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Sam is about to carry out a strange experiment. She is an archaeology student specialising in reconstructive archaeology and her idea is to recreate an Anglo-Saxon pagan burial ceremony. It’s Samhain eve and the night of a full moon so it’s the perfect time to carry out such a ritual. She enlists the help of her friend, Dan, and together they go off to the site of a burial mound where wonderful swords and sceptres were excavated many years ago. A travelling story teller is at the court of a Saxon king. He recites the tale of two soul-entwined lovers from an earlier, more chaotic, period when king’s warred amongst each other. He tells the tragic tale of Cyneburh, pagan sorceress and daughter of the mighty pagan king Penda and Alhfrith, son of Athelwald the king of Deira, her hero-warrior lover and betrothed. The two kings have formed a mighty political and religious alliance but, more than that, the young woman and man have forged a passionate union of their own. But this new alliance has enemies and before their wedding night is over there will be a tragic outcome. As King Penda stands at the edge of their burial chamber he invokes a curse of vengeance against the murderous act perpetrated against him. But, how many years will it take before he is finally avenged? As Sam stands on top of the burial mound dressed as an Anglo-Saxon pagan priestess with Dan at her side, is she aware of what ancient powers she will invoke as their lives become entwined with those of Cyneburh and Alhfrith from many centuries ago? Will the pagan king’s oath of vengeance be fulfilled? Will the souls of the two lovers be finally released?
Can
you describe the book in 160 characters or less for us?
Anglo-Saxon heroic saga – with added
paranormal sex!
How
did you decide what time period to write about?
I’ve always admired the Anglo-Saxon heroic
tale ‘Beowulf’. It’s the earliest and
still one of the greatest works of English literature. Really, no Beowulf, no Lord of the Rings so
there is a whole genre of fantasy writing that owes a debt to it. So, that was one inspiration for choosing
this period. Then I stumbled across a
book at my place of work that was a survey of Neolithic and Anglo-Saxon burial
mounds in the Yorkshire Wolds near where I live. This also provided me with a spark for the
story. I put the two together and the
Anglo-Saxon period became an obvious setting.
I thought, how about doing a story set in that landscape in the style of
‘Beowulf’ but adding an ingredient it doesn’t have – sex!
Did
you have to do a lot of research?
Yes I did a fair amount of research for this
story. I did some field work by actually
going off into the Wolds and finding some of these surviving ancient tumuli and
photographing them. Then I dug out some
of my old undergraduate history notes and an essay I wrote about
‘Beowulf’. Yes, I know that’s pretty sad
isn’t it! I used these and some searches
on Wikipedia to check some basic facts and names. King Penda was a real king of Mercia and
Cyneburh was actually the name of his daughter, though my story about her is of
course entirely fictional. The Battle of
Maserfield in 642 referred to in my story, when Penda dismembered the body of
the Northumbrian King Oswald on the battlefield, is historical fact from
chroniclers of the time. I also looked
at images and checked out some facts about the Sutton Hoo burial finds from the
British Museum web site. I had already
seen the Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon objects a couple of years ago when
it was first shown to the public and coincidentally there was a tv programme about
it after I started writing so I picked up things from that too. So I did a fair amount of research both to
get facts right that I wanted to be correct but also to capture faithfully the spirit
of the period.
Do
you have a favourite scene from the book?
If so, what is it?
Yes, I have a soft spot for the scene when
the two soul-entwined lovers, Cyneburh and Alhfrith are buried. Incidentally I’m not giving any spoilers here
because it is up front from the start their tale has a tragic end. I’ve offered this scene as a story extract
for this blog. It was a piece of writing
very much influenced by two minor scenes in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films. Basically the Riders of Rohan are an
Anglo-Saxon hero-warrior society….but with added horses! The burial scene was inspired by a scene in
one of the dvd extras of the film in which Eowyn sings this weird sounding lament
at the burial of the son of King Theoden.
King Penda’s call to arms is based on Eomer’s ‘Oaths we have taken…’ speech
at the muster of the riders. The script writing here was brilliant and Peter
Jackson showed he really understood the Anglo-Saxon influences on Tolkien. So this little scene is kind of homage to the
‘Lord of the Rings’ films, which is why I like them.
Describe
Sam for us in 10 words or less
Clever, feisty, dangerous, red-haired
dominant goth!
What
was the most challenging part of writing Slave Nano?
There were two big ones in this story. One was the structure of the story and
weaving the Anglo-Saxon part of the story and the tale of Cyneburh and Alhfrith
with the modern part of the story with Sam and Dan, into a coherent whole. Linked to this was getting the contrasting
style of the language right for both parts of the story. I wanted Sam and Dan’s
language to be modern but then for the other part of the story I wanted the
reader to believe that he had been transferred back to an Anglo-Saxon mead hall
and were really listening to some itinerant story teller. It’s up to you (the reader) to judge if I
pulled it off!
How
did you come up with the name of the book?
It chose itself really. Penda was a Pagan king so making his daughter
the titular Pagan Sorceress just fitted perfectly. Paganism, and the battle between ‘old’ and
‘new’ religion is a theme in other of my work and reflects my own beliefs. Interestingly, ‘Beowulf’ itself has a strange
cross-over of both Christian and Pagan belief and symbolism in it.
Story
blurb
If
you’re looking for an erotic read this Halloween then check out Slave Nano’s
new release ‘The Pagan Sorceress’. The
action takes place on Samhain as archaeology student Sam sets out to re-enact a
Pagan burial ceremony.
If
the author of the Anglo-Saxon heroic tale Beowulf did erotica what might it
have sounded like? That’s the challenge
author Slave Nano has set himself in his newly released novella ‘The Pagan
Sorceress’..
Sam is about to carry out a strange
experiment. She is an archaeology
student specialising in reconstructive archaeology and her idea is to recreate
an Anglo-Saxon pagan burial ceremony.
It’s Samhain eve and the night of a full moon so it’s the perfect time
to carry out such a ritual. She enlists
the help of her friend, Dan, and together they go off to the site of a burial
mound where wonderful swords and sceptres were excavated many years ago.
A travelling story teller is at the court of
a Saxon king. He recites the tale of two
soul-entwined lovers from an earlier, more chaotic, period when king’s warred
amongst each other. He tells the tragic
tale of Cyneburh, Pagan sorceress and daughter of the mighty Pagan king Penda
and Alhfrith, son of Athelwald the king of Deira, her hero-warrior lover and
betrothed. The two kings have formed a
mighty political and religious alliance but, more than that, the young woman
and man have forged a passionate union of their own. But this new alliance has enemies and before
their wedding night is over there will be a tragic outcome. As King Penda stands at the edge of their
burial chamber he invokes a curse of vengeance against the murderous act
perpetrated against him. But, how many
years will it take before he is finally avenged?
As Sam stands on top of the burial mound
dressed as an Anglo-Saxon pagan priestess with Dan at her side, is she aware of
what ancient powers she will invoke as their lives become entwined with those
of Cyneburh and Alhfrith from many centuries ago? Will the pagan king’s oath of vengeance be fulfilled? Will the souls of the two lovers be finally
released?
Story
extract
Bitter
of soul and angry of heart the mourners stood around the open burial
mound. Ladies of the hall in sombre gown
struck up a haunting lament. Eerie were
the sounds that echoed over wold and dale as bitter song called out to the
guardians of the after-life. The bodies
of beloved daughter and revered son lay entangled in death embrace. Flowers were strewn over their bodies and the
symbols of their mortal life needed for passage into the after-life were
emptied into their burial chamber.
Sceptre and sword, dagger and shield, golden jewellery and rings,
warrior’s armlets and sorceress’s shoulder clasps all offered up to their
owners in death. Never was there such a
wail of sorrow.
Two
bereft kings stood on the edge of the ditch to watch the passing of their
children joined in love during life and now united again in bitter death. They watched with grievous tears as earth was
shovelled onto their bodies now interred and as radiant in death as they had
been in life.
So
it was that Penda stood before open burial chamber and invoked this curse for
he knew that until their deaths were avenged there would be no peace for their
souls in the after-life. He called this
invocation. ‘Rings I will give and powerful gifts I will bestow on those who
avenge the untimely deaths of my beloved daughter and son-in-law. The perpetrators of this deed will not go
un-avenged. No wergild will compensate
for our loss but savage death and revenge.
Bitter mourning there must be but do not linger, for there is work to
do’.
And
then King Penda raised his sword and called his retainers to arms. “Noble thanes. Oaths you have taken. Pledges of loyalty you have made. Now royal retainers I call you to arms. This blood feud must be avenged. And when the body of the King of Northumbria
is torn asunder and his monasteries plundered only then can we be at rest.”
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Author Bio
Slave
Nano is a writer of erotic paranormal and fantasy stories with bdsm and fetish
themes. He has had short stories and
novellas published by Xcite Books and House of Erotica. His first erotic novel, ‘Adventures in
Fetishland’, was published by Xcite in March 2012.
You
can find out more about him and his writing at http://www.slavenano.co.uk
