Folklore of the 'Nix'

In my novel, the Saxon tribe of the Wolf Sons (who give their name to the book’s title - WULFSUNA) face a terrifying entity. What, you wonder, could put the fear into the hearts of several scores of burly Saxon warriors? Mortal enemies with swords and spears can be vanquished. Those foes do not frighten them. Even death, though often gruesome, is a fate greeted bravely, for it means acceptance to Woden’s great hall and a feast before the last great battle of the world. It is something far more sinister and foreboding that grips these men’s hearts with ice.

Writing Historical Dialogue

At a recent library book club engagement I chose to openly explore the subject of writing dialogue in historical novels. As you can imagine, this is an area of the writing process fraught with difficulties posed by which period of history you have chosen and the availability (or lack of) detail about language during that age. My audience found it fascinating, evident from their own eager input during my talk, which became more of a group discussion. (I love it when that happens, don’t you?) I decided, therefore, to expand on it and share it here.

I have found historical dialogue to be a fine balance between staying true to a period and not alienating readers. Whilst there are those whose excitement mounts at every historical term used for armour, weaponry, clothing or day-to-day utensils, not everyone is after a language lesson. The majority of readers are in search of intriguing story and larger-than-life characters. One of the ways in which we authors can move the story forward and enhance the image of our characters is through the exchange of speech. We can immediately gain a sense of character when they open their mouth.