Viking Books for Young Adults
This Guide on Vikings and Norse Mythology was created by Rebecca Wilson who has a real passion and interest in vikings. She tells us about the subject and gives us some fantastic recommendations on what to read. If you are interested in Vikings and Norse mythology this is the YA Fantasy Guide for you! If you want to read more about Vikings and Norse Mythology check out Rebecca's blog at: www.valkyriansanctum.blogspot.com
Rebecca has also written a great guide to her top three picks in the Viking genre. You can check that guide out here: The Top Three Viking Historical novels
Now to the fun of reading fiction in the subject of Vikings. In the past you would only ever read about Vikings in one of two sections, Non-fiction (being factual books on their culture and history) or Historical Fiction (where you read about a group of characters who are Vikings and gain an inspiring insight into their world). Now though there is a new side to books featuring Vikings and I proudly call it Norse Fantasy (where characters or tales of Norse Fantasy are refreshed and retold in a new way). And I being the lover of all things Vikingy that I am have proudly read from a wide range from both Viking Historical Fiction and Norse Fantasy. So to encourage young readers to see that there is a lot more to Vikings than stealing from monasteries and the cursed horned helmet (WHICH THEY NEVER EVER WORE! NO HISTORICAL EVIDENCE HAS BEEN FOUND TO SUPPORT IT!) I am going to give you my top recommendations from both sections that hopefully will catch your interest.
Her Recommendations for Top Norse Fantasy Books :
Read Rebecca's new review of Wolf Cry
• Runemarks by Joanne Harris (Age 15+)
The old world of the Norse Gods comes alive once more in this fantastic tale set in a different world where Ragnarok (the-end-of-all-things) has occurred but not in the destruction of the world, just the old religion being conquered and forgotten about by a new religion known simply as 'The Word'. Yet amongst the populace is young Maddie who has a most unusual mark on her hand, known as Ruinmark and because of that a lot of people think she is a witch. Yet through the very solitary style of her life she finds a friend in an old man who passes through the village and arouses her curiousity about Horse Hill, an ancient and superstitious site nearby. This is where the adventure begins and where the Old Gods come awake once more.
• Wolfsangel by M D Lachlan (Age 16+)
This is a very darker depiction of the world the Vikings believed they lived in where magic was possible, witches lived in troll mountains, dying in battle was an honour and where the prophecies really did foretell events of the future. This epic tale begins with one such prophecy where Viking King Authen must follow the prophecies of the Witches to gain an heir to his throne. Yet like all magical forces, nothing ever happens the way it's meant to. In a daring raid that sees the death of his best and loyal warriors, King Authen finds himself not just with one boy but with two and it is the choices made at that moment that sees the boys split apart, live very different and conflicting lives that will see families, friends and even nations split apart as the endless battle between Odin, the god who has an endless hunger for magic and his nemesis, Fenris the Wolf (who will ultimately swallow Odin whole at Ragnarok-The-End-of-All-Things. It is a great piece of Norse fantasy set in a quite realistic Viking world with a fantastic twist on the origins of the Werewolf.
• Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman (Age12+)
This is a fantastic introduction for quite young readers into the world of Vikings and Norse mythology. It's only a little book so makes for easy and quick reading. Begins with the character of Odd who sadly has a slightly crippled leg and so is unable to go on proper raids with his fellow Vikings. But one day when he is out chopping wood he comes across a fox, a raven and a bear who can talk to him! Turns out these three quite funny characters are actually Odin, Thor and Loki in animal form having been kicked out of Asgard by the Frost Giants. They seek Odd's help in reclaiming their home and so begins quite a magical adventure.
• How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (Age 12+)
How to Train Your Dragon Book 1
This book is absolutely hilarious, the characters all have silly names and you can't help but endear yourself to the character called Hiccup who happens to be the Chief's son but also the bullied kid at Training class and now he's got an even bigger worry on his mind - his new pet dragon Toothless who happens to be quite little snob and doesn't care much for following orders. This only makes poor Hiccups situation worse amongst his fellow young Vikings. Yet something big and nasty comes across the island home of these Vikings, in fact two big and nasty things. Two exceedingly big Sea Dragons! And so an incredibly hilarious adventure begins where Hiccup finds his bravery and Toothless discovers the meaning of friendship and loyalty. This book has actually been turned into a smashing 3D movie which does differ from the book but is equally funny and good so look out for it on DVD near Christmas time.
• The Last Vikings by Simon Grey (Age 12+)
This magical tale is set in York, formerly known as Jorvik during the Dark Ages when Vikings ruled the area. It involves the character of Peter who has recently moved to York with his Mum. Yet things become even stranger when one dark night he sees a parade of Vikings around a stone monument in a nearby churchyard. It is when his curiosity leads him to the old church that he bumps into a figure from the ancient past, a genuine Viking. Follow Peter as he discovers the magic of the streets of York, the underground kingdom and his many adventures with his new Viking friends as they fend off the evil troll army of the north who are determined to destroy their civilisation once and for all.
Learn more about The Last Vikings, or purchase copies by checking out the authors website here: The Last Vikings
About Rebecca and her quest to learn about all things vikingy
My name is Rebecca Wilson but I also go by a creative nickname valkyrie1008. It is a constant example of my growing passion for all things vikingy, their history, people, culture and mythology.
I first became interested in Vikings when I was a teenager during the 1990s and watched for the first time a documentary series titled 'Blood of the Vikings' presented by Julian Richards. Being born and bred in North Yorkshire, England, I already knew the basic stereotypical image of Vikings as invaders and rapists. But this series blew that nasty image away. It opened my eyes to how much the Vikings had impacted the world I lived in. Many features of now everyday modern life, such as place-names for example, wouldn't exist today if the Vikings hadn't invaded and settled and become a great piece of our cultural heritage and background.
The history of place-names returned to become my Sociolinguistic study project when I was studying English Studies with Creative Writing at Huddersfield University (2006-2009). It was great fun to do and learn as I can now proudly say that 59% of place-names in North Yorkshire are of Danish/Norse origin and the other is split between the already embedded Anglo-Saxon settlements and the later invaders of the French when William the Conqueror came to the throne. I did find it ironic in later life as the Normans, from Normandy are actually great ancestors of the Vikings as Normandy means 'Land of the northmen'. So either way you look at it 1066 didn't mark the true end of the Vikings, just a new era for a different type of Viking.
The history of place-names may well be completely behind my love of this demonised culture of people as I was born in their old capital of the Danelaw, Jorvik now known as York. So maybe it's in my blood, perhaps my great ancestors were invaders from the wild seas? I like to think so. That was another great thing I loved about the 'Blood of the Vikings' series as they really did investigate the DNA across the nation to see if they could still detect lineage of the northmen against that of local Anglo-Saxons and the French. The researchers of that series seemed more confident and certain with the results which did show more Norse DNA in the old Danelaw area as you might predict but for some reason a lot of modern geneticists are a lot more hesitant to try it out again. Something about how closely related the DNA of the invading Angles, from far earlier times around the Roman settlement period, was to that of their own ancestors who were the Vikings.
Yet there was something more fascinating to me than their history and culture, I was enchanted by their stories, their mythologies. The great heroic tales that made up their mythology, depicting their gods - the Aesir.
The Aesir could be compared to the Greek pantheon as both are a large group of divine beings and represented many aspects of humanity. Such as Freya and Venus representing Beauty and Love. But what I found fascinating about the Aesir is not just how great their stories are but also how flawed they are. After reading many mythical adventures as well as non-fiction books on this forgotten divinity I came to perceive them all as being quite essentially human but with the fortunate access to life prolonging fruit. They are as vulnerable as we are to a killing sword blow. They all represent not just the best of humanity but also the worst. Odin is never loyal to his wife and Queen consort Frigg and is always searching for ultimate knowledge; Freya covets beautiful things such as the fabled Brisingr necklace which she trades for using her own body. And even Thor sometimes can be too confident of his own strength for his own good to the point where he went and fought (albeit unknowingly) old age after a challenge from a giant.
To me the Viking people of Denmark, Norway and Sweden were quite honest about their own flaws and the unfairness of their lives and the sometimes cruel world they lived in. They superimposed this understanding into their gods, not making them perfectly good or perfectly evil and ensured that even the Gods were aware of their own end in the form of Ragnarok - the End of All Things.
However it wasn't the big and most well known characters of these deities that caught my imagination, such as Thor, Odin or even Loki, it was the little known about characters of the Valkyries. These were the Vikings answer to Angels - they chose the most worthy and honourable warriors who died in battle and then serve these 'glorious dead' at Odin's golden hall. Only one Valkyrie, next to Freya who was the original and leader of this female squadron, ever became part of a great story or saga and that was Hildr. She was cast out by Odin after falling in love with a mortal blacksmith named Sigurd. But that's another complex story for another time.
Valkyries intrigued me simply because there is such little recorded detail about them. I was left with many questions such as how does one become a Valkyrie? Is there a test? Does Freya or Odin choose? Is there training? Do you have to have a worthy soul like Odin's warriors? What else does a Valkyrie do when not collecting souls or serving in the golden hall? How do they collect souls?
Ultimately the possible answers came out as I wrote short stories. My first short story really began from nowhere in particular in my imagination. Just a scene of a first person narrator sat in a cafe, in York, hearing about a car crash occurring on the A64. That's when the whispers of these forgotten Valkyries as I like to think began to tell me their secret lives. For what seemed to be the voice of a possible modern day assassin became the mind of a modern day Valkyrie. This development transformed an even bigger question I had when learning so much about the Aesir - if the gods, divine beings and other spiritual creatures did exist, how would an old forgotten pantheon survive in a world where souls, the basic populace of any religion, were secular or squabbled over between Christianity and Islam?
That first short story featuring my modern day Valkyrie revealed a whole world of possibility in answer to that big question. I titled it 'The Old Ways Never Die' as it encapsulated the overall idea I was trying to get across to my reader. That if such a thing as God did exist then why not all the other Gods and Goddesses of Old and New religions and how there's more than life and death in this world - there is the separate and often unseen world of the afterlife.
I am pleased to say that not only did I get a very good mark when I completed it for final year course work during my degree but I also got quite high praise from one of my favourite authors on this topic of Norse mythology. Joanne Harris, author of 'Runemarks' which is the best depiction of Norse mythology in a new and original way I have ever read yet. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel titled Runelight. But more on this great Norse fantasy book shortly.
In the spring of 2009 Joanne held a Runemarks Fan Fiction contest. I entered 'The Old Ways Never Die' of course knowing she was herself a big fan of Norse mythology and is in fact studying it but I would be quite happy if she read it and I didn't win. All I wanted was her approval. Low and behold I didn't win any of the main prizes but she was so pleased with all her entries she gave small prizes to us all. I received an honourable mention on her website with a link to my story for people to read, a hand written thank you note and a handmade runic talisman of the rune Tyr 'perfect for a Valkyrie' she remarked on her note.
Such praise from a woman I adored writing with this topic encouraged me to write a sequel to this now little bit famous short story. And before I know it new characters, plots, events and scenes were growing forth from my original yet still entwining around my Valkyrie protagonist of Jennifer Wallace. A fairly modern girl by standards as she only departed the living in the early millennium.
So I found myself (slowly but surely) writing my new work in progress novel 'Soul Chaser' (formerly known as Valkyrian Ventures but had a major rethink on title earlier this spring.) If any readers are even slightly curious after this Viking drenched rant of mine please do visit my blog www.valkyriansanctum.blogspot.com to read the original short story behind my WIP novel and draft chapters two and three as well as read many more Viking orientated posts or learn more about my life as an aspiring writer.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Will's Additional Pick. I have read some Viking themed novels and I want to add this book. It is one of my favorite books in any fantasy genre. It is one of those terrific novels that is not well known but has a bit of a following. You should check out the amazon ratings on this book. It can be difficult to get and you usually have to buy it used - but it is well worth the effort
Bran Snorrison, a young Irish Viking bard, journeys through the turbulence and uncertainty of his eighth-century world, as a confrontation erupts between the old magic and the rise of the new Christian religion.
