Dragonseeker's Saga: New Tales of the Nine Worlds
Douglas "Dag" Rossman
What happens when you are inexperienced, brash, and determined to meet a dragon at at any cost? You’ll find yourself in deep trouble, that’s what! Follow the adventures of apprentice-storyteller Dag Ormseeker as he wanders through the Nine Worlds of Norse mythology, telling the tales he knows and learning new ones from an assortment of gods, giants, elves, and dwarves. Along the way he finds love, experiences loss, and discovers what is most important in life. And, of course, there are the dragons.... This book is the ideal gift for any one who has enjoyed myths, folklore, "Lord of the Rings," or Harry Potter--all are deeply rooted in Scandinavian traditions. Ages 12 & up. Paperback 144 pages. First edition published August 15, 2009
Rossman's Scandinavian ancestors would approve of The Dragonseeker Saga, a new collection of original short stories set in the nine Norse worlds. They would also find that those familiar tales had both changed and deepened. In Rossman's hands, myth is a living entity in which the past interacts with and informs the present... Where there is life, there is growth and evolution, as the author seeks to fill in some of the gaps in and among the earliest written versions of the stories that have come down to us. Like Tolkien, he's spent the most time and imagination in fleshing out the cosmology and culture of the Elves. Not unlike a picaresque hero, the main character, Dag Ormseeker (Dragonseeker), sets off on a journey throughout the Nine Worlds, and sweeps the reader along with him. Like a fairy tale protagonist or a Campbellian hero, Dag also has a quest: to tell tales of the gods and their foes, because the loss of those stories would mean that the gods could no longer reach humankind with their lore to help and heal them. Entwined with his profound knowledge of Norse myth... is Rossman's sheer ability as a storyteller. The book is a rich handful of crackling good stories. Like any fine genre writer, Rossman fulfills some of his or her readers' expectations of a tale set in the Norse mythic worlds (Odin has one eye, ravens and wolves), plays with other expectations (what if Odin were involved with a third raven...?), and adds some twists of his own. ... The Norse world-view is deeply embedded in these tales. Dag struggles against the forces of chaos, destruction, entropy and random ill-will: Niddhogg the dragon; Angrboda the troll-woman, a kind of anima-figure for Loki; the fight to resist despair or anger in the face of life's inevitable physical and emotional wounds. The universal truths and virtues illustrated here occur in the Havamal: courage; loyalty to loved ones; friendship self-respect; generosity; insight; strength of character. A more modern wisdom appears as well: the importance of dreams; the need to still the restless mind; the role of free will. Highly recommended! --Jodie Forrest, author of The Rhymer Trilogy