Fun fact: The word “Wednesday” is derived from “Woden’s Day”.

Odin, as portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins in THOR

He rides an eight-legged horse and has a pair of wolves, a pair of ravens, and a magic spear. To master the runes and magic, he sacrificed himself on a tree for nine days and nights. He also sacrificed one of his eyes for wisdom. He is often depicted as an old man with a wide-brimmed hat (to hide his missing eye) who travels the world telling tales and playing riddle games. (He was the archetype for the wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.) Odin was also unique for his mastery of magic, which was considered the domain of women.

In the novel Freya the Huntress, Woden is the king of the Yslander gods, one principally concerned with death and magic. The witches, or “valas”, appeal to Woden for wisdom and guidance. Legend tells that Woden sacrificed himself on the island of Delver to gain wisdom, and that he battled with the ravens for their knowledge of the runes. He also made war on the demons of the earth so that humans could live in Ysland.

Freya (or Freyja) was the Norse goddess of fertility. She was a member of the Vanir, the Germanic gods of the earth and life (as opposed to the Aesir, the sky gods of war and death). Freya was young and beautiful, had a twin brother Freyr, and she had lots of cool toys. She owned the magic necklace Brisingamen, a chariot drawn by a pair of cats, a wild boar, and a cloak of falcon feathers. Not only that, but she gets half of all the souls who die in battle (Odin gets the other half).

In the novel Freya the Huntress, Freya is a young woman living with her husband and sister in western Ysland (Iceland). Her quiet life of hunting deer is shattered when a strange beast, a giant fox demon, comes down out of the snowy hills to attack her sister. And thus the story begins as Freya sets out to find a cure that will save her sister from transforming into a fox demon herself.

This is Book Two in the Europa series, the direct sequel to the novella OMAR THE IMMORTAL. The Europa series is a dark fantasy set in the same world as the Halcyon Trilogy of swashbuckling steampunk adventures.

About the Book

The short version:

Vikings versus Werefoxes!

The long version:

Last night, Freya’s sister was bitten by a horrific beast in the snowy hills of Ysland. Now, Freya has only a few hours to find a cure for this strange plague before her sister becomes a ravening fox demon.

With her husband Erik and the young witch Wren at her side, Freya discovers that the blood-thirsty monsters have already ravaged her homeland as she explores deserted cities full of ghosts and meets a few lonely survivors on the edge of madness. She finally seeks answers in the ancient city of Rekavik where she must face the deadly witch queen Skadi and the vicious warrior Leif Blackmane.

But the only person who can cure the demon plague is the same person who created it, a stranger from a distant land who carried a sword full of captured souls, a man who was murdered five years ago… But not even death will stop Freya from saving the people she loves.

Amazon Kindle Exclusive

OMAR and FREYA are exclusive releases on Amazon Kindle ($0.99 and $2.99 respectively) and are also available for free to Amazon Prime members through the Lending Library. (Don’t worry, I still get paid when you use the library!)

Links

• The official FREYA web page
• FREYA on Amazon US
• FREYA on Amazon UK