoc, Viggo, Randulf
V for Viking Trilogy - an omnibus of the first three Viking books.
Second story arc – new main character:
Book 1 - Vision of the Viking
- A Viking seeress must deal with the aftermath of a devastating siege, while struggling with her own encroaching madness.
- SC: Chubbers the bear (600 pounds), Brenna, Torleif, Viggo, Buma
Book 2 - Vendetta of the Viking
- Two malevolent charlatans overthrow a Viking settlement.
- SC: Chubbers (700 pounds), Brenna, Torleif, Dagny, Randulf, Viggo
The Vision Duality – an omnibus of 'Vision of the Viking' and 'Vendetta of the Viking'.
And lastly, I have one small request. If you enjoyed this book, I would be very grateful if you could take a moment and leave a review on Amazon, even if it's only a few words.
If you would like to send the author an email, he can be reached at:
MagnusHansen300@gmail.com
Author's website:
https://AuthorMagnusHansen.wordpress.com/