Hakon Haraldsson*—son of King Harald and Thora; known in history as King Hakon the Good Snaefrid Svasadottir?*—a Sámi former wife of King Harald; mother of Rognvald and three other sons; said to have bewitched the king for years until her death Steinvor—Kolfinna’s young daughter
Hallgrim*—a blacksmith in Vestfold who mentored Halldor
TERMS
There are some terms that I chose to keep in their original forms because they didn’t have fitting English equivalents: disir （ON: dísir; singular: dís）—female fate spirits that were powerful enough to warrant a yearly sacrifice （disablot/ON: dísablót）， though little else is known about them fosterage—fostering in the Viking Age was different from how we think of it now, in that people would willingly send their children to be raised by others in order to build alliances and networks, and in some cases for the children to learn trades （such as the law） fylgja （plural: fylgjur）—a female fate spirit that appears when a person is about to die or something critical is about to occur; typically runs in family lines, especially down the matriarchal line; can sometimes appear as an animal hersir （plural: hersar）—landholder who keeps a number of armed men and is expected to muster more when the king calls upon him to fight hird—a king’s retinue, his sworn men and bodyguards
hnefatafl （or tafl）—a strategy board game
jarls—the chieftains who governed different areas of Norway under King Harald and his sons; commonly rendered into English as “earls”
noaidi—Sámi practitioners of magic, called noaidevuohta seax—a single-edged short sword
skald—sometimes rendered as “poet” or “bard”; poetry in the Viking Age was a form of currency and could make or break one’s reputation, so good skalds were highly valued, especially by kings the warding songs （ON: vardlokkur）—songs sung by women to call the spirits and protect the person communing with them
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Weaver and the Witch Queen kicked my ass many, many times over the course of two years.
Thank you to the people who got me through:
To my editor, Jessica Wade: Much like The Witch’s Heart, this would’ve been a completely different book without you, and not for the better. To my first agent, Rhea Lyons, for helping to shape this book in its very earliest stages. To my current agent, Brianne Johnson, for your enthusiasm for my stories and appreciation of my boundless geekery.
To Jessica Mangicaro, Yazmine Hassan, Stephanie Felty, Elisha Katz, Gabbie Pachon, Dan Walsh, and the team at Ace/Berkley. To Adam Auerbach for another lovely cover. To Daniel Carpenter and the team at Titan Books in the UK, and to Julia Lloyd for the stunning cover for the UK edition of Weaver. To the publishers and translators who brought The Witch’s Heart to readers all over the world.
To Kati Felix, H. M. Long, M. J. Kuhn, Alexis Henderson, Mariah McGuire, Stephen Pollard, and Kristin Ell, for being my earliest readers; to Shannon Mullally, my one-woman hype team; to Allen Chamberlin, Emily DeTar Birt, Candyce Beal, Mirria Martin-Tesone, Angela Rodriguez, Jessica Bladek, Sarah Gunnoe, Ryann Burke, Emma Tanskanen, and Terryl Bandy; to Casey Eade, Siobhán Clark, Joshua Gillingham, Lyra Wolf, and Cat Rector; and to everyone else who’s had to listen to me ramble about this book for the past two years: Thank you （and sorry）。
To my friends at Dog-Eared Books in Ames, Iowa, for making this author—who debuted during a pandemic with understandably little in-person fanfare—feel so special and loved.
To Allison Epstein, Greta Kelly, J. S. Dewes, Ava Reid, Hannah F. Whitten, C. L. Clark, Shelley Parker-Chan, Jaye Viner, Elizabeth Everett, Rachel Mans McKenny, and the rest of my fellow 2021 debut authors: I am so proud of all of us and so excited to see where we go next.
To my trans sensitivity readers for your insight and guidance on my portrayal of Halldor from the very first draft; to Matthew Broberg-Moffitt, whose suggestions and enthusiasm helped shape the Sámi characters in this book; to Heba Elsherief for weighing in on Svein’s and Runfrid’s backstories and sharing your knowledge and experience; and to Mandy Ballard and the team at Salt & Sage Books. To Eirnin Jefford-Franks for your feedback on an earlier draft, and to Villimey Sigurbj?rnsdóttir for fielding my questions on characters’ nicknames. Any mistakes, inconsistencies, or insensitivities are entirely my own.
To Dr. Merrill Kaplan, in whose classrooms the spark of my passion for the Viking Age was first lit, changing the course of my life forever. To Drs. John Sexton and Andy Pfrenger from Saga Thing, a podcast that has kindled my love of the Icelandic sagas and kept me company during long walks and even longer road trips. To Dr. Mathias Nordvig and Daniel Farrand from The Nordic Mythology Podcast and the amazing guests they’ve hosted over the years. To all the academics who have made their work accessible—there are too many of you to list here, but I do want to thank Drs. Alexander Lykke and Rolf Thiel for personally answering some questions I had. To fellow Viking Age historical fantasy author Thilde Kold Holdt for taking the time to share your experience of sailing on a Viking ship. None of the people listed above are responsible for what I did with what I learned from them, but they have my thanks.
To Daina Faulhaber, for my author photo, and for everything else. To Brittany Clay and Henry Utley; to Scot and Maggie King; and to my Viking Age living history family across the Midwestern U.S. and beyond. To Montana, Madison, and the fam, for being my anchor during some of the most challenging years of my life. To my family, for your unwavering support. To the booksellers, librarians, podcasters, reviewers, and readers who spread the word about The Witch’s Heart. Last, but certainly not least: Thank you, for reading. It truly does mean the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Genevieve Gornichec earned her degree in history from the Ohio State University, but she got as close to majoring in Vikings as she possibly could, and her study of Norse myths and Icelandic sagas became her writing inspiration. Her national bestselling debut novel, The Witch’s Heart, has been translated into more than ten languages. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio.