But understand this - no-one, including you, will ever have what it takes to sabotage me, pull me down or hold me back, because I refuse to allow them to!"
from the meditation Facing The Troll.
At the beginning of this month the new edition of my book of Norse Magic was published. This is the hardcover Extended Collector's Edition, with gold gilded page edges, gold foiling on the cover and stunning wolf artwork on the back of the book. It is fully illustrated throughout and it is just slightly smaller than A4 in size, so it is quite impressive. The design team have done a marvellous job and this book, along with my upcoming Celtic Magic Extended Edition, is part of a new collector's series called Gilded Magic. They are very beautiful tomes and the kind of books I used to pipe-dream about writing way back when I was still unpublished, many moons ago, so the publication of this edition is a writer's dream come true for me. It's just so pretty!
I was asked to write this extended edition last spring, shortly after I had a riding accident and it proved to be a fantastic escape for me. As I recovered from two broken wrists, which were still strapped up in post-operative splints at the time, I curled up with my laptop and took a mental journey to Norway, falling deep into the enchanted realms of Norse Mythology.
It was an incredibly healing writing experience. I was listening to several albums by a-ha as I worked on this project, thinking back to the time when I met the band at one of their concerts in 2010, and so my three favourite Norwegian boys have subtly found their way into certain parts of the book. I can only hope that I have done the mythology of their country justice, but it was wonderful to revisit this topic once again and draw upon those precious memories. I remember Morten telling me of the Norse fairytale East of the Sun, West of the Moon, which I hadn't heard of before, thinking it was simply the title of one of their albums, and so, in honour of this memory, I decided to write a meditation based on that story. You can read more about this meeting in the Acknowledgements of the book.
There are lots of meditations in this collector's edition and they were tremendous fun to write. From glade-skiing and wild-skating, to dog-sledding, enchanted castles and dragon ships - I have been free to develop my own fantasy pagan fairytales into tools of insight and relaxation. Writing the book was a great escape for me, taking my mind off the pain of my injuries and transporting me to a world of ice, snow and magic. I wanted my readers to be able to enjoy that same form of escapism, so I hope that the meditations help to facilitate that.
Norse mythology is a vast, multi-dimensional subject with many layers to explore. In my book, I have attempted to give readers a small taste of that complex and multi-faceted folklore, cherry picking the ideas, legends and characters that I found the most interesting and compelling, from Lagertha the Shield Maiden and Brynhild the Valkyrie, to the sad tale of Tyr and Fenrir. I hope that the book serves to whet the reader's appetite and that they will want to discover more, going on to do their own explorations of Norse mythology.
By far the most challenging aspect of writing a book like this one is the language difference and the spellings, which were the bane of my life! I had to check and double check spellings of names, places, battles and so on, every single time I wrote them down because I did not trust myself to simply remember the correct spelling and I didn't want to give the copy editor a hard time or offend the Norse people with my bad spelling! It was a bit of a headache - I do not speak Norwegian and the language barrier was difficult to work around, but it was worth it in the end.
This book had to be more than double the length of the original edition, so there was lots of space for me to explore the mythology more deeply and come up with lots of new material, from magic and meditations to legends and superstitions. I was even able to incorporate a touch of psychology too, which is always fun to do.
Norse Magic Collector's Edition was such a wonderful writing experience for me during a very difficult time as I recovered from the riding accident. Yes it was painful to write thousands of words each day while my wrists were still mending and my wounds healing, but the subject matter was so inspiring, the memories so deeply embedded in my heart, that I will forever look back on this project with fondness. It was impossible to feel sorry for myself when I was writing about the bravery of the Shield Maidens. It was impossible to feel defeated when I was invoking the strength of the Valkyries with my words. It is impossible to feel too isolated with a-ha's music and Morten's voice soaring in between writing sessions, with the memories keeping me company and dreaming my heart alive.
In a way, this book is a love letter to the boys of a-ha and I was thinking of them as I wrote it, so it is my own small way of saying thank you to them for the music that has been the soundtrack of my life and that has brought me such joy over the years.
For all those reasons, this book will always hold a very special place in my heart and I trust that it will find its way into your heart too. Here in the UK, we do not fear the longships - we've seen longships before. Men sailed here from the Northlands and hauled their boats ashore...and I for one, am very glad that they did, for they have left us with a tremendous legacy of myth and magic, courage and romance. Enjoy this new foray into the realms of Nordic magic and bewitchery! Forever yours x
Serene Blessings
Marie x
AD: Norse Magic Extended Edition is out now in hardcover. Celtic Magic Extended Edition is up for Pre-Order now.
No comments:
Post a Comment