All young Eyvind ever wanted was to become a great Viking warrior--a Wolfskin--and perform honorable deeds out in the name of his War fathergod, Thor. He can think of no future more glorious. And the chance to make it happen is his when his older brother Ulf is brought the tale of a magical land across the sea, a place where men with courage could go to conquer a land and bring glory to themselves. They set out to find this fabled land and discover a windswept and barren place, but one filled with unexpected beauty and hidden treasures... and a people who are willing to share their bounty. Ulf's new settlement begins in harmony with the natives of the isles led by the gentle king Engus. And Eyvind finds a treasure of his own in the young Nessa, niece of the king, seer, and princess. His life will change forever as she claims his heart for her own. But someone has come along to this new land who is not what he seems. Eyvind's heartfriend, Somerled, the strange and lonely boy Eyvind befriended so long ago has a secret--and his own plans for the future. The blood oath that they swore in childhood binds them in lifelong loyalty, and Somerled is calling in the debt of honor. What he asks might just doom Evyind to kill the only thing that he has ever truly loved. Will the price of honor create the destruction of all that Eyvind holds dear? Critically acclaimed fantasist Juliet Marillier returns with the start of a new fantasy saga, a wonderful love story set amidst high adventure. Wolfskin is a lush tale of the clash between the warlike Norsemen and the mysterious and magical people who live at the top of the world in the land that will become Scotland--and it is the story of the man and woman who forge a bond that will remake their world. The only things young Eyvind has ever wanted--passionately!--are to be a Viking warrior, a Wolfskin, and to serve the mighty war god, Thor. One summer night during his fifteenth year, Wolfskins take Eyvind from the home of his mother and into the mountains for the harrowing warrior's initiation. Eyvind passes with flying colors and quickly earns a reputation as the strongest, most fearless Wolfskin in his jarl's retinue. He is now sure of his life path: a short but glorious life as a Wolfskin, with perhaps a woman and a child or two, leading to an honorable warrior's death. The gods have other plans for Eyvind, however--plans that will take him to a strange land of unsurpassed beauty, to a wild young priestess who saves his life and captures his heart, and ultimately to the edge of sanity, where he will either find his unique soul or lose it forever. An engrossing, beautifully written work of historical fiction and a portrait of a man's fierce struggle to find his own truth. Paula Luedtke Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Juliet Marillier is among the most skilled of fantasy writers.... She is far better than Marion Zimmer Bradley."--Sara Douglass "Juliet Marillier is among the most skilled of fantasy writers.... She is far better than Marion Zimmer Bradley."--Sara Douglass All young Eyvind ever wanted was to become a great Viking warrior--a Wolfskin--and perform honorable deeds out in the name of his War fathergod, Thor. He can think of no future more glorious. And the chance to make it happen is his when his older brother Ulf is brought the tale of a magical land across the sea, a place where men with courage could go to conquer a land and bring glory to themselves. They set out to find this fabled land and discover a windswept and barren place, but one filled with unexpected beauty and hidden treasures... and a people who are willing to share their bounty. Ulf's new settlement begins in harmony with the natives of the isles led by the gentle king Engus. And Eyvind finds a treasure of his own in the young Nessa, niece of the king, seer, and princess. His life will change forever as she claims his heart for her own. But someone has come along to this new land who is not what he seems. Eyvind's heartfriend, Somerled, the strange and lonely boy Eyvind befriended so long ago has a secret--and his own plans for the future. The blood oath that they swore in childhood binds them in lifelong loyalty, and Somerled is calling in the debt of honor. What he asks might just doom Evyind to kill the only thing that he has ever truly loved. Will the price of honor create the destruction of all that Eyvind holds dear? Critically acclaimed fantasist Juliet Marillier returns with the start of a new fantasy saga, a wonderful love story set amidst high adventure. Wolfskin is a lush tale of the clash between the warlike Norsemen and the mysterious and magical people who live at the top of the world in the land that will become Scotland--and it is the story of the man and woman who forge a bond that will remake their world. Juliet Marillier is the author of The Sevenwaters Trilogy: Daughter of the Forest, Son of the Shadows (winner of the 2000