Leif

(Note he has red hair in the books!)

“You would of course perceive the additional significance of the tree from Saxon lore, the tree representing Wotan.  Just because we are Vikings and follow Christ... or the other Norse gods, does not mean that we won’t look for a little helping hand from other deities.”

Background

Leif is rather different to the other characters, being almost as un-Viking as Gorran, of course Viking society is stereotyped by the big, burly chaps with a very large axe and a grudge against the world, but then who were the brains behind all this brawn?

The Norse were gifted with the ability to be highly adaptable and pragmatic, and it is this element of their psyche which Leif represents. He is a learned man, with a different upbringing to his younger brother Thorvald. Thorvald spent his youth raiding in the best Viking tradition, Leif spent time with other Jarls and Chieftains, and even some kings as part of his training as heir to Erik.

It was in these foreign courts that Leif picked up most of his knowledge and character, and developed his interest in books and reading. Unfortunately for Erik Leif has shown far more interest in the theories of leadership rather than their execution, which has disrupted Erik's plans for his heir. Since the discovery of Vinland however, the adventurer in the blood of Erik’s progeny has awoken, and the book is as much about the maturing of a famous leader as it is about the discovery of a new world.

Random Ramblings : Inspiration

Sometimes inspiration can come from the strangest places, and it can happen anytime, anywhere.

For some writers, they need a muse, a person who reveals some insight or other into life’s little ironies, and this is then how they develop the storyline of their book. For others it comes from situations they encounter or strangers they happen to meet. In any case, you can tell a true writer because they carry a little notebook with them always, to jot these little things down. Collect enough of them, and of enough interest and you have the makings of a novel. The author of James Bond, Ian Fleming has some well known note books, and on the last page of the last one were the simple words “Quantum of Solace” with no description or thoughts to go with it. This clearly attracted the attention of the current Bond-film writer as it lent itself to the name of the last film released.

Progress Report : 20th May

Well this week has been exceptionally busy, so I apologise for the lack of new content over the past few days. I promise it has been worth it however! Over the weekend we had some visitors from Belfast, and it was a real pleasure introducing them to the pubs and places in London.

However this meant that my work had to be relegated to the evenings, this led to 5 days of living on about 5 hours sleep a night. Those who know me, will realise that this was a serious sacrifice, I am very protective of my usual 10 hours (I joke of course...)

But what did all this lead to I hear you cry?! Well looking over my words written log, I have tallied a meagre 1500 words for this week so it can’t be that, obviously it wasn’t working on this blog either, so what then?

Iva

Iva cast her own eyes over the crew as the ship lined up with the jetty, and slowly edged in. Finally they rested on the fire red hair of the man at the steering oar. His face looked older, more mature, though he himself looked skinnier than she remembered. But then she realised that they all looked like that. His hair was long, but neatly tied, and he had several weeks of stubble on his chin, regardless Iva thought he looked majestic.

Background

Iva is one of the newest members of the cast, and the first major female character. Her father is the blacksmith of Hvalsey and a retired member of Erik’s war band. Her mother died while they still lived in Iceland so she can remember nothing of her. Her father is very much a man’s man, and he resents the fact that he was left with a daughter rather than a son. He often reminded her of this fact, and while she pretends to ignore it, the insults cut deep.

She began to wear men’s clothing when she came of age, this appears to have made her father forget her gender more often than not and as a result he tends to leave her in peace now. The other citizens in town have not ignored her odd sense of dress, and she is outcast by virtually everyone. Because of this she has become very secretive, much preferring her own company over that of others.

It should also be mentioned that she hides a childish crush on Leif Erikson, admiring the way in which he has become a success after eschewing virtually all normal macho Viking traits, with the exception of an over developed sense of adventure.  Whether this admiration survives the trials in her life, or if these feelings are even ever reciprocated remains to be seen.

Random Rambling : Research

 All my time at university has counted for something after all. I may not have ended up in political office, as a diplomat or the head of a major corporation as my initial aspirations had hoped, but I did learn about researching. Or more precisely, how to comb Wikipedia for good links to articles which are of interest. As such I have a whole document which lists all the things I’ve used as references (both for legal protection and for ease of finding in the future), plus one of my web pages is permanently open with the most useful articles outlining important things, for instance the two Saga’s which relate to the story, details on Erik and Viking Shipbuilding. My dissertation tutor would have been proud of its depth.

Not all research can be done online unfortunately, so I also maintain an impressive stack of books. Most of them are about the American Indians, I struggle far more with their culture than I do with the Vikings, but hopefully with the information gleaned I will be able to do them justice. A number of the books are children’s or war games orientated, mostly for the pictures. The graphics in those tend to highlight the important features of their society, from the fur cloaks worn by many Vikings, to the weapons and patterns of the Native Americans. 

Progress Report : 6th May 2011

It has been a slow week, with ups and downs. It turns out that bank holidays really mess up the schedules of those who work from home as well as our office inhabiting brethren. When everyone is out having a good time it gets very difficult to stay in churning away at the laptop.

The fault for this lies not only with external distractions but also technical issues. I would get sections of the story done only to backtrack realising what I had just put on paper was trash. One part in particular has been causing some real headaches; this was a section in which one of the characters enters Erik’s great hall incognito. It turns out that writing about a character while hiding everything about them (their name, physique and gender) is pretty much impossible. My objective is to create something of a “who dunnit” in the story.

Thorvald

“These ships are built to take the wrath of storms, have we Vikings not built a legend on them? See how the planks beneath us flex like the muscles of Thor? They are built of the same stuff, as hard and enduring as he is.” 

Background

Thorvald has gone through a number of renditions during the process of creating him as a character. He is the middle son of Erik, a year younger than Leif. While Leif might not be all that typical a Viking, being happier with his nose buried in books while trying to learn Latin, Thorvald is most at home at the prow of a Viking long-ship heading into the jaws of danger. Early on, while writing him, he was rather unlikable due to being horrifically arrogant, but with subsequent re-writes that arrogance has mellowed into a ready confidence in his own abilities. This was one of the challenges of creating Thorvald, that although he is the younger brother of Leif, he often comes across as older. Hopefully, I have managed to reflect this in the story. Leif starts off quite innocent and naive but events in the book cause him to grow up and accept his role as Erik’s heir.

Thorvald has treated the discovery of Vinland as a great opportunity, not for wealth and prosperity like most of the others, but rather for the potential for glory. Part of the reason for the Viking success was their nose for adventure and Thorvald comes to epitomise this. He is forever on the lookout for opportunities to explore the world and leave his stamp on destiny.