June Novel Essential Information

Novel Title: Distress

Time Setting: 917*

Genre: Fantasy

Minimum Word Goal: 90,000

Timespan: March–June

Locations: Friðærd, Cynehærdwyn and Wygþmynd, Sæwinstiþ, Æðelstynswiþ

Main Characters: Olwyn Friðærd, Bryn Gyðhærd

Background Information:

Way back in 855 the King of Sæwinstiþ went to war against the king of Flædleoflyn, who happened to be his brother-in-law. This war began because of religious differences between the two kings.

The King of Sæwinstiþ adhered to the traditional religion of Æðelstynswiþ, while the King of Flædleoflyn adhered to a religion that had arrived on the island from the Western Continent in the late 600s; the new religion was not favourably disposed to men keeping mistresses, which the King of Sæwinstiþ had plenty of — so many that count was lost long before he died.

Furthermore, the King of Sæwinstiþ married more than once; he only ever had one wife at a time, but if they couldn’t bear him a son they were promptly executed, which drew the ire of more than just the King of Flædleoflyn.

It was the King of Sæwinstiþ’s regular executing of his wives that actually prompted the comment by the King of Flædleoflyn which incited the war. That comment set in motion a bloody conflict that led to the disappearance of the Kingdom of Flædleoflyn and two other kingdoms from the maps of the island.

Even after the King of Sæwinstiþ died the war continued, through the brief reign of his son — who was fifteen when he died of illness in 898 — and onward through the reign of his oldest daughter, Queen Nemæn, who is often called just the Queen of the North.

Since her father’s demise she has conquered a good half the territory of King Pereður of Glædricgar and completely wiped the Kingdom of Sygæðelwulf off the map — the latter aided by King Urien’s suicide in 912 — and continues to make strides.

She has, however, failed to make any inroads into Cynehærdwyn, the realm of King Elaþa, whose forebears — like those of Flædleoflyn — received the religion from the Western Continent kindly and adhere to it strongly.

In fact, since 908 King Elaþa has succeeded in leading his men to make such inroads into Sæwinstiþ so as to have not only reached the capital, Wygþmynd, but to have nearly encircled the city; the only thing holding them back is the fact that they can’t tell when Queen Nemæn is in the city or not, and King Elaþa, for one, believes that if she is killed then her forces will fall and the four kingdoms that have been completely lost can be restored, among many other things.

Many see Queen Nemæn as possessing an incredible and malevolent magical force that makes her soldiers near-invincible — except against King Elaþa’s, who are also regarded as having some sort of magic by many — and so her death is important, and her death would be assured if it could be guaranteed that she is in her capital when the forces of King Elaþa would strike it.

Olwyn is the niece of King Elaþa, son of his brother, and is second-in-line to the throne of Cynehærdwyn after her brother. Her uncle named her brother his heir in 908, being as he was not married, thus he had no son of his own.

Because she is second-in-line she has been educated in some rather more masculine things, such as riding horses, using swords and bows, and managing royal affairs. Many of the chieftains of Cynehærdwyn don’t see too much reason to give her this education even though her brother is warring alongside her uncle against the forces of Sæwinstiþ, but her brother has given her extra education himself because he sees that she is quite intelligent and capable, even though she is a woman.

In recent weeks her father has started seeking a husband for her and has decided that the advisor Nychtan would be suitable. Olwyn has resisted her father’s efforts to pair them up, not because Nychtan is ugly or anything — in fact, he’s rather handsome — but because she feels quite unsafe around him and she doesn’t even know why.

Since her father’s become quite set on her marrying Nychtan she’s started looking for some other man to marry, but so far to no avail unfortunately, especially since she’s running out of time, as her father has threatened to set a wedding date for her and Nychtan, and she doesn’t know how she’s going to get out of it when the date’s set.

Pronunciations:

Friðærd: frihthigh'erd

Cynehærdwyn: kihnhiredwin

Wygþmynd: wigthminnd

Sæwintstiþ: sighwinstith

Æðelstynswiþ: ayethelstihns'with

Olwyn: ullwin

Gyðhærd: gith'ired

Flædleoflyn: fliedleeo'flyn

Nemæn: nehmine

Pereður: pehrehthur

Glædricgar: gliderickgahr

Sygæðelwulf: zigayethelwolf

Urien: yooreehn

Elaþa: elahtha

Nychtan: nicktan

*does not correspond to 917AD.

Novel Begins: June 3