Once again, I offer something more in the line of a reading report than a book review, because (alas) the novel I’ve just finished reading isn’t available in English.
My friend Baard Titlestad of Saga Publishers sent along a copy of Edvard Eikill’s Lokes Lek, personally autographed for me by the author. I was fascinated and moved by what I read in its pages.
Lokes Lek (Loki’s Game) isn’t precisely a Viking book, but is set about a century after the death of Erling Skjalgsson, hero of my books. Indeed, Erling’s descendents at Sola are part of the story.
When Norwegians look back at their history, they see a Golden Age beginning with the Viking raids, and ending with the death of King Sigurd Jorsalfar (the Crusader). King Sigurd did mighty deeds in the Mediterranean as a young man, then settled down to a peaceful joint rule with his brother Øystein the Good, one of the country’s most beloved rulers. After Øystein’s death, Sigurd ruled alone, sometimes heedlessly, but there was peace in the land and the people loved him.
Toward the end, a serpent entered the Garden. Historians vary in their assessments of the Irishman called Harald Gilchrist (Servant of Christ), popularly known as Harald Gille. He claimed to be the natural son of King Sigurd’s father, Magnus Bareleg. This was highly conceivable, as Magnus had been pretty generous with his genetic material in the course of his many plundering raids. It’s also reported that Harald successfully underwent a hot iron ordeal to prove his claim. For the purposes of this story, though, the author leaves no doubt—Harald here is a complete fraud, the fruit of a vengeful plot by his true father, a Dublin merchant who hated Magnus’ house on account of the rape of his wife. He is also a deeply wicked man, capable of murdering anyone (including his own father) who threatens his ambitions.
The arrival of Harald Gille marked the end of Norway’s good times. What would follow would be a century of civil war, until the Church would finally put its foot down, ending the old fair-minded (but bloody) system where any king’s son, whether legitimate or illegitimate, had equal right to the throne. Thereafter kings would be chosen by primogeniture, and the Church, rather than the people, would bestow the crown. Another vestige of Viking democracy lost, but a measure of peace was purchased.
The appealing protagonists of this story have the misfortune of lying in Harald Gille’s path on his bloody march to power. They are good people, (mostly) sensible and devoutly Christian, but unlucky enough to have discovered Harald’s secret. His increasing power puts them and their honest lives more and more in jeopardy, until the story reaches a climax that slams shut like a coffin, with all the inevitability of Greek tragedy.
Loke’s Lek is a meditation on the nature of evil. I don’t know whether the author is a Christian, but I read the story as a demonstration of Original Sin.
There is a sequel, though. I look forward to reading it. I hope the ending is happier.