I am so excited to share a blog post from author David MacPhail as part of the blog tour for Velda the Awesomest Viking!
Velda is a fantastic character and this story is sure to delight young readers!
WHY VIKINGS??
One question I often get asked when I’m out talking to children is:
“David, why do you write about Vikings?”
Which is fair enough, because I have written an awful lot about Vikings, both fiction and non-fiction.
And my answer is always: “Well… why not?”
The real Vikings may have been ruthless, dangerous and probably quite frightening too. I once had a close encounter with a Viking LARPer on the streets of York after accidentally barging into him while rounding a corner. The man was well over six feet tall, dressed in full armour, chainmail and helmet, and right in the middle of drawing a sword from its scabbard. I emitted a small terrified choking noise before noticing the delighted crowd of children following behind him.
Terrifying? Yes.
But Vikings are also instantly recognisable, especially to children in Britain, many of whom study them at school. Vikings were a huge part of the history of Britain and Ireland, and these islands were a huge part of the Viking story too.
That’s not always the case elsewhere. I once travelled to Dubai to launch Thorfinn the Nicest Viking and the Dreadful Dragon, and the students there were initially completely baffled by the idea of Vikings. It took a surprising amount of explaining before I eventually had to compare them to another Viking series that had recently been turned into a film.
Vikings are also inherently funny, especially to a seven-year-old. The beards. The shouting. The pointy helmets. The complete lack of indoor voices. And more. Did you know the Vikings lit fires using tree fungus soaked in human wee? Or that the Vikings had a God of skiing, Ullr. I mean, how Scandinavian can you get?
Over ten years ago, I published Thorfinn the Nicest Viking and the Awful Invasion, about a young Viking boy who was implacably, impeccably polite, stuck slap-bang in the middle of a band of ferocious hairy Vikings. I immediately saw endless opportunities for this painfully well-mannered boy to embarrass and horrify his fellow Vikings, and so a series was born.
One small character in that first book was a red-haired girl called Velda. With her oversized helmet and enormous axe, she was every bit as formidable as the other Vikings, possibly more so. She had a loyal heart, an adventurous spirit and absolutely no interest in being told what to do.
My editor asked if Velda could tag along in later adventures, and I happily agreed. Velda had a habit of barging into scenes, stealing jokes and generally behaving as though the books belonged to her rather than Thorfinn.
Naturally, it eventually reached the point where I suggested giving Velda adventures of her own.
And so, the Velda the Awesomest Viking series was unleashed.
OORAH!
Three books later, Velda has her own ship, her own chaotic crew and adventures every bit as wild as she is. Together they’ve battled legendary wolves, frost giants and now, in Velda the Awesomest Viking and the Wild Unicorn Chase, Velda faces perhaps her greatest challenge yet, a particularly smelly troll who steals her beloved axe.
Velda will do absolutely anything to get it back… even if that means sailing across the sea in search of fabled lost unicorns.
My Shelves Are Full 