54 pages • 1 hour read
John GwynneThe Shadow of the Gods
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Orka”
Content Warning: This section contains scenes of graphic violence, enslavement, and child abuse.
Orka and Thorkel guide their son, Breca, through his first hunt of reindeer. The family hear distant screams, which lead them to the home of Asgrim, a fellow villager. Asgrim lies dead with a stab wound to the heart and his body is being desecrated by scavenging creatures called tennúr, which have taken his teeth. The stockade gates are ominously open, and Asgrim’s wife, Idrun, is nailed to the gate and disemboweled.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Varg”
Varg, a man who liberated himself from enslavement, has run for days along a river that leads to Liga, a bustling port town where he plans to seek magical help to avenge his sister, Frøya. There, he learns that a band of mercenaries, the Bloodsworn, is in town and that they travel with a Seiðr-witch named Vol.
Varg heads toward the town’s longhouse, where the Bloodsworn are hosted by Jarl Logur. The longhouse’s steps are crowded with warriors, including the deadly Einar Half-Troll, because the Bloodsworn are holding trials to fill a vacancy left by a fallen member.
When Varg approaches a Bloodsworn member, Svik, to request access to the witch, he is dismissed, as Vol’s abilities are reserved solely for the Bloodsworn. Seeing no other option, Varg says he will fight Einar Half-Troll in the trial.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Orka”
Orka and Breca load Asgrim and Idrun’s bodies onto a wagon and take them to the nearby fishing village of Fellur to inform the local leadership and seek justice, while Thorkel stays behind to track the killers. Orka is uneasy about separating from her husband, but he insists as he is the better tracker.
When they reach Fellur, Orka finds the community buzzing with news of Jarl Sigrún’s imminent return after being summoned to Queen Helka’s court. In his absence, the jarl’s nephew, Guðvarr, is temporarily in charge. Orka presents the bodies to him and says the murdered couple’s son, Harek, was abducted.
Guðvarr blames the killings on monstrous beings called vaesen, but Orka points out that the wounds came from human weapons. The public contradiction embarrasses Guðvarr, and their argument nearly escalates into violence. Thorkel then arrives with news: He tracked the killers to a river, but they used boats to escape. Guðvarr dismisses their concerns, and Orka decides her family should return home.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Varg”
Varg steps into the fighting square and, despite being offered a shield, he refuses, drawing mockery from both the spectators and the Bloodsworn. Einar Half-Troll enters the square and the fight begins. While Varg’s street-fighting tactics give him a temporary edge, Einar’s strength and experience quickly overwhelm him. Varg refuses to stay down, which earns him grudging respect from the Bloodsworn, even as he falls unconscious.
When Varg awakens, he finds himself alone and injured on the outskirts of Liga. He resolves to continue his search for someone to help him. However, he is quickly ambushed by armed men and hounds in the woods, led by Leif, the son of the man Varg killed in his escape. They overpower Varg, but the Bloodsworn intervene and kill Leif’s group. When Leif claims that Varg belongs to him, the Bloodsworn leader, Glornir, dismisses him, saying Varg is one of the Bloodsworn now.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Elvar”
The mercenary band, the Battle-Grim, row their ship, Wave-Jarl, to reach Iskalt Island, a desolate place dominated by a fiery mountain. They are guided by their chief, Agnar, and protected by the dark magic of Kráka, the enslaved Tainted woman they use for tracking and protection. As they arrive at a secluded harbor, one of the younger warriors, Elvar, dons her armor.
The Battle-Grim disembark and approach the island’s village in the shadow of the mountain. Agnar tells the villagers they are looking for Berak, a Tainted man, and offers money for his surrender. Hrut, the village jarl, says they don’t know the man but is cut down, sparking a fight between the Battle-Grim and the villagers. Afterward, Elvar and other members of the Battle-Grim follow Berak into the woods.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Orka”
Orka wakes from a nightmare of blood and battle beside her husband, Thorkel. She attempts to start her morning routine, but finds that Breca is missing. She and Thorkel track him from the steading through the nearby woods. They follow his trail upstream and find him by a pool, unharmed but holding a wounded tennúr, a small vaesen with fragile wings and sharp claws. Breca says he went out after hearing its cries and offered one of his teeth to calm the creature, whom he calls Vesli. Orka scolds her son and slaps him, but Thorkel intervenes and stops her.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Elvar”
Elvar and the Battle-Grim pursue Berak, who fled with his wife and son, into the snowy hills beyond the village. As they climb, the warriors find troll dung and frost-spider webs. The group reaches a plateau, where they find Berak fighting a young bull troll. Agnar orders the Battle-Grim into action. Though they bring the troll down, with a fatal wound inflicted by Elvar, several Battle-Grim warriors are killed or gravely injured.
After the fight, the Battle-Grim capture the woman, Uspa, and child, Bjarn. To provoke Berak into revealing his true nature, Agnar holds a sword to Bjarn’s throat. The act triggers Berak’s “Berserkir” nature, and he grows larger, his teeth sharpen, and his strength becomes almost unstoppable. The Battle-Grim manage to get a magical collar onto him, which subdues him.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Orka”
Orka argues with Thorkel, saying he’s too lenient with their son. The family’s insect-like protector, Spert, is distrustful of Vesli, but she promises not to hurt him or Breca.
The peace is disrupted by the arrival of three warriors from Fellur, led by Guðvarr. The warriors bring news of Jarl Sigrún’s return and their summons to an assembly on the Oath Rock in six days. Orka and Thorkel are reluctant to attend, wary of becoming entangled in political disputes. However, in the end, they agree to go, knowing their absence might draw unwanted attention.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Elvar”
Elvar wakes, still sore from the fight with the troll. The Battle-Grim load the Wave-Jarl with supplies and spoils from their raid on the village, then leave. Agnar gives Elvar a troll tusk for her role in the creature’s slaying. Her pride is short-lived, however, as a sea serpent attacks the ship and nearly capsizes it. Bjarn falls overboard and Elvar jumps into the sea to save him. Her mentor, Grend, follows to protect her. They narrowly escape the serpent thanks to a song sung by Uspa, who is revealed to be a Seiðr-witch. As the Wave-Jarl sails southward, Agnar reveals his intentions to sell Berak to Jarl Störr in Snakavik, which concerns Elvar.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Orka”
Orka, Thorkel, and Breca attend the meeting at the Oath Rock. They pass shattered remnants of the rune-carved stone once used for swearing oaths to the gods. Breca questions why it was destroyed, and Thorkel explains the fall of the gods and humanity’s rejection of their destructive legacy.
The meeting draws a crowd from Jarl Sigrún’s growing domain, including fisherfolk, craftsmen, and landowners. Orka speaks with Virk, a fisherman, about the recent child-kidnappings and murders in the region. The man is frustrated with Jarl Sigrún’s lack of action.
Jarl Sigrún herself arrives, flanked by her warriors and a Tainted warrior. She announces her allegiance to Queen Helka, saying it’s necessary to protect her people from encroaching threats. While some see the alliance as inevitable, others, like Virk, balk at the loss of autonomy. Orka openly voices her concerns that the queen will conscript them into her wars. Virk then accuses Guðvarr of failing to protect their community, and Guðvarr challenges him to a duel. Virk accepts and asks Orka to serve as his second, trusting her more than his sons should he lose. Though reluctant, Orka agrees.
Chapters 1-10 Analysis
The first 10 chapters establish the novel’s three point-of-view characters—Orka, Elvar, and Varg—while building its tone, themes, and setting. The novel is told in chapters that alternate between the trio of protagonists, with each chapter written in the third-person perspective. Each of the protagonists is driven by distinct motivations that anchor their respective narratives.
The book is set in the world of Vigrið nearly 300 years after a cataclysmic war between the gods. This event echoes the story of Ragnarök, or Ragnarøkkr, the “Twilight of the Gods,” as written in the 13th-century Norse texts Poetic Edda and Prose Edda (See: Background). In the myth, the gods clash in a battle, resulting in virtually all of their deaths. Vigrið is set in a world like this, with humanity attempting to survive in the aftermath. In addition to the mythological elements, the setting takes heavy inspiration from actual Viking-age culture. The characters use period-accurate weapons and armor, such as the type of sword called a seax and the brynja, a type of mail shirt, drawn from Gwynne’s background as a Viking re-enactor.
Orka’s chapters establish her as a protective mother and skilled warrior. Though idyllic on the surface, her life with Thorkel and Breca is underlined with tension. Nightmares of blood and battle still haunt Orka. She resists waking Thorkel after her nightmares, saying she does not want to “burden him with [her] weakness” (49). The conflict between vulnerability and strength is a recurring idea in her characterization. Orka’s storyline also introduces the key theme of Familial Bonds and Sacrifice. Everything she does, she does to protect her family, including remaining stoic and suppressing her feelings for the sake of her husband and son. Her stoicism and pragmatism contrast with Breca’s innocence. He decides to leave the safety of the steading to help Vesli, which shows his compassion and curiosity. However, the same curiosity places him in danger.
The threat of violence becomes tangible following the discovery of the mutilated bodies of Asgrim and Idrun, which is described in unflinching detail, reflecting the novel’s adherence to the conventions of “grimdark” fantasy (See: Background). Violence is a constant in Vigrið, and the novel is replete with graphic depictions of combat—from the murdered couple, to the fight between the Battle-Grim and the troll, to the fighting to earn a place in the Bloodsworn. Due to her prior life as a famous warrior under the moniker “Skullsplitter,” Orka is more than aware of the violence inherent to the world. She thinks about the so-called “Age of Peace” they are living in following the death of the gods with skepticism, and believing instead that “This is the age of storm and murder” (9).
The fractured state of the world echoes the moral and social fractures in the characters’ lives, raising the question of what peace can even mean in a world full of chaos and destruction. The tensions in the community are worsened by Guðvarr, who represents arrogance, privilege, and self-importance. He assumes that Asgrim and Idrun’s deaths were inevitable because they were “Loners, living in the wild” (26). The crowd reacts poorly to his declaration and again to his speech about Queen Helka’s rule. Villagers like Virk openly challenge the idea, emphasizing their history as free people and that the centralization of authority would come at the cost of their freedom. These tense interactions suggest that violence is always simmering just beneath the surface and that any semblance of peace and order is fragile.
The harshness and violence inherent in life in Vigrið are emphasized in Elvar’s chapters. The Bloodsworn are almost uncharacteristically moral compared to the Battle-Grim, whose first mission is to hunt down and enslave a Tainted man, Berak. Agnar is shown to be both cunning and ruthless, and his leadership is defined by his willingness to use any means necessary to achieve his goals. He provokes Berak into revealing his Tainted nature by threatening his son, Bjarn. He wields his power through strength, intimidation, and the willingness to act decisively. It trickles into how the mercenary band functions.
While Elvar displays more compassion than her fellows—such as by jumping into the sea to rescue Bjarn when he falls overboard—she is also disdainful of the villagers. She reflects on the massacre of over a dozen of them as “Not much of a battle” (57). Elvar also has no objections to the enslavement of the Tainted, and her only objection to Agnar selling Berak is where he has decided to do so. She, like the other two protagonists, is focused on her own goal to the exclusion of everyone and everything else. Only the children seem to maintain a firm ethical sense, while the adults’ kidnappings and casual violence against children embody the moral corruption and violence of this world (See: Symbols & Motifs).
