Thorfinn Einarsson Skull-splitter: Jarl of Orkney and Caithness.
Thorfinn the Stern: A friend of Thorolf Skallagrimsson.
Thorgeir Thornfoot: Father of Berg-Önund.
Thorgerd Brak: An Icelandic serving woman, foster mother of Egil, killed by Skallagrim.
Thorgerd Egilsdottir: Daughter of Egil Skallagrimsson and Aasgerd, wife of Olaf the Peacock.
Thorgerd Shrine-bride: A goddess or valkyrie, not told of in the Edda but one to whom Haakon Jarl had a special devotion.
Thorir Hroaldsson: Hersir in Sygnafylki, foster son of Skallagrim, foster father of Eirik Blood-ax.
Thorir Rögnvaldsson: Brother of Kraka.
Thorleif the Wise: A Thraandish chieftain, counselor to King Haakon Aethelstan’s-foster.
Thorolf Kveldulfsson: A son of Kveldulf, slain by King Harald Fairhair.
Thorolf Louse-beard: Foster father and faithful companion of Aastrid. Thorolf Skallagrimsson: Icelander, older brother of Egil.
Thorstein (no other name given): A Norseman who became a friend of Egil in Norway.
Thorstein Egilsson: Third son of Egil and Aasgerd.
Thorstein Özurarson: Son of Özur Dapplebeard and Helga.
Thorunn Skallagrimsdottir: Sister of Thorolf and Egil.
Thorvald the Hothead: A friend of Thorolf Skallagrimsson.
Tryggvi Olafsson: Son of King Olaf of Vingulmörk.
Turf-Einar: See Einar Rögnvaldsson.
Ulf Bjalfason: See Kveldulf.
Unn Mördardottir: Hrut Herjolfsson’s betrothed in Iceland, then for a while his wife.
Vanir: The gods of the sea and of fertility, notably Njörd, Frey, and Freyja. Vemund: Leader of a revolt against Sigurd Loudmouth.
Vuokko: A Finnish shaman, brother of Seija.
Wulfstan: Archbishop of York.
Yngvar: A man of Özur Dapplebeard’s.
Geographical Glossary
Aalrekstad: A royal estate, near present-day Bergen.
Agdir: Southwestern coastland of Norway.
Aldeigjuborg: Norse town on Lake Ladoga; Staraya Ladoga.
Bjarmaland: Region south of the White Sea and along the Dvina.
Bleking: Danish shire east of Skaaney, now Swedish.
Boknafjord: In southwest Norway; present-day Stavanger is on its south side.
Borg: Icelandic home of Skallagrim and, later, Egil.
Borgarfjord: In western Iceland, north of Reykjavik.
Brunanburh: Battlefield in England, 937; perhaps in Dumfriesshire.
Byfjord: The inlet at the head of which now stands Bergen.
Caithness: The extreme northeast of the Scottish mainland.
Cumbria: English earldom occupying, approximately, present-day Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire.
Danelaw: Region of eastern England occupied by Danes but eventually brought under English rule.
Eidskog: A wilderness along the southern border of Norway and Svithjod.
Eidsvold: Thingstead about forty miles north of modern Oslo.
Finnmörk: Approximately, Lapland, but more vaguely defined.
Fitjar: A royal estate on Stord.
Frosta: Thingstead on the Thraandheimsfjord.
Fyn: Second largest of the Danish islands.
Gardariki: Norse name for western Russia.
Gaula: A Thingstead in Sygnafylki.
Gothland: Tributary shires in southern Svithjod. Gula: Thingstead near the mouth of the Sognefjord.
Haalogaland: Northernmost shire of Norway.
Haals: A hamlet on the Limfjord, east coast of Jutland.
Hadaland: A shire north of Hringariki.
Haddingjadalar: A shire in south central Norway.
Hafrsfjord: In southern Norway just south of the Boknafjord; battlefield, date uncertain.
Halland: A Danish shire in what is now southern Sweden, on the Kattegat just south of Hising.
Haugar: A royal estate across the strait from Kormt.
Hedeby: A market town in Schleswig, then Danish.
Heidmörk: An Upland shire.
Hising: The southernmost Norse shire along the east side of the Kattegat, just south of Ranriki; now Swedish.
Hladi: On the Thraandheimsfjord, the main seat of the Thraandish jarls; today Lade, a district of Trondheim.
Holmgard: Novgorod.
Hördafylki: A shire in southwestern Norway.
Hringariki: A shire north of the Oslofjord.
Jämtland: A Swedish district on the Norwegian border opposite the Thraandlaw.
Karelia: Region between modern Finland and the White Sea.
Keel: The mountain range between much of Norway and Sweden.
King’s Crag: Konungahelle, a town at the southern end of Ranriki.
Körmt: An island off the Boknafjord, site of a royal estate.
Leirvik: A town on Stord (modern name; its tenth-century existence is conjectural).
Lidandisness: The southernmost tip of Norway on the west side of the Kattegat bight.
Mainland: Largest of the Orkney Islands.
Miklagard: Norse name of Constantinople (“great town” or “great estate”).
Mostr: An island on the west coast of Norway.
Murkle: A farmstead in Caithness.
Naumdoelafylki: Shire between the Thraandlaw and Haalogaland.
Nid: A river emptying into the Thraandheimsfjord. Present-day Trondheim is at its mouth.
North Moerr: Shire along coast on either side of the Thraandheimsfjord; often spoken of as one with South Moerr.
North Northumbria: English earldom occupying approximately modern Northumberland and Durham.
Öglo: A farmstead in the Stjordoelafylki.
Oprostadir: Home of Aastrid’s father, probably in Hördafylki.
Ranriki: Norse shire along eastern side of the Kattegat, south of Vingulmörk; it is now Swedish.
Rastarkaalf: Battlefield on the coast of North Moerr.
Raumsdalr: Shire between North and South Moerr.
Rogaland: Shire in southwestern Norway.
Romaborg: Norse name of Rome.
Saeheim: 1. A settlement and royal estate on the west coast, north of present-day Bergen.
2. A hamlet a short way north of Tunsberg.
Saltfjord: In the area of modern Bodø. Site of Ulfgard.
Saxland: Norse name of northern Germany.
Serkland: Norse name for eastern North Africa and part of Asia Minor.
Sjaelland: Largest of the Danish islands.
Skaaney: Modern English Scania, a Danish shire at the southern end of what is now Sweden.
Shapinsay: Island north of Mainland in Orkney.
Sogn: Area along the northern shore of the Sognefjord, forming one shire with Sygnafylki.
Sognefjord: Great fjord on the central Norwegian coast.
Sölvi: A royal homestead near the mouth of the Thraandheimsfjord.
South Moerr: Shire between Raumsdalr and Sogn; often spoken of as one with North Moerr.
South Northumbria: See York.
Stad: A point of land at the southern end of South Moerr, a little north of the Nordfjord.
Stainmore: Hamlet near the eastern border of Cumbria; battlefield, 954.
Stjordoelafylki: A shire of the Thraandlaw, reaching east from the southern side of the Thraandheimsfjord.
Stord: A large island at the mouth of the Hardangerfjord.
Streamfjord: In the area of modern Tromsø
Svithjod: The kingdom of the Swedes, extending north from the Norse and Danish shires, with the Goths along those borders being tributary to the Swedish king.
Sygnafylki: Area along the southern shore of the Sognefjord, forming one shire with Sogn.
Thraandheim: The shires around the Thraandheimsfjord, extending east to Jamtland.
Thraandheimsfjord: Now called Trondheimsfjord.
Thraandlaw: The Thraandheim shires, whose dwellers had their own law and thought of themselves as a distinct people.
Tunsberg: A town on the
west side of the Oslofjord.
Ulfgard: Home of Özur Dapplebeard, in Haalogaland on the Saltfjord.
Uplands: The mountainous central part of Norway, encompassing several shires.
Värmland: Same as present district in Sweden.
Västergötland: Same as present district in Sweden.
Vestfold: Shire on the west side of the Oslofjord.
Vikin: The area around the Oslofjord and the shires facing Denmark.
Vingulmörk: Shire on the east side of the Oslofjord.
Vörs: A Thingstead in Hördafylki.
Wendland: Norse name for the Baltic shorelands of present-day Prussia, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.
Wide Firth: Between Mainland and Shapinsay.
York: City in England; also the Danish kingdom occupying approximately modern North Yorkshire, later made an English earldom; sometimes called South Northumbria.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Poul Anderson (1926–2001) grew up bilingual in a Danish American family. After discovering science fiction fandom and earning a physics degree at the University of Minnesota, he found writing science fiction more satisfactory. Admired for his “hard” science fiction, mysteries, historical novels, and “fantasy with rivets,” he also excelled in humor. He was the guest of honor at the 1959 World Science Fiction Convention and at many similar events, including the 1998 Contact Japan 3 and the 1999 Strannik Conference in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In addition to the Hugo and Nebula Awards, he has received the Gandalf, Seiun, and Strannik, or “Wanderer,” Awards. A founder of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, he became a Grand Master, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
In 1952 he met Karen Kruse; they married in Berkeley, California, where their daughter, Astrid, was born, and they later lived in Orinda, California. Astrid and her husband, science fiction author Greg Bear, now live with their family outside Seattle.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2001 by the Trigonier Trust
Cover design by Ian Koviak
ISBN: 978-1-5040-6397-5
This edition published in 2020 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
180 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
www.openroadmedia.com
Mother of Kings Page 63