1. The Horse Goddess
In eighth-century BCE central Europe, Epona is born into a Celtic community that recognises her unusual spiritual gifts and expects her to accept a sacred role. Unwilling to surrender control of her life, she leaves with Kazhak, a Scythian prince whose people have mastered mounted warfare,…
2. Bard
Amergin, druid and chief bard to the sons of Milesios, preserves the history of a Celtic people living in north-western Iberia. As their prosperity fails and reports arrive of a fertile island beyond the sea, his poetic vision helps persuade his family and followers to abandon…
3. On Ravens Wing
The boy Setanta arrives at Emain Macha determined to join the Red Branch, the elite warriors who defend Ulster under King Conor. His ferocity and extraordinary skill earn him the name Cú Chulainn, but the gifts that make him Ireland’s greatest champion also isolate him from…
4. Finn Mac Cool
Born outside the privileges of Ireland’s ruling elite, the young Finn sets out to win a place among the Fianna, the independent warrior bands who guard the country and live by hunting, poetry and martial skill. Intelligence and ambition carry him from obscurity to command, while…
5. Brendan
Brendan of Clonfert grows from a wilful child into a monk, teacher and founder during the expansion of Christianity across early medieval Ireland. Refusing to accept a life defined entirely by others, he travels through the island, gathers disciples and establishes religious communities while wrestling with…
6. Lion of Ireland
Brian, the youngest son of a minor ruler of Dál gCais, grows up in an Ireland divided among rival dynasties and exposed to the power of Norse towns and raiders. Through warfare, political calculation and an ability to unite former enemies, he rises from local resistance…
7. Pride of Lions
After Brian Boru is killed at Clontarf, his fifteen-year-old son Donough inherits a famous name but not an uncontested throne. Ireland’s provincial kings resume their rivalries, Brian’s surviving sons compete over succession, and Donough’s mother Gormlaith continues to pursue power through alliances that place her children…
8. The Wind from Hastings
Edyth of Mercia is drawn into the dynastic politics of eleventh-century Britain through her marriage to the Welsh king Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and, after his death, to Harold Godwinson. Her life connects the competing royal houses of Wales and England as Edward the Confessor’s succession becomes…