Stephen B Pearl Horn of the Kraken reading. Jarl Erik BloodAxe

Another Reading from Horn of the Kraken.
This one with Words on the Outside. Wordsontheoutside.wordpress.com

Tolerance and an open mind in Horn of the Kraken

            Balance in all things. In writing Horn of the Kraken I realised that I might wrongly vilify some people. The truth is politicks and privilege corrupt and to be honest a modern Pagan would probably find they had more in common with a Christian from the first or second century CE than with many of the Pagans of the time. Most Christians I have known have been descent people just trying to get by. For this reason, among others, I worked in the story of Abselema, a haugbui who follows the white god and proves a wise and good friend to our band of heroes.  It allowed me to show a different aspect of the faiths involved and touch on the universal nature of faith. Don’t get the impression that this book harps on things or preaches, it doesn’t. I use many things as a backdrop.

Women of Power

            Women of power. I’ve never cared for helpless women in life or fiction. One, I can be a jerk. I need a woman who will growl back at me if I’m out of line. Two, helpless anybody is too high maintenance; you’re always putting out one fire or another. Give me a woman that can dust it up any day. This doesn’t mean she has to be physically stronger than the men. I make this point with Sigurlina when she fills in for the men on the oars, so that they can relieve themselves or get a bite to eat. She can keep up with the other rowers for a short time, but only for a short time. This acknowledges the simple truth that men have more upper-body strength than women. Women have better oxygen metabolism, endurance, and generally a higher pain threshold. Plus Sigurlina is a Seith, she wins hands down. :-)

 

            In Horn of the Kraken I play to strong women doing many of the roles they would have done in Norse society. The Norse did have a division of labour based on gender. Men did not work looms or grind flower. This didn’t unbalance their society because both sides had restrictions. I have been told that if a man wanted to study Seith he would have to live as a woman while he did so. Dressing as a woman doing woman’s work, the whole nine yards. Conversely, if a woman wanted to go a Viking she would have to live as a man for the voyage. Frankly, on a small ship this makes a lot of sense.  Gender was defined by clothing and social function similar to some of the North American first people’s tribes.

            I was temped to include this aspect in Horn of the Kraken, but for the sake of the Fjorn, Sigurlina relationship, and the mind set of modern readers, I decided against it. 

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