{"product_id":"the-thralls-tale-20th-anniversary-edition-9780988533318","title":"The Thrall's Tale: 20th Anniversary Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Einar owns me.\" So begins Judith Lindbergh's mesmerizing chronicle of three women navigating the treacherous waters of love, vengeance, faith, and deception in the first Viking Age settlements of tenth century Greenland. Taking its inspiration from Old Norse sagas, The Thrall's Tale tells the story of Katla--a \"thrall\" or slave and the daughter of an Irish Christian captured in a Viking raid--as she sets sail with her master, Einar, and his household from Iceland in A.D. 985. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHeading across the stormy North Atlantic toward an unknown future in Greenland, Katla attracts the attention of two very different men, one who will scar her life forever and one who will redeem it. In Greenland, Katla is brutally raped by her master's son, then shunted off to the household of Thorbjorg, a much-maligned seeress and healer. In this unforgiving hinterland with the enigmatic prophetess and her outcast thralls, Katla gives birth to Bibrau. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven as an infant, the child is infused with the savagery of her conception. She is taciturn, reclusive, and suspected by many to be a changeling. But Thorbjorg, following a vision from her patron god, Odin, takes Bibrau as her apprentice and tutors her in the ancient pagan ways of healing and prophecy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Christians arrive in Greenland, tensions flare as the community is torn between faiths, old and new. Katla embraces Christianity, the beloved secret teaching of her long-dead mother, while Thorbjorg senses her world slipping away. Meanwhile, Bibrau, twisted by bitterness and perversion, uses her growing power for good or evil at her whim, inflicting her will on her mother, Thorbjorg's household, and the vulnerable Greenland community.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Thrall's Tale is a masterpiece of historical fiction, re-released for the first time since its publication in 2006. Deeply researched, vividly imagined, and exquisitely written, this extraordinary tale is a chronicle of love, savagery, and revenge at a turning point in history when Christianity first penetrates the pagan Viking sphere.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLindbergh, Judith:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Judith Lindbergh's award-winning novel, Akmaral, about a nomad woman warrior on the ancient Central Asian steppes, was called \"crackling\" by Publishers Weekly and \"a gripping saga\" by #1 bestselling author Christina Baker Kline. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including in Newsweek, Zibby Magazine, Next Avenue, Writer's Digest, Edible Jersey, Literary Mama, Archaeology Magazine, Other Voices, and UP HERE: The North at the Center of the World published by University of Washington Press. She has spoken at and published with the Smithsonian Institution and provided expert commentary for The History Channel's documentaries. Judith received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is the Founder\/Director of The Writers Circle, a creative writing center based in New Jersey.","brand":"Spakona Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51764148175122,"sku":"9780988533318","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e6036830-7727-4e28-a855-cb27286cfa1f.jpg?v=1764757815","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-thralls-tale-20th-anniversary-edition-9780988533318","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}