The Challenge – a Viking Romance

Thyra Dane

4 years ago

He broke her nose when they were children. Now he’s telling her to be his wife. Telling her, not asking her.

Borghild meets her childhood friend again. He a Jarl, she’s the woman he left behind.
“His smile? She would force that smile off his mouth, with her sword if necessary. “

Borghild doesn’t have much but she has her honor. The only way to keep it is to challenge Eivind, the new jarl, to a holmgang.

Eivind is home from his long trip abroad. He’s laid claim to the throne, now he needs his childhood friend to marry him. Borghild is as proud as he remembered.

A challenge? Let the battle begin.

This was the blurb from my new short story The Challenge – a Viking Romance.

It’s a part of the great Historical Romance Anthology Kissing and other Scandalous Pastimes. Kissing and other Scandalous Pastimes has ten wonderful historical romances. All the proceeds go to breast cancer research.

New Historical Romance anthology

You can read all about Borghild and Eivind in my new short story The Challenge in the historical romance anthology Kissing and other Scandalous Pastimes. It was published yesterday and, apart from my Viking romance, it has wonderful stories about dukes, Indian princes, and love through the times.

He tells her to marry him. She challenges him to a Holmgang.
“How much time do you need to prepare to fight your future husband?”

Vikings are fascinating

I’ve been fascinated by Vikings since I was a kid. When I grew up in Scandinavia there was always another excavation site, another Viking festival, and a new piece of information uncovered about the proud men and women who roamed these lands 1000 years ago.

What fascinates me the most is how men and women had equally strong roles back then. Both men and women fought–men, probably, more than women–and women carried the keys to the family treasures.

Women could hold important positions. They could also get a divorce–and keep their fortunes when divorced–if their husbands were violent, if he was gone for too long or if he didn’t satisfy her in bed. Actually, the two latter were connected because “being gone for too long” meant “not being there to satisfy her in bed.”