When the Viking ship built itself using magic, I was a bit vague with the terms. I didn’t want to overload the story with technical stuff that would slow it down. However, I was a nautical archaeologist before I was a writer, and this was one of my favorite parts. Vikings were some of the greatest sea-farers in history. Their ships were open vessels featuring lapstrake construction—meaning that the side planks overlapped each other. They were beautiful, amazing ships—but they were basically giant, open rowboats. There was no interior cabin where a Viking sailor could go to sleep or get out of the weather—and they sailed these boats across the North Atlantic! That blows my mind every time I think about it.
The Norse realm that Bree enters is based on mythology, which for the Vikings was an oral history recorded by poets during the Viking age. The most famous of these was Snorri Sturluson, who I believe I’ve mentioned in other books. He lived in Iceland in the 12th and 13th centuries AD and recorded much of their history. I borrowed a bit from mythology and history and also put my own spin on it.
Yggdrasil is indeed called the World Tree and the nine realms of the Norse gods are held within the tree’s roots and branches. There’s a bit of scholarly disagreement about which of the realms were truly part of the nine. Muspell, the land of the Fire Giants, may or may not have been officially included—but I liked it so much that I made it a realm for Bree to explore. The Valkyrie did not have their own realm—they are most commonly associated with living at Valhalla in Asgard—but I gave them their own realm because I thought they deserved it.
The Valkyrie have an interesting history in how they have been depicted throughout time. Depending upon which source you read, they are fierce warriors or lovely maidens who served mead in Valhalla, waiting upon the deceased warriors who partied the night away as they waited for Ragnarok, the end of the world and the greatest battle of all time. You may have an inkling of what version I prefer— the fierce warrior version! Those dudes can get their own mead.
The Valkyrie’s most famous job was to choose the worthy from the slain and lead them to Valhalla, Odin’s amazing hall where the warriors would drink mead with Odin and wait for Ragnarok. One of the oldest versions of this story was particularly fascinating. It comes from the Darraearljóe, a poem contained within Njal’s Saga, which was written in Iceland in the 13th century AD. It regards events that occurred between 960 and 1020 AD (most sagas were written in Iceland, a Viking colony).
The saga tells of the Valkyrie taking an active role in choosing those who would die and go to Valhalla. They did not roam the fields after the battle was over, choosing from the already slain. Instead, they selected the most powerful and worthy fighters before the battle ever started. They then used magic and whatever means they had at their disposal to insure that those men died on the battlefield and could be taken to Valhalla, where they would train and celebrate until Ragnarok arrived. Specifically, the Darraearljóe poem tells of 12 Valkyrie weaving on grisly looms prior to the Battle of Clontarf (Ireland, April 23rd, 1014 AD). The looms used intestines for threads and severed heads for loom weights. Swords and arrows acted as beaters, the part of the loom that pushes the weaving firmly into place. I’m not saying that the Valkyrie in my story did this (it’s a bit too grisly), but they are warriors in their own right. And the men served themselves mead :-).
The three fates who Bree encountered at the world tree are based on the Norns, popular figures from Norse mythology. Their names and the meanings of their names were derived from historical sources. The well that they consulted for Bree is called the Well of Urd and it sits beneath Yggdrasil. In some sources, the Norns are said to live within the well, but I gave them a longhouse, the traditional dwelling of the Vikings.
The Fire Giants and dark elves are part of Norse mythology, as is Ratatoskr, the giant gossipy squirrel. Ratatoskr is one of my favorite mythological figures and was possibly the most fun character I’ve ever written. He is said to carry slanderous gossip between the serpent at the bottom of the tree, named Níeh?ggr, and the eagle at the top. The eagle is nameless, but a hawk named Veerf?lnir sits on the eagle’s head, between his eyes. I omitted the hawk for clarity’s sake. Ratatoskr delights in his job of provoking the eagle and the serpent, so you can see why he would be horrified if they suddenly became friends.
Back at the Protectorate castle, Florian used a selection of insults to refer to Potts, the day librarian. They are real historic insults. Initially, I asked my Facebook group, the FireSouls (we’d love you to join!), to vote on their favorite insult. Saddle-goose won, but they were all so good that I had to include them. Since they are fun, here are some definitions. A saddle-goose is someone who is stupid enough to try to saddle a goose, which is a fundamentally useless endeavor since you can’t ride a goose. Though this term was most popular in the 19th century, it could be as old as the 14th. Scobberlotcher means someone who doesn’t work hard, and is likely derived from scopperloit, the old English word for vacation. Lubberwort is a 16th century word for a plant that was thought to cause stupidity or sluggishness, and it was eventually used to refer to people. Finally, a fopdoodle is a foolish person.
Now, onto the Phoenicians and Kart-hadasht. The Phoenicians were a seafaring culture that sailed the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC. They originated in the area that now contains Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Israel, and part of Turkey, but they spread their settlements and culture as far as the western Mediterranean. Carthage, in Tunisia, was their most notable colony. I chose the Phoenicians for a number of reasons, one of which was that I’ve been fond of them since excavating a Phoenician shipwreck near Cartagena, Spain.
Some of the most interesting things that we found on the site (which was 70 feet underwater near the reef that destroyed the ship) were elephant tusks carved with Phoenician writing. I don’t approve of elephant hunting or ivory collecting, but these were thousands of years old and therefor outside of the modern day ivory trade (which is terrible). There were no elephants in Pursuit of Magic, but Bree did encounter some minotaur-like monsters that had tusks carved with writing. They were inspired by the shipwreck, which is called the Bajo de la Campana wreck if you’d like to give it a google and learn more. The photos are amazing.
Kart-hadasht is the original name of Carthage, but in Pursuit of Magic, it is an invented Phoenician city on the coast of Tunisia. Normally, I like to use real archaeological sites in my books, but the Phoenicians did such a fabulous job of choosing sites for their cities that people never left, even after thousands of years. Therefor, the ancient Phoenician ruins at places like Carthage, Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon are in pretty rough shape. Thousands of years will do that to a city.