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Series
The Wolves of Odin series follows Halfdan and the crew of the Sea Wolf from eleventh-century Scandinavia into the interconnected world of Byzantium, Italy, Normandy, England and Norway. Their blood feud begins amid Christianisation but soon becomes a wider search for wealth, honour and belonging among rulers who value experienced warriors.
The band serves with Varangians, Byzantine generals and ambitious northern lords while internal loyalties are strained by prophecy, religion and competing ambitions. Each journey places the fictional Wolves beside major changes in the Viking world, from court politics in Constantinople to Norman expansion and Harald Hardrada’s bid for the Norwegian throne.
Reading order
Scandinavia and the eastern routes, AD 1040. Christianisation has transformed royal power, but communities loyal to the old gods still survive at its margins. Halfdan watches a Christian jarl destroy his village, topple its Odin stone and kill his father, leaving him bound by an oath…
Constantinople, AD 1041. After avenging Halfdan’s father, the crew of the Sea Wolf joins Harald Hardrada’s fleet returning from Georgia and enters service with the Varangian Guard. The imperial capital offers wealth and renown, but Emperor Michael IV is dying and factions are already preparing for…
Southern Italy, AD 1043. Having escaped Constantinople without their ship, Halfdan and the Wolves serve as Byzantine mercenaries in the campaign of George Maniakes against the Normans. The promise of pay and plunder cannot conceal the strategic confusion surrounding imperial efforts to recover Apulia. Tension grows…
Normandy, AD 1044. The Wolves escort Beatrix de Hauteville to a marriage intended to calm conflict around the young and illegitimate Duke William. Her brother Serlo opposes the political settlement, and the union places the travelling war-band between families with armed followers and long memories. Halfdan…
Northern England, AD 1044. Escaping Norman politics, the Wolves sail to Jorvik and encounter an earl suspicious of their intentions. To prove good faith, they accept a task in the Yorkshire Dales, where the Viking warlord Arkil resists regional authority with a compact and experienced force.…
Scandinavia and Norway, mid-eleventh century. The Wolves return home as a renowned war-band, still seeking the priest Hjalmvigi, the last man implicated in the death of Halfdan’s father. At the harbour they find the stolen Sea Wolf and its famous thief, Harald Hardrada, preparing a challenge…