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 46-53Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 46 Summary: “Orka”
Content Warning: This section contains scenes of graphic violence, enslavement, and child abuse.
Orka leads the brothers into the Boneback Mountains after Drekr, heading toward the Grimholt, a fortress guarding a pass into the northlands. They stumble upon a shattered oath stone with a fresh carving and the bloodied corpse of a massive eagle suspended above it. Orka identifies the carvings as linked to Lik-Rifa, suggesting a growing resurgence of dragon-worshippers.
As they travel, Orka continues to train Mord and Lif for their eventual confrontation with Guðvarr. While the brothers improve, Orka emphasizes the dangers of fighting well-armed and armored opponents.
Chapter 47 Summary: “Varg”
Varg wakes to chaos within the Bloodsworn camp. The others tell him that Vol is Glornir’s wife. He was driven into a rage at her kidnapping and was confined to a separate chamber for the group’s safety. They also tell Varg that not only Glornir, but all of the Bloodsworn are Tainted, including Varg himself, a descendant of Ulfrir the wolf.
Though initially resistant to the news, Varg realizes it explains the rage that fuels him and his survival instincts. Glornir finally emerges and formally invites Varg to join the Bloodsworn. Varg accepts and receives an arm ring as a symbol of his bond with the warband. The Bloodsworn then prepare to rescue Vol and get revenge on Skalk.
Chapter 48 Summary: “Elvar”
Elvar and the Battle-Grim enter the Gallows Wood, where countless desiccated corpses hang from the trees. The group, already tense, becomes more wary as they feel the lingering presence of divine power pulsing as a tremor beneath their feet.
Upon reaching Oskutreð, the Battle-Grim are met with a vast, ashen plain littered with the remains of ancient gods and their creations, including the skeletal form of Ulfrir the wolf. At the heart of the wasteland lies the blackened stump of the great Ash Tree.
The group is stopped by Vörn Askasdottir, a Froa-spirit and guardian of Oskutreð who emerges from the sapling growing beside the stump. She forbids them from approaching the tree itself, warning of dire consequences should they disturb the sacred ground or the prison beneath, which houses Lik-Rifa.
Agnar directs the Battle-Grim to scavenge relics from the surrounding mounds instead, but their collection is interrupted when Ilska, her fellow dragon-blood, Drekr, and the Raven-Feeders arrive.
Chapter 49 Summary: “Orka”
Orka, Lif, and Mord arrive at Grimholt. While Orka begins planning how to infiltrate the fortress, a strange sound draws their attention to the forest. The trio come across two giant ravens trapped in webs and surrounded by giant frost-spiders. Orka attacks the spiders, accompanied by the reluctant brothers, as the ravens fight to free themselves. Lif is bitten and his body seizes from the spider venom.
As the other two desperately fight off the spiders, two riders arrive: Skalk and Yrsa, the latter of whom is leading a third horse carrying a bound Vol and a large chest. Skalk incinerates the spiders with magic and more armed figures emerge from the forest. Orka tries to carry Lif to safety, but Skalk hits her with his staff and knocks her down.
Chapter 50 Summary: “Elvar”
Agnar organizes the Battle-Grim into a defensive formation near the remains of Ulfrir-wolf to prepare for the confrontation with Ilska and her Raven-Feeders. Ilska suggests a duel between champions rather than an outright battle between the warbands, and appoints her brother, Skrið, as hers. Agnar accepts and the Battle-Grim watch as the two men fight.
Despite the odds, Agnar kills Skrið by stabbing shards of his broken shield into his throat. The Battle-Grim cheer, but the triumph is short-lived as Agnar collapses from his injuries. Ilska signals her forces to advance. The Raven-Feeders reveal rows of captive children, with Bjarn among them. As Agnar struggles to rise, Biórr kills him in front of the stunned Battle-Grim.
Chapter 51 Summary: “Orka”
Orka, Lif, and Mord are led as captives into the Grimholt fortress. Orka hears a cry she thinks is Breca’s, but is knocked unconscious when she tries to escape. When she regains consciousness, a white-haired warrior named Skapti interrogates her and the brothers. Orka tries to feign ignorance, but the man threatens to kill Lif. In an attempt to stall, she admits she is hunting Drekr.
The interrogation is interrupted by the arrival of Guðvarr, who kills Mord. A child’s scream echoes from the courtyard, triggering Orka’s Tainted blood, granting her the strength to break free of her bonds, kill the guards, and retrieve her weapons. As she fights her way through the Grimholt, the two giant ravens Orka saved arrive to help her, bringing Spert and Vesli with them. With their help, Orka carves a path through her enemies toward the courtyard.
Chapter 52 Summary: “Elvar”
As Biórr stands over Agnar’s body, he tells Elvar that Agnar deserved death for enslaving others. He tells her that he, too, is Tainted, and allied with Ilska. He uses the keys he took from Agnar to free the Tainted currently held by the Battle-Grim. Elvar tries to attack him, but Grend pulls her back.
The Raven-Feeders attack and the Battle-Grim hold the line despite being outnumbered. However, Elvar sustains a grievous wound during the fight. Grend drags her from the front lines, urging her to recover and rejoin the fight with a spear.
As the battle rages, Ilska and her followers lead the captured children to a massive trapdoor at the base of the ash tree, intent on completing their dark ritual to free Lik-Rifa. Ilska uses the Raudskinna and the magic of the Tainted children to shatter the seals binding the dragon. Lik-Rifa erupts from her prison in a storm of ash and debris. Two winged figures—Orna’s daughters—arrive and attempt to bring her down, but are ultimately killed.
Lik-Rifa briefly transforms into a humanoid form to speak with Ilska and Drekr. She says she will reclaim her ancient hall and wreak vengeance on the world, then returns to her dragon form and takes to the skies. Elvar, battered and shaken, can only watch helplessly as the god and her followers depart, leaving destruction in their wake.
Chapter 53 Summary: “Varg”
Varg and the Bloodsworn continue their pursuit of Skalk and his party through the Boneback Mountains. The scouts, led by Edel, notice the smells of smoke and blood ahead, and Glornir orders the group to prepare for battle.
They reach the burning ruins of the Grimholt to find Orka sitting amongst the carnage with Spert, Vesli, and a small group of children. Glornir approaches her and addresses her as “Skullsplitter.” He asks about his brother, Thorkel, and Orka replies that he is dead and Breca is gone. She cries, and Glornir hugs her.
Chapters 46-53 Analysis
Gwynne ends The Shadow of the Gods with none of his three point-of-view characters having completed their goals and all of them reeling from loss and betrayal, deepening the text’s exploration of The Costs of Vengeance and Glory.
Varg is now a true member of the Bloodsworn, but he has to deal with the revelation that they are all Tainted. His initial denial and revulsion upon learning the truth is because, in some ways, it represents a step backward from the position in which he started the story. On a societal level, a Tainted person is considered “Lower than a thrall” (415); however, the Bloodsworn do not represent society as Varg knows it to be. Like a shield wall, they use their numbers and unity to protect themselves from the world outside the warband, forming their own community on a small scale where they can exist as themselves. Until they were sure of Varg, they kept that part of themselves closed off from him. He, too, kept himself closed off from them until after the battle. By the end of the book, however, while he is no closer to finding a way to avenge his sister, he has found himself.
For Orka, her quest for vengeance is complicated by the memory of her son and the presence of Mord and Lif. When they find the ravens being attacked by the frost-spiders, the usually cold and pragmatic Orka’s decision to intervene is again fueled by her last memory of Breca, when he saved the moth. The fight in the woods repeats that moment on a larger scale. The frost-spiders serve as a representation of the brutal natural order of life in Vigrið. Despite knowing she lives in “a world of tooth and claw, where life is battle” (435), she is still compelled to act. While she was once the famed Skullsplitter, a ruthless warrior and leader of the Bloodsworn, she is also a mother who loves her son. Breca believes in a better, more just future, and so becomes a symbol of hope.
The ravens escape because of Orka and the brothers’ intervention, but the trio lose the element of surprise against the Grimholt and are captured by Skalk. It isn’t a total loss, however: The concept of a human character being rewarded for doing a good turn for a magical creature is a motif throughout folktales worldwide, one which Gwynne taps into here. Despite appearing to be the wrong move in the short term, the ravens return to help Orka on her rampage through the Grimholt. They even bring Vesli and Spert with them. Although she frees herself and the other children held captive in the fortress, it is still not enough. Once more, Breca is out of her reach.
Elvar’s narrative arc in The Shadow of the Gods likewise ends in disaster when Biórr, with whom she’d had a budding romance, murders Agnar and reveals he was allied with the Raven-Feeders the whole time. The betrayal is not without its motivations, as Biórr justifies himself by citing the dehumanization of the Tainted. His first act after killing the Battle-Grim’s leader is to free the two Tainted people the warband kept enslaved. He tells Elvar, “We Tainted are human, too, are people of flesh and blood, can feel joy and happiness, pain and heartbreak. We are not animals to be hunted and sold” (460). Biórr’s reasons are noble compared to the actions of Agnar and the Battle-Grim, who began the story by terrorizing a village and then enslaving a man and his family.
However, Biórr’s moral position is muddied by the fact that he is working for Ilska and Drekr. They are zealots of the imprisoned Lik-Rifa and are determined to see her freed by any means necessary. Considering Biórr’s stated reason for working with them, his actions are tinged with hypocrisy. For the ritual, Ilska, Drekr, and their followers kidnapped Tainted children and murdered their parents. They bring 90 of these children in total with them to Oskutreð. The Battle-Grim cannot stop the ritual’s completion, and Lik-Rifa emerges from her prison, showing Elvar that she was wrong about the dragon god’s existence. Lik-Rifa’s awakening also fulfills the warning Uspa gave the mercenaries earlier in the novel: By seeking wealth and glory without heeding the inevitable risks, the Battle-Grim participated in the blow that left an already fractured world broken and teetering on the brink of destruction.
