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About the Author
Geoffrey Gudgion served for over 10 years in the armed forces, and made his first attempts at writing fiction during quiet moments on deployment. He later stepped off the corporate ladder, in the midst of a career in marketing and general management, specifically to release time to write. Freelance consultancy paid the bills. His first novel, Saxon’s Bane, reached #1 in Amazon Kindle’s ‘Ghost’ category, and he now writes full time. When not crafting words he is an enthusiastic amateur equestrian and a very bad pianist.
Draca
Geoffrey Gudgion
This edition first published in 2020
Unbound
6th Floor Mutual House, 70 Conduit Street, London W1S 2GF
www.unbound.com All rights reserved
© Geoffrey Gudgion, 2020
The right of Geoffrey Gudgion to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-78965-106-5
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-78965-105-8
Cover design by Mecob
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
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Draca is dedicated to the members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces who struggle with the aftermath of conflict, and to their families.
All author r oyalties will be shared equally with the veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress.
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Ships came from east-way,
All eager for battle,
With grim gaping heads
And rich carved prows.
They carried a host of warriors,
With white shields
And spears from the Westlands
And Welsh wrought swords.
The berserks were roaring
(For this was their battle),
The wolf-coated warriors howling,
And the irons clattering
– Torbjørn Hornklove
Ninth century
Contents
Chapter One: Arfræningr (Old Norse: one stripped of his inheritance)
Chapter Two: Bálför (Old Norse: funeral pyre)
Chapter Three: Drekahōfuō (Old Norse: the dragon head on a ship’s bow)
Chapter Four: Haugbúi (Old Norse: ghost, undead man)
Chapter Six: Gjálfrmarr (Old Norse: steed of the sea)
Chapter Seven: Veizlu-fall (Old Norse: the failure of a feast)
Chapter Eight: Eiðabrigði (Old Norse: the breaking of an oath)
Chapter Nine: Djöfulóðr (Old Norse: possessed by spirits)
Chapter Ten: Allfeigligr (Old Norse: having the mark of death plain on one’s face)
Chapter Eleven: Dauða-dagr (Old Norse: a day of dying, or the day of one’s death)
