Brynhild is a Valkyrie: shieldmaiden of the Allfather, chooser of the slain. But now she too has fallen, flightless in her exile.
Gudrun is a princess of Burgundy, a daughter of the Rhine, a prize for an invading king - a king whose brother Attila has other plans, and a dragon to call upon.
And in the songs to be sung, there is another hero: Sigurd, a warrior with a sword sharper than the new moon.
As the legends tell, these names are destined to be lovers, fated as enemies. But here on Midgard, legends can be lies...
For not all heroes are heroic, nor all monsters monstrous. And a shieldmaiden may yet find that love is the greatest weapon of all.
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Like all stories, I have more than one beginning.- CHAPTER ONE
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(@HarperVoyagerUK, 30 March 2023, e-book, 315 pages, ARC from the publisher via @NetGalley)
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I really enjoyed The Valkyrie. I love Norse mythology and am familiar with the original stories and the various versions so was looking forward to seeing how the author handed the mythology. The book is well written. I like how the author creates her own version of the mythology but manages to stay true to the old tales. I loved the atmosphere, the thread of sadness running through the story and the complex characters. The mythology that serves as the core of the book is not something I'm familiar with so I enjoyed this aspect as well.
