A Sacred Storm

Erlan Aurvandil has pledged himself to Sviggar Ivarsson, king of the Sveärs, in eighth-century Sweden. An old rivalry with the Danish king Harald Wartooth is returning to violence, while Erlan’s love for Sviggar’s daughter Lilla places his personal loyalties in direct conflict with his oath to her father. As alliances harden and border conflict escalates, the prospect of a much larger Scandinavian war becomes unavoidable.

The novel culminates in Brun’s version of the legendary Battle of Bråvellir, an episode preserved only in much later saga traditions. Brun incorporates Harald Wartooth and other names drawn from legend while freely reshaping the story and even its traditional outcome. The book therefore sits deliberately between historical fiction and historical fantasy: its society is archaeologically informed, but its central battle belongs to contested legendary history rather than secure documentary record.