The Writing Vikings

It’s time to talk about Tress of the Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson’s first Kickstarter project. Warning! This episode is full of spoilers so if you have not read Tress of the Emerald Sea, but intend to, you may want to skip this episode. If not, enjoy! Lizzie continues Anuhea’s story… Now, when one imagines a passageway built into a mountain, the first image that springs to mind is likely a long dark cave, lit perhaps by torches or lanterns of mage light. This was certainly what Anuhea had been expecting. Yet, as she found herself sprawled backward against the cold, hard floor, she could not help but be overwhelmed by how impossibly bright everything was. Twisting around, she discovered that she was at the top of a stairwell. A long staircase of shining white marble stretched down at least eight feet below her, and it would take three times her own height standing from where she was now to reach the ceiling. If one could call it a ceiling, that was. Above her flowed a glowing, celestial river, more brilliant than the sun itself. It seared her eyes to look at it directly, and the light radiating from it bounced off the white walls in a way that made her need to squint to see anything at all. Further down the hall, twelve statues of the bluest lapis lazuli she had ever seen lined the walls. Her heart caught in her throat. Barely realising it, Anuhea's hand twitched reflexively to the nape of her neck, to where a tiny gem the colour of the sky was embedded into her skin. Before she had time to think further, a bloodcurdling screech, like the sound of rusted wheels and a man choking on his own vomit, seethed from the night outside. Anuhea did not want to look over her shoulder, but morbid curiosity dragged her eyes anyway. The Wiladash had hauled its way back up the cliff face and was standing at the edge of the precipice, eyes seething with unnatural violet light. It was wounded, bones jutting out of its limbs at acute angles, yet somehow it still managed to move. A writhing mass of blood, flesh and sorcery creeping ever slowly toward her. Hatred rolled off it in waves. Anuhea was no longer mere prey. She had wounded it, and now it wanted revenge. Anuhea's eyes flickered nervously to the door. The massive structure had not finished opening fully and still grinding open against the limestone at a painfully slow rate. Hoping to reverse the motion, Anuhea shoved her shoulder against the edges, but it was no use. The body weight of a single girl could not overcome centuries of mage work. She didn't know if the Wiladash would be able to pass through into the hallway, but she certainly was not about to wait to find out. Ven recommends The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Lizzie recommends Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang Why not go ahead and follow us on our socials? Lizzie’s Instagram Lizzie’s website Ven’s Instagram Ven’s website The Writing Vikings’ YouTube The Writing Vikings on Spotify Watch the first episode here. Listen to the first episode here.

We’ve been gone for a while so we’ve decided to simply treat this episode as a bit of a catch up episode in terms of our writing, reading and goals. Everything, of course, is fantasy related. Lizzie and Ven are trying not to fangirl to hard over Sanderson’s new release Tress and the Emerald Sea (we’re saving that for the next episode) while discussing topics such as never ending TBR piles, expensive books and new releases. Ven continues the story of Anuhea… Anuhea reached towards the first silver bell on the left and tugged the cord once. The bell let out a light clinking sound like that of fairies laughter. Her hand snatched quickly to the fifth bell, this one bronze and tugged three times on the rope. The heavy clapper clunked against the lip of the bell three times and then came to a stop. It moved slowly, as if Anuhea had pulled it through syrup rather than brisk mountain air. Her hand moved to the fourth one, the second silver bell, the size of her head and tugged once. The clapper danced around the sound bowl like heels on a marble floor. Before it had a chance to stop Anuhea reached for the second bronze one, furthest to the right, and using both hands pulled the rope towards her. This one was even heavier than the previous bronze bell. She managed one good tug and prayed it would be enough. The clank of metal on metal rumbled over the mountainside and Anuhea’s breath caught in her throat. But before she had a chance to doubt her decision she reached for the two gold bells, once with each hand. These were tiny, smaller than her fist, and whipped the two strings with all her might. She expected a clear, tinkling sound, much like the first bell, but the clappers sounded dull as they slapped against the inside of the bell. Their sound did not echo off the mountain. They did not start swinging back and forth of their own accord to play a magical melody on their own. Nothing happened. They swung back and forth as the young sorceress dropped the strings, the clappers hardly making any sound at all. Her heart clapped louder than the bells. Anuhea’s fingers itched for the parchment she’d found in the Citadel’s library with the instructions, but she had memorised the pattern and left the scroll behind. What had she done wrong? Anuhea glanced over her shoulder. The clouds had parted enough for the full moon to shine across the pathway she had sprinted up. If only the sun would rise. Then the Wiladash might give up its pursuit. But until then, sorceress blood, buzzing with full moon energy would be the only thing on its mind. The creature was somewhere beyond that ledge. Anuhea glanced back at the door. It remained shut. She must have rung one of the bells in the wrong way. With too much or too little force. Or in the wrong order. Anuhea bit back a sob. The pathway up to the temple door was the only road up here. There was nowhere to go but the cliff she had climbed up, and down there was the Wiladash. She refused to go to it willingly. The sorceress pressed her knuckles to her lips and breathed heavily. She turned her back on the bells and slid down the door so she sat with her back against the rough wooden surface, and closed her eyes. The moon shone with its silver glow on her face. She decided to await the Wiladash here and pray that the sun would rise before it reached her. But before she had a chance to draw a last exhausted breath, the wood creaked behind her and gave way. Ven recommends Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao. Lizzie recommends Boycott by Colin. C. Murphy Why not go ahead and follow us on our socials? Lizzie’s Instagram Lizzie’s website Ven’s Instagram Ven’s website The Writing Vikings’ YouTube The Writing Vikings on Spotify Watch the first episode here. Listen to the first episode here.

This episode is a bit more writing related! Having just accomplished the NaNoWriMo challenge of 50 000 words in November (National Novel Writing Month) we couldn’t help but talk about our experiences. We’re talking stress and competition, self-care, and rewards. We  spend a few minutes talking about plotting and planning and Lizzie  shares her obsession with NaNoWriMo badges. The specific post about NOT doing NaNoWriMo was shared by @kntuckerwrites over on Instagram and can be found here. Lizzie continues the story of Anuhea… A long, dark crevice cut cleanly through the cliff face before  her. Crystal torches glowing a pale blue light dotted the ice-covered  walls. Anuhea’s heart leapt. She had made it. Ignoring the groans of her  aching legs, she launched herself forward… only to find herself  suddenly yanked backward  by her shoulder straps toward the mountain’s  edge. Flecks of hot spittle from the Wiladash’s putrid breath showered  her face. Running on pure instinct, she whirled around to free herself  from the straps of her pack and pummeled a kick into the oiled fabric  just hard enough to send the beast tumbling over the icy ledge. She  prayed the wind was too strong for it to use its wings. No time to lose, Anuhea sprinted up the passageway, feet slipping  on the frozen ground. A sharp shriek behind her told her that her  prayers had gone unanswered. Carved into the mountainside at the other  end of the path, was a stone door. Skidding up to it, she eyed the three  bells of bronze, copper and silver hung on either side of the doorway.  Six in total. Rung in the correct pattern and the door would open to  her. Rung incorrectly, and it would remain closed to her forever,  leaving her alone with the Wiladash. Anuhea’s mind whirled as she tried  to remember the wise woman’s words. Ven recommends Gods and Monsters (Serpent and Dove #3) by Shelby Mahurin. Lizzie recommends The Killing Moon (Dreamblood #1) by N. K. Jemisin. Why not go ahead and follow us on our socials? Lizzie’s Instagram Lizzie’s website Ven’s Instagram Ven’s website The Writing Vikings’ YouTube The Writing Vikings on Spotify Watch the first episode here. Listen to the first episode here.

Rings of Power: A L'Oréal commercial?   If you haven’t watched Rings of Power yet, this episode might not be for  you. Or it might, if you want to hear us rant and gush over the new  LOTR TV series.   We don’t even cover everything there is to discuss about the series, but  we discuss quite a lot of fun things and we hope it makes you laugh.  We’d love to hear your opinions on the series. Feel free to let us know  on any of our socials!   On the topic of Isildur, we found an interesting YouTube video by Nerd  of the Rings that you might like! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UcgHye-cYI&feature=youtu.be   Ven also delivers on her promise to continue on Lizzie’s story that she  presented in Episode 2. You can listen to it here, watch it here and  read it on Ven’s website.   The sound of the creature’s high pitched shriek pierced Anuhea’s ears.  She couldn’t help herself, but glanced down to the Wildadash below. It  snapped it’s jaws together and snarled at her, it’s nostrils flaring.  Strings of saliva flew from the creature’s mouth and settled on Anuhea’s  heels. Teeth, sharp as knives, lined its purple, slimy lips.   Anuhea quenched a scream and looked back towards her upwards path. It  could not be further than a few feet left.   She let go of the ledge and reached up for another. Her fingers skimmed  over loose pebbles and gravel before they found another protrusion in  the mountainside. Desperately, she grabbed hold of the ledge, finding a  grip and pulled herself up once more. Her left foot brushed the rock  surface, searching for a foothold. There! She heaved herself up before  she heard the Wildadash snap it’s jaws at her heels.   If only she could get to the temple. If she made it to the temple in  time, she would be safe.   Ven recommends Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1) by Robert Jordan. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228665.The_Eye_of_the_World?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=7qEermVIOo&rank=1]   Lizzie recommends The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry #1) by Guy Gavriel Kay. [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/104086.The_Summer_Tree]   Why not go ahead and follow us on our socials?   Lizzie’s Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/lizziecarlyonwriter/]   Lizzie’s website [https://www.elizabethcarlyon.co.uk/]   Ven’s Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/v.i.ahlstrom/]   Ven’s website [https://www.viahlstrom.com/]   The Writing Vikings’ YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXXTYnJtY6HkJlBnzXbpMEA]   The Writing Vikings on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/7f9nBKMEpWaSSS6yOnjFML?si=8f50c08acc5247a8]   Watch the first episode here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09QZL5Zuzas   Listen to the first episode here. [https://open.spotify.com/episode/0VZKJVzJni2Y1Dry99WXe8?si=23f334a9e2a34eb0]

Welcome to Episode 3!  We’re so excited that you’re still listening to us blabbering on about random writing/reading/viking/history stuff - Thank you!  Lizzie and Ven went to Gotland this summer to attend Medeltidsveckan (Medieval week) in Visby. We had such an amazing time that we thought we’d tell you about it. So in this episode we’re discussing everything from cosplay to historical reenactment to roleplaying games. We dive into fascinating facts about fashion, food and folklore (love some spontaneous use of alliteration) and touch a bit on the topic of elves and fae while trying not to talk about Rings of Power (we’ll get to that another time).  Oh! And we introduce our NaNoWriMo projects which (we think) are super exciting.  Last episode Lizzie surprised Ven with some of her own writing, which Ven was meant to continue writing on, but she has failed to deliver and promises to share her continuation in the next episode.  Link to Daniel Serra's cookbook 'An Early Meal - a Viking Age Cookbook  & Culinary Odyssey'  [https://chronocopiapublishing.com/books/an-early-meal-a-viking-age-cookbook-and-culinary-odyssey/] *Correction*: Vendela mentioned the podcast Bland Tomtar och Troll, which does in fact, not exist. She meant [När Man Talar Om Trollen](https://www.oknytt.com/podcast/) by [Oknytt](https://www.oknytt.com/) which is a super informative podcast about folklore, but unfortunately only available in Swedish. Bland Tomtar och Troll is an old collection/anthology of Swedish fairytales which you can read more about [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Among_Gnomes_and_Trolls). Ven recommends [Odin’s Child](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54303436-odin-s-child) ([The Raven Ring Series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/124511-ravneringene)) by [Siri Pettersen](https://www.siripettersen.com/).  Why not go ahead and follow us on our socials?  [Lizzie’s Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lizziecarlyonwriter/)  [Lizzie’s website](https://www.elizabethcarlyon.co.uk/blog/)  [Ven’s Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/v.i.ahlstrom/)  [Ven’s website](https://www.viahlstrom.com/) The Writing Vikings’ [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXXTYnJtY6HkJlBnzXbpMEA)  The Writing Vikings on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/7f9nBKMEpWaSSS6yOnjFML?si=8f50c08acc5247a8) Watch the first episode [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09QZL5Zuzas).  Listen to the first episode [here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0VZKJVzJni2Y1Dry99WXe8?si=23f334a9e2a34eb0).

We’re back for another episode! Thank you to everyone who tuned in for Episode 1 and welcome back. In this episode you’ll get to join us on a wild ride as we review the recent film [The Northman](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11138512/?ref_=rw), starring amongst others, Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman and Anya Taylor-Joy. (Spoilers are a given.) This is the episode where Lizzie delivers genuine, interesting thoughts, and Ven continually interrupts with the overused phrase “it makes no sense”. We dive into the costumes, the plot holes, the themes and the character arcs. And don’t worry, we point out some good things as well. Lizzie also surprises Ven with some viking age humour from the [Grettir’s Saga](https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/grettirs-saga-9780192801524?cc=se&lang=en&fbclid=IwAR2mfsAIY0tBBmZCjJmHVYu0Ai84UaCP-tHktvUURnWTVhQfrYEyzH2rlMI) and reads the beginning of a totally unplanned fantasy story and challenges her to keep adding to it for the next episode. Read it below: Anuhea dug her fingers into the rock face, heaving her trembling body over yet another ledge. Darkness had fallen long ago and the sharp chill of icy wind scourged through her woolen wrappings. Her nails ached and it took all of her willpower to keep her muscles from giving up to the cold. One mistake here would mean certain death. Blindly, she felt her way forward, searching for yet another spot to hold onto. Occasionally, the moon would peer out from behind the inky swell of clouds above, providing Anuhea with a brief glimpse of the frosted peak above. Always looming, always distant. It seemed to her that she would never make it in time. Somewhere down below, a Wiladash let out a mighty scream. The review of [The Northman](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11138512/?ref_=rw) by CtlAltDel on Imdb can be found [here](https://www.imdb.com/review/rw8092240/?ref_=tt_urv). Ven recommends [The Red Abbey Chronicles](https://www.goodreads.com/series/172019-the-red-abbey-chronicles) ([Maresi](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28818217-maresi?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=goqKI0t7xL&rank=1) and [Naondel](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34227694-naondel)) by [Maria Turtschaninoff](https://www.mariaturtschaninoff.com/) Why not go ahead and follow us on our socials? [Lizzie’s Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lizziecarlyonwriter/) [Lizzie’s website](https://www.elizabethcarlyon.co.uk/blog/) [Ven’s Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/v.i.ahlstrom/) [Ven’s website](https://www.viahlstrom.com/) The Writing Vikings’ [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXXTYnJtY6HkJlBnzXbpMEA) The Writing Vikings on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/7f9nBKMEpWaSSS6yOnjFML?si=8f50c08acc5247a8) Watch the first episode [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09QZL5Zuzas). Listen to the first episode [here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0VZKJVzJni2Y1Dry99WXe8?si=23f334a9e2a34eb0).

 Welcome to our podcast and very first episode. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have you listen to us ramble about all things fantasy, history and writing! In this introductory episode you’ll get to know a bit about Lizzie and Ven and our fantasy WIPs. We cover the topic of narrative voice, edible wild plants, kulning (ancient nordic herdingcall), potatoes’ high status in fantasy and the lack of windows in Viking longhouses. Lizzie recommends [Once Upon a Time on Lingjian Mountain](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11261994/). Ven recommends [The Restaurant (Swe: Vår Tid Är Nu)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5603140/?ref_=tt_mv_close) and [The Northman](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11138512/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0). Why not go ahead and follow us on our socials? [Lizzie’s Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lizziecarlyonwriter/) [Lizzie’s website](https://www.elizabethcarlyon.co.uk/blog/) [Ven’s Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/v.i.ahlstrom/) [Ven’s website](https://www.viahlstrom.com/) The Writing Vikings’ YouTube