Flight of the Wren

In 1002 AD, a young shaman's apprentice returns home to find that Norsemen have razed her village. Hilja begins an impossible quest to redeem her tribe and must use all her courage and craft to survive. From the four corners of Scandinavia, Flight of the Wren weaves history with battles, magic, intrigue, and romance, sweeping the listener on a collision course with the end of an age. A broad and lavish saga that spans five novels and 30 years, we follow several threads that weave across the weft of history, filled out by the weave of mystery.

In book two of the series, Hilja leaves her young son in the Cave of the Witch while she journeys to Greenland in search of her mother and sister. Meanwhile, young Olav Haraldsson hijacks a derelict ship and conscripts a crew to lead a raid in the East. The Danes try to rally their allies for the invasion of England, while the Witch of Vestfold becomes the monster everyone believes her to be. 

In the third volume of the Flight of the Wren series, Norse slavers return to Kokolu. This time, they find the village defenses bristling with steel. Hilja and her husband lead a rescue mission to Greenland in a captured Viking knarr, while the Witch of Vestfold makes another grisly sacrifice to gain the Gods' favor.

In Return of the Black Swan, we begin to see the fabric of the Viking Age fray. Olav Haraldsson returns to a war-weary Norway to proclaim himself king, and no one has the power to stop him. Meanwhile, Prince Canute inherits the crown of England, even as the deposed King Ethelred and his forces rally for a counterattack. Thorkell the Tall tries to win back Canute's favor and is given a mission that will test his loyalties.