Showing results by narrator "Ulf Bjorklund" in All Categories

Despite certain distinctions and differences, the lands of Scandinavia, or Norden—Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands—are united by bonds of culture, language, and geography, and by a shared history that comes richly to life in this landmark work. Now in an expanded, updated edition, this definitive chronicle of five centuries of Scandinavian history incorporates the geopolitical developments and momentous events that have marked the Nordic world in recent decades.

Everyone knows of the horses of Iceland, wild, and small, and free, but few have heard their story. Sarah Tolmie's All the Horses of Iceland weaves their mystical origin into a saga for the modern age. Filled with the magic and darkened whispers of a people on the cusp of major cultural change, All the Horses of Iceland tells the tale of a Norse trader, his travels through Central Asia, and the ghostly magic that followed him home to the land of fire, stone, and ice.

Life innovates constantly, producing perfectly adapted species—but there's a catch. Many animals and plants eke out seemingly unremarkable lives. Passive, constrained, modest, threatened. Then, in a blink of evolutionary time, they flourish spectacularly. Once we start to look, these 'sleeping beauties' crop up everywhere. But why? Looking at the book of life, from apex predators to keystone crops, and informed by his own cutting-edge experiments, renowned scientist Andreas Wagner demonstrates that innovations can come frequently and cheaply to nature, well before they are needed.

Before time as we know it began, gods and goddesses lived in the city of Asgard. Odin All Father crossed the Rainbow Bridge to walk among men in Midgard. Thor defended Asgard with his mighty hammer. Mischievous Loki was constantly getting into trouble with the other gods, and dragons and giants walked free. This collection of Norse sagas retold by author Padraic Colum gives us a sense of that magical time when the world was filled with powers and wonders we can hardly imagine.

The world ends in fire. Odin has vanished and Ragnarok unfolds across Midgard. Hel’s armies swarm across the world to blanket it in her freezing wrath. Draugar, jotunnar, and more terrible monsters run rampant. Can the broken Aesir stem the tide of destruction? In the south, a fire spreads. A blaze that will consume all creation. Even if Odin returns, will anything be left for him to save? You’ll love this grim fantasy because it retells classic Norse myths in a whole new way.

An international group of experts confronts challenges to peace and conflict diplomacy—defined as the effort to manage others' conflicts, cope with great power competition, and deal with threats to the state system itself. They consider three potential scenarios for world order where key states decide to go it alone, return to a liberal order, or collaborate on a case-by-case basis to address common problems. These three scenarios are then evaluated through the prism of regional perspectives from around the world and for their potential ramifications for major security threats.

The dragon lunged and burned. Ketil felt its hot breath, but he knew it was only a dream. When Sigrid goes to stay on Shapinsay, Ketil is unconcerned – nothing ever happens on Shapinsay. But then the fires start, and it seems that Ketil’s dream has come to life. Will he and Sigrid find the arsonist, before a whole settlement is wiped out forever?

In late summer of 2012, millionaire landowner Göran Lundblad went missing from his farm in Sweden. When a search yielded nothing, and all physical evidence had seemingly disappeared, authorities had little to go on - except a disturbing phone call five weeks later from Göran’s daughter Maria. She was sure that her sister, Sara, was somehow involved. At the heart of the alleged crime: Sara’s greed, her father’s land holdings, and his bitter feud with Sara’s idler boyfriend. With no body, there was no crime - and the case went as cold and dark as the forests of southern Sweden.

Odin’s mind is lost in the mists of time, unable to make sense of cryptic visions. He remains certain of one thing alone: a final battle is coming. One that, should he lose it, all humanity will die. Ragnarok. To win this battle, Odin must harness his prescient knowledge, but the only way to do so is to drink from the lost Well of Mimir. The Well lies beyond the perilous stretches of Jotunheim.

Alrion doesn't know the power inside him. He's more surprised than anyone when he discovers he's a wizard. Why is his power unique? Learning the ways of a wizard is not enough. Alrion is charged with a quest to cleanse the Blight. He's the world's last chance to be free of that malevolent force, and the twisted creatures that it creates. Three trials await the young wizard. He must conquer each of the pillars of magic: knowledge, will, and spark. Only then will he be ready to face his destiny.

Building on years of research, writing, and cross-cultural ministry, renowned author and theologian David Wells calls our attention to that which defines God's greatness and gives shape to the Christian life: the holy-love of God. In God in the Whirlwind, Wells explores the depths of the paradox that God is both holy and loving, showing how his holy-love provides the foundation for our understanding of the cross, sanctification, the nature of worship, and our life of service in the world.

Amira’s seer talent has always been unpredictable but accurate. So when it shows her the wizard responsible for slaughtering her friends and family is the key to saving the world, she has no choice but to rescue him. But Radcliff is no longer who he was and certainly not what she expected. It isn’t long before she regrets her part in his sentencing. Radcliff doesn’t know he’s the most reviled person in history. In fact, he doesn’t know anything because when he wakes up each morning, he forgets his past.

Ketil had not intended to return to Orkney, but when you work for Thorfinn Sigurdarson, you obey orders. Thorfinn wants him back to help with a visiting Abbot from Saxony, escorted by an old colleague of Ketil’s. Then people who know the Abbot start dying, and Ketil must once again work with his friend Sigrid to find out why - and to face dark memories from his own past.

Reeling from the loss of three kings and a kingdom, the Norse gather in the home of their gods to choose a new ruler and prepare to meet the coming storm. The great host of the crusade will march again, and the people of the North will meet them with steel and shields and the death cries of their heroes.

The stories collected in the twelve volumes of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors have captivated generations of readers. In The Blue Fairy Book, the first in his legendary series, Lang compiled and edited tales from the Brothers Grimm, Madame d’Aulnoy, and French, Scandinavian, and Middle Eastern sources. He captured the folkloric traditions and dark origins of dozens of the world's best-known fairy-tale characters, including Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow-White, Cinderella, and Rumpelstiltskin.

After centuries bound in Alfheim, Odin escapes, only to find himself trapped in the fathomless darkness of Svartalfheim. What will he do when his only ally is a woman who no longer trusts him? Svartalfheim is home to the strange and corrupt dark elf courts. Eager for Odin’s oracular sight, they pull him into their unending power struggles. And while the king is missing, the world hurtles toward Ragnarok. If Hermod cannot find and retrieve Odin, Midgard faces annihilation on all sides.

In Healing Lyme Disease Naturally, anthropologist Wolf D. Storl shares his own success in overcoming a difficult, sometimes deadly disease that is reaching epidemic proportions. When he was diagnosed, Dr. Storl refused standard treatments because of antibiotic intolerance. Instead, he researched healing systems of various cultures including traditional Chinese medicine, American Indian healing practices, homeopathy, and traditional Western herbal lore and discovered the teasel root.

The Hunter's Gambit is the first novel in the Archanium Codex, an epic fantasy series in which two protagonists, Aleksei Drago and Jonas Belgi, struggle to keep their home nation of Ilyar from being plunged into a bloody civil war even as a 1,000-year-old evil called the Demonic Presence threatens to break free of its prison and consume the entire world.

No one returns from Hel. Hermod aims to change that. With Baldr’s death, Ragnarok has begun. Now, Odin has one last desperate gambit: To send Hermod to the farthest reaches of creation to bring back his son’s soul. The son of a valkyrie, Hermod alone can make such a trek. But to do so he must descend into horrors beyond imagination. But even if he makes it there, can he make back? You’ll love this grim fantasy because it retells classic Norse myths in a whole new way.

Even gods can bleed. Odin’s people are the new gods of Midgard. Odin’s son has become a champion of mankind. But fame has a price.Odin lost his beloved Freyja. How far will he go to reclaim his lost love? The latest instrument of his will is Sigmund - a werewolf obsessed with vengeance on a despotic king. Can Odin’s machinations bring him back to Freyja without destroying all around him? You’ll love this grim fantasy because it retells classic Norse myths in a whole new way. Get it now.