Druid Sacrifice

Drawing on the early Christian legends of Strathclyde, the novel follows Thanea—better known in tradition as Teneu—the daughter of the pagan King Loth and, in Arthurian genealogy, the niece of Arthur and sister of Gawain. Although born to privilege, she openly rejects the druids’ practice of human sacrifice and refuses the marriage chosen by her father. Her defiance is punished by abandonment in an oarless coracle, set adrift as an offering to the sea.

Thanea survives the ordeal and is washed ashore on the coast of Fife, where she is sheltered by the monks associated with Saint Serf. Her presence as the only woman within their religious community challenges custom and suspicion, while her later pregnancy exposes her to renewed judgement. The child she bears is Kentigern, remembered as Saint Mungo, the missionary bishop traditionally linked with the foundation of Glasgow. Tranter reshapes saintly legend into a story of religious conflict, endurance and the uncertain passage from pagan Britain to a Christian Scotland.