For this week's #HistFicThursdays blog, I'm delighted to be welcoming J R Tomlin to the blog with a guest post about her latest book On a Sword's Edge , as part of her Coffee Pot Book Club tour. In her guest post, she discusses a topic very close to home for Crowvus HQ(!): the impact of the Norse on Scotland. But first, let's meet the book... Blurb Scotland. 1263. The scent of rain mingles with the smoke of campfires as word spreads: the Norse are coming… As tempers rise between King Alexander and the Norse King Haakon, at the center of it all is sixteen-year-old William Douglas, a squire in service to Sir John Stewart, Lord High Steward of Scotland. When Haakon's fearsome fleet is espied approaching Scotland's shores, carrying the greatest invasion force the Norse have ever mustered, the dread of battle settles over the land. Summoned to Ayr Castle, William joins the Scottish forces in a desperate defense. Now tasked with serving his newly knighted brothe...
Video courtesy of Tempest Wright
There are no stories which stick with you more than those from childhood. My childhood was full of stories: myths and legends abounded and tales of Finn Folk, or medieval battles fought with a stone in a sock (I know, I know, it wasn't quite like that, but this was the bit which stuck with me as a child!), were always on hand in the landscape. It was exciting to drive past the locations of Summerdale at the back of the house we used to live in, or to see Eynhallow which Thorodale made visible when he defeated the Finn Folk. But it was still somehow distant and difficult to relate back to those warriors and characters of days gone by.
But imagine, as a child, seeing a message left by someone eight hundred years ago - of blizzards and crusaders. Or better still: a picture they left behind...
Cue: The Maeshowe Dragon
Stenness, where I spent my early childhood, is seeped in history. It has standing stones and henges which date back into the third millennia BC, and ancient mounds and settlements which remain an enigma today. Tantalising, but difficult to connect with.
Then - after many other inhabitants on the islands - came the Vikings. Invaders, plunderers, and then settlers, the legacy of the Norse race on Orkney is incredible, not least because of the written accounts they left. And this was something I could relate to. Here was that man who scrawled obscenities onto stones, the gangs who egged each other on to enter dark caverns on a dare, the boastful comments about being the tallest or reaching furthest to carve their names... Not a lot has changed in the world of graffiti!
And, in amongst all that, was a picture of a creature. A dragon, perhaps? A dog? A hare? A griffon? Who knows, for there is nothing in the carvings which explains why he is there.
This little beast has been a mystery for me since those early days so, when the Historical Writers Forum decided to put together an anthology based on artwork, it had to be about him. We know from the sagas that it was Jarl Harald and his men who broke into Maeshowe during a blizzard, and he was quite a character - but, to find out about him, you'll have to wait until next week.
So, please check out this homage to my childhood mystery. Proof of the Old Faith is the second story in Masterworks, and is inspired by the carving of the Maeshowe Dragon. It is written with a great deal of love and affection for my old home.
And, as always, please leave a review to let me know what you thought!
You can get Masterworks on #KindleUnlimited here!
Strolling through an art gallery gives art appreciators a glimpse at the heart of creativity artists from across time and distance have poured onto canvas, into clay, through wood, metal, and stone. Art inspires us and helps us connect with emotions and ideas. But have you ever wondered what inspired the artists themselves? Perhaps it was a loved one, a moment of suffering or despair, a celebration, or a victory. Have you ever wondered what stories these works tell?
We asked the authors of the Historical Writers Forum these questions, to imagine what stories might be revealed in the history of famous works of art. Through their short stories, you will be transported back in time to the magnificence of works of art from ancient Mesopotamia to nineteenth century America, exploring the people, events, and emotions that may have inspired incredible works of art.
This anthology from Historical Writers Forum includes the following short stories:
A Našû for Ilu
Stephanie Churchill
Proof of the Old Faith
Virginia Crow
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Kathleen Guler
Blood on White Mountain
Eleanor Swift-Hook
The Lacemaker’s Son
Melissa Speed
The Portrait
Lars D.H. Hedbor
The Ambassadress
Ronan Beckman
A Good and Proper Lunacy
Tempest Wright
Portrait of a Lady
Joanne Major
The Watcher on the Wall
Gareth Williams
Legacy
Samantha Wilcoxson
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