THREE
reasons to read a Viking Romance:
Ragnar;
Lagertha;
and,
Rollo
But seriously,
during the dark ages, the Vikings were more than merely heathen
marauders. In truth, they were brave explorers. Men and women who
took the original Captain’s Oath, vowing to
explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new
civilizations, to boldly go where no man (or woman) had gone before.
They were not the
pillagers that the British portrayed them to be but people searching
for new lands and new civilizations and along the way, they faced
gripping family sagas that questioned more than their strength,
agility and patience. These journeys brought into question alliances
and loyal friendships, while testing their faith. And, there was
nothing more important than family relationships. If a Viking
couldn’t count on his family to help him survive, he perished.
But it wasn’t only
the men, these warriors were women as well as men, who stood side by
side on the battlefield. Perhaps that is the reason and the truth
behind the tales of the Valkyrie and Valhalla, which still haunt the
stories of the Vikings.
The VIKING
PRINCESS is
one such tale of the extraordinary lives and epic adventures of two
people: Holger Danske and Morgaine LeFey.
And
Holger Danske was not the first Danish Prince to appear on the
printed page or to share a well-known castle as his home. Hamlet’s
story is set in the same structure that stands on the sound between
Denmark and Sweden. Holger’s home is in Kronborg Castle, known to
most English speaking people as Hamlet’s Castle.
It
was there, inside this Castle that I first was introduced to Holger
Danske and the legends surrounding his iconic life. He was a warrior,
a Prince destined to become King of all the Norse lands during the
time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table.
I
found it odd that everyone had heard of King Arthur and his magical
sword, Excalibur, which he received from the Lade of the Lake (a
Norse Goddess) who had also given such a sword to Holger Danske.
Holger’s sword was named “Cortana”, and was made from the same
metal and magic as Excalibur. Yet no one I talked to outside of
Denmark had ever heard of Holger or his sword.
And,
even more interesting was the fact that Holger and the Vikings
invaded England, yet somehow, even as enemies, Holger and King
Arthur’s half-sister, Morgaine LeFey, were able to share a
forbidden love.
Theirs
was a romance that threatened two kingdoms.
THE
VIKING PRINCESS has
never been told outside of Denmark...until now. Morgaine and Holger
faced an attraction more powerful than any sword, stronger than any
warrior and more magical than all the powers of Merlin.
FOREWARD
Most
everyone who searches for tales of the middle ages and seeks out
stories of Knights and battles, castles and magical swords only hears
the stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table but
there is an entire world full of rich stories and other countries who
hold their legendary heroes in just such high regard. This is one
such story.
And,
if you could read English, French and Danish, you would be able to
see that this story is merely one slice from the rich tapestry of
tales that have been woven together throughout history.
The Viking Princess is the story of the legendary romance
between King Arthur’s half-sister, Morgaine Le Fay, and her epic
lover, the heroic Viking Holger Danske, the Prince of Denmark and
heir to King Geoffrey’s throne.
Morgaine
Le Fey is worthy of her own stand-alone stories for she was the most
powerful sorceress in all of history, having tutored under the
guidance of Merlin the Magician, it is said she quickly surpassed his
abilities. But it is her tragic love story with the Danish Prince
that forms this first story in the Viking Series: The Viking
Princess.
Holger
was the Norse leader and legendary warrior who is immortalized in
stone in the dungeons of Hamlet’s Castle on the shore that sits
between the sound of Denmark and Sweden.
But
there is more to this tale than a simple love story.
King
Arthur received his magical sword, Excalibur, from the Norse Goddess,
also known as The Lady of the Lake but Excalibur was not the only
magical sword she ever relinquished to mortal hands. She gave just
such a magical sword to the Danish Prince, Holger, and one to the
French King, Charlemagne. And together the three men joined forces
fighting side by side, Britain, France and Scandinavia, battled the
invading Saxons. And it was only with the help of these European
forces that the famous King Arthur was able to defeat the Saxons.
Had
it not been for the aid given by Holger and Charlemagne we may never
have heard the heroic tales of King Arthur and Excalibur.
And
though I am married to a Dane who was born and raised in Denmark, and
have visited the Castle of Kronborg in Helsingor, Denmark and viewed
the statue in the casemates, I have also visited both England and
France and tried to stay true to the three legends, which are woven
together in history, I have taken some artistic license in
interweaving the languages and the individual tales, as this is the
story from my personal perspective.
EXCERPT OF THE
VIKING PRINCESS
He
laughed at her, making her senses bristle.
She
was not amused. “Am I humorous?”
“I
have heard you are many things,” he replied, “but humor has never
been cited as one of your virtues.”
“First
you laugh at me, and then you belittle me. Is this the way you treat
all women?”
He
pulled back on the reins. His horse slid to an immediate standstill.
Then, burying his face into her hair, he whispered in her ear, “I
have shown enormous restraint. Would you like me to show you how I
treat all women?”
The
burning ember inside her flared to a flame. The muscles low in her
belly tightened, as she clenched her legs tighter, wrapping them
around his steed. Sucking air into her lungs, she felt the immediate
pulse of desire race through the core of her body. She wanted to
reach back over her head and wrap her arms around his neck, to pull
him even closer.
It
was all she could do to hold her tongue and keep from begging him,
when all she wanted to say was, “Yes, yes, please show me.”
Her
body motionless, she could feel the warmth of him as his hands grew
bold, slipping beneath the soft linens covering her, his fingers
gently gliding up over her stomach, traveling beneath her breasts and
edging up…
A
voice whispered inside her head. What are you doing? This man is your
enemy. He intends to kill you, your brother, everyone you love…
She
grabbed his wrists, holding him still and steady. “You have caught
me, kidnapped me, and dragged me here. I may be your prisoner, but do
not think that I am interested in your advances.”
His
body tensed and he pulled back his hands, gripping her firmly about
the waist. “I, Holger, the prince over all the Norse lands, have
never had a woman decline the privilege of being my lover.”
“Prince
or pauper, it matters not to me what rank you hold, for I, too, am
highborn and accustomed to many privileges,” she snapped back,
unwilling to let him bask in his own conceit. “And being your lover
is not a privilege I would prize.”
“Perhaps,”
he said, softening his touch. Slowly he ran his finger down the
length of her neck, taunting her. “But are you accustomed to this?”
He swung her around to face him; his mouth moved to her neck, gently
caressing her throat with his lips and tongue.
The
warrior with the devil’s horns was surprisingly gentle and tender
with his affections. Morgaine could not contain her pleasure. A small
sigh moved up from her throat, over her lips, unexpectedly escaping
into the night air. “This is nothing,” he whispered against her
flesh, his hand moving down over her navel. Traveling to the valley
between her thighs, he pressed his fingers into her apex and she
gasped at his touch.
He
pulled his hand back. “After your shrill tongue and insults, the
next time you will have to beg for my attentions.”
His
tone shocked her back into the present. No man had ever spoken to her
in this manner. He had no idea of her power. She was not some peasant
he could toy with. Morgaine Le Fey was a princess, the sister of King
Arthur. It was her turn to laugh…and it came out of her loud and
hard. He must not know of her talents. She was the most powerful
sorceress in Camelot and perhaps a dozen other kingdoms.
“Me?
Beg? To think you will ever witness such an act from me,” she
started to say but then shook her head and continued, “You must be
more than foolish.”
“We
will see,” he said, sounding more arrogant and insolent than ever.
“Yes,
we shall see,” she replied, as he gave his horse a nudge and they
continued riding.
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Hi
everyone! I'm a romance writer who grew up in a family with 9
kids and only
1
t.v. so I spent my days reading and, later, writing. I love books. .
.maybe because I never got to pick t.v. shows we watched. But I’d
run home after school to catch the last fifteen minutes of Dark
Shadows...
I
still love to run...or at my age, maybe I should say wogging (a cross
between walking and jogging). Here in Portland, I love Halloween
themed runs - where people don costumes and run. It's a lot of
fun...and I know those two words don't always go together:
fun...and...run. But it is.
And,
with all those Halloween themed runs, I guess Dark Shadows had more
of an influence than some people might think. Even today my favorite
author is Stephen King. My all-time favorite book is Salem's Lot.
Favorite
romance novels are The Hunger Games...okay, I know, it's a survival
book but it's really all about romance. Then there were the series:
Twilight, Fifty Shades, and more but I also love paranormal, Horror
and even light books like Dewey the Small Town Library Cat... Mainly,
I just love to read. . . and write.
I've
just had my first novel published and am looking to share it with the
world. It's a story I was inspired to write after visiting Hamlet's
Castle and seeing an enormous Viking statue down in the tunnels next
to the dungeons.
Sorry
to be so long-winded but did I say I love to write? ...and talk
and...knit, and sew, and bake... I could go on but I'll close by
saying, I hope you’ll stop in on my site and I can tell you I have
a ya horror novel coming in July: Demon’s Ink.
Thanks
for listening.
