On the outskirts of Midgard, in a rustic village, Aric is no fighter, no warrior, no hero. He’s just a simple fisherman, caring husband, and loving father; at least he used to be. The ravages of the Jotnar uprising against the ruling Aesir have reached even this remote corner of the nine realms.
When the wounded valkyrie, Brunhilda, stumbles into his life he must decide whether to help her--aiding the Aesir, the very people he blames for not protecting his family--or leave her to die at the hands of the pursuing Jotnar soldiers.
Brunhilda is on a mission to find the legendary spear, Gungnir. She is one of the most skilled fighters among the valkyrie, but her recklessness gets her into trouble about as often as it gets her out of it. After her actions result in near catastrophe on the battlefield she is pulled from the frontlines and sent away on this task.
But not everything is as it seems and as the enigmatic Jotnar leader defies the odds and cuts a swath of destruction towards Asgard, recovering Gungnir may be the Aesir’s only hope. If Brunhilda can keep her temper under control and convince Aric to help her they might just save the world.
HAMMERBORN is the first of three novels exploring the life, experiences, and stories of Norse mythology in the high fantasy genre. In the grounded yet epic vein of Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress, HBO’s Rome, and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings we see how far-reaching, world-altering events can hinge upon the actions of ordinary people.
The nine realms are burning, even as the clouds and snows of the fimbulvinter intensify.
After breaching Asgard, the Jotnar Army is now fleeing north, into the deepening winter. For their crimes against the nine realms and for the murder of Baldur, Odin has decreed that Loki and the entire Jotnar race be exterminated. Thor and a reluctant Brunhilda lead the Aesir Army. Although she is a loyal valkyrie, she has seen too much to follow these orders blindly.Meanwhile, strange creatures have appeared in the north: lupine vargr and reptilian lindworms, long thought extinct. They threaten the Human sanctuary of Hoddmimis Holt, whose residents must decide whether to hunker down or flee, hoping to find protection further south. Aric is further torn by his visions of Freya, who insists they must warn the Aesir of these monsters.
But there is more to these creatures than the Humans can fathom. The vargr Fenrir has returned, somehow alive and empowered. Decades before, Fenrir waged a campaign of terror against Jotunheim, leading to a chance encounter between Loki and his sister Jarnsaxa with Baldur, prince of Asgard.
The unlikely alliance between Jotnar and Aesir that began with so much promise now threatens to tear the world asunder.
Perpetual twilight covers the nine realms as a blanket of clouds thicken and blot out the sun.
Yggdrasil, the World Tree, is dying; its hold on the most terrifying monsters from before the Great Awakening threatens to break. Already, thousands of smaller, shadowy creatures have escaped and scour the nine realms, moving steadily south toward Asgard. And while the strength of these corrupted monsters waxes, the power of Reginvald and Mithlivald wanes.
Queen Frigg fights to hold Asgard together against this rising threat while Thor rages in his frenzy to pursue the rebellious Jotnar and wipe them out once and for all. The malice between the Alliance and Asgard fuels the blight’s surge, corrupting everything it touches.
Meanwhile, the Alliance has grown in strength, their numbers far surpassing the entirety of Asgard. And yet the Jotnar, Dokkalfar, Ljosalfar, Eldjotnar, and Humans still have nothing that can rival the legendary power of the warhammer, Mjolnir. But the solution may lie hidden, locked away in the fiery depths of Muspelheim where Mjolnir and Gungnir were forged.
As everyone races toward war, only Freya sees the existential threat posed by the blight. And Aric is the only one who sees Freya. He must convince all sides to come together to stop a cataclysm that threatens to end the nine realms entirely. Yet the apocalyptic visions and rantings of a lone Human mean little to the Alliance rebelling against the Aesir and even less to the Aesir.
Before the final confrontation, Aric must find a way to unite everyone as they were during the Great Awakening. For only together can they avert Ragnarok.