One of the major myths I wanted to dispel was that Vikings fought all the time at the drop of the hat. She even stitches a wound, which I didn’t feel was far-fetched given my research. In my novel, Gudrid was a healer, so she understood herbs and observed what affected people’s health.

Again, Vikings weren’t stupid–I don’t think humans ever have been, much as evolutionists would have us believe. My Vikings do clean themselves.Īlso, the idea they had no understanding of the human body. I imagine they were aware when they started stinking. Archaeologically, we see the opposite: they had tweezers, ear cleaners, hair combs…humans are humans, no matter what time period. HEATHER: People assume they lived like filthy animals. MIKE: What are some of the myths about Vikings that you think need dispelled? The more I read, the more I realized the sagas were solid bones of a story that needed to be fleshed out. When I bought my own copy of The Sagas of Icelanders, I was fascinated with stories of Gudrid, a Viking Christian woman who took stands for God in the midst of her pagan culture. HEATHER: Well, I do tend to crave violence…but seriously, why write something that’s been written a thousand times before? I’m interested in Vikings since I’m supposedly related to Eirik the Red. Not something your typical West Virginian homemaker would write about. MIKE: “God’s Daughter” is a Viking historical. Let’s just say I’m keeping that prayer tradition alive. Why? When my Christian grandma moved in and started praying, those ghosts moved out. The house I’m living in now was haunted, but it’s not anymore. Since that novel probably won’t break into the CBA anytime soon, I’m lining it up on my to-edit list for self-publishing. I have pretty strong views on such things…in fact, my first novel, Otherworld, was a ghost story set in WV. But we might debate what ghosts really are. Native Americans believed West Virginia’s hills and hollows were haunted. I’ve always been fascinated by West Virginia. Being that I know so little about Vikings, and even less about why a homemaker from West Virginia would write about them, I figured I’d visit with Heather and dig a little deeper. Today I’ll be chatting with Heather Gilbert, author of the forthcoming God’s Daughter, a Viking Historical.

Forest Child by Heather Day Gilbert