King of War

by Peter Gibbons Book 4 in the The Viking Blood and Blade Saga series.

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Norway, 874. Harald Fairhair is fighting to bring Norway's rival rulers under his command. After provoking Ketill Flatnose, Hundr and his crew are drawn into Harald's campaign and ordered to recover the Yngling sword, a weapon associated with royal legitimacy and the old gods. The search places them at the centre of a war for kingship in which jarls, oath-bound warriors and family alliances determine who will rule the north.

The sword gives the campaign a symbolic centre because Harald’s claim depends on persuading independent rulers that his authority is legitimate as well as militarily effective. Hundr is therefore drawn into a contest over who may define kingship in Norway. Recovering the weapon matters less for its practical value than for what possession of it can make warriors believe about the ruler who carries it.