EVENING WARRIOR

EVENING WARRIOR

The burning of a Viking temple in the Faroes by a blind Irish monk called Papar, brings retribution from the Gods to all on the island.

A young Viking warrior Egil Skallagrimsson saves an Amerindian slave girl called Noni from being raped by a son of the Royal family. Egil murders the youth while overtaken by one of his rages, which sees him turn from a cool-headed, responsible young man to a raging beast with superhuman strength.

Along with Noni and his men, Egil flees the Faroes. Unable to go back to Norway, or south to Ireland, while eastwards lies only the king's allies, they decide, with exhortation from the Christian Noni, to head west to the New World. Noni, who along with her mother was taken slave by the first Vikings to land in the New World, longs to go back there. She has heard the story of the Stepping-Stone route, which Saint Brendan used to sail to America or Vineland as it is know to the Vikings.

Pursued by the dead prince's mother, the witch queen Gunnhild and her men, Egil and Noni sail on a perilous journey to the New World. On their journey, they continually encounter the old monk as he sails alone in his little boat across the wild and largely unchartered Atlantic Ocean, trying to convert the heathen Vikings to Christianity. Upon meeting Egil, Papar realises that the warrior is more than just a pagan, he is also a Shapechanger. "The mark of the Devil is upon you", he tells Egil.

Their journey begins in the Faroe Islands at Summer's end and following the Stepping-Stone islands used by St Brendan, they progress across the roof of the world via, Iceland, Greenland and onto the shores of the New World - Vineland. But it’s not all plain sailing.

On the Isle of the Dead, off the raging volcanic coast of Iceland, Egil and his men are captured by Rus warriors, led by the mad king Rezo. Escaping from Rezo, Egil finds a magic sword, called Adder, which had been buried for centuries and which Rezo desires. The sword is believed to give life as well as take it. Gunnhild upon learning this from Papar becomes obsessed with finding the sword, in order that she might bring her son back to life and have revenge for his death. So Rezo and Gunnhild pursue Egil for the sword, sometimes as allies, sometimes as enemies.

Noni falls in love with Egil the Wolfman, while trying to break the hold his pagan religion has over him. The battle for Egil's immortal soul being fought by Noni, while he mortally fights against the odds of Gunnhild's magic and her allies, the elements of the sea and land, and his own lycanthropy.

In Iceland, Noni becomes pregnant with Egil's child, bringing consequences which neither of them could have dreamed of. Pursued by their many enemies even the weather seems to be against them. When Gunnhild captures Noni her faith in the future begins to unravel.

Papar has his own demons to wrestle with and both Egil and Noni and their unborn child, figure large in his personal salvation. Can Papar's journey to the New World save the soul of Egil, while at the same time can the Viking warrior save the old monk’s soul. Or will the witch queen Gunnhild and the mad king Rezo ensure that Noni - who straddles both the old and the new world - brings about their downfall.