Lessons from your Library: Three-Act Analysis of The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

Hello everyone. Welcome back to My Library Blog. Today, it is time for another three-act analysis of a popular novel. This time, I’ve chosen The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne. Let’s get started.

ACT 1: SET UP

• Set Up

Orka

Orka, a fierce and battle-hardened woman, lives a relatively quiet life with her husband, Thorkel, and their son, Breca. One day, all three of them are out hunting in the woods when a wounded fell-wolf scares the herd of deer they were stalking. The wolf’s blood trail leads them to Asgrim’s steading, where the smell of death is strong in the wind. The trio find Asgrim and his wife dead while their son, Harek, is missing.

Orka, Thorkel, and Breca take Asgrim and Idrun’s bodies to Fellur. There, they learn that Jarl Sigrún has been gone for two months. She was summoned to Queen Helka’s court and left her nephew, Guðvarr, in charge. Guðvarr is arrogant and spoiled. He clashes with Orka but Thorkel intervenes before things escalate. Orka leaves Asgrim and Idrun’s bodies with him.

Orka is terrified that Breca will be abducted like Harek. The day after they return from Fellur, she realizes that Breca is gone. She and Thorkel go out looking for him. They find him next to the river with a tennúr in his lap. Later, Guðvarr arrives at their steading, with two warriors in tow, to summon them to the Althing.

Orka and her family go to the Althing. There, Jarl Sigrún tells them that she has given her oath to Queen Helka. Tensions rise. Virk and Guðvarr confront each other and the jarl’s nephew challenges the fisherman to a holmganga. Virk and Guðvarr fight. Virk initially beats Guðvarr; however, Guðvarr goads Virk and the fisherman ultimately goes too far. He is about to kill Guðvarr when Sigrún’s thrall kills Virk. Thorkel pulls her off the body and she attacks him too, cutting him and then licking his blood. Orka and Sigrún break the fight up, but Orka notices when the thrall licks Thorkel’s blood off of her weapon and is left with a bad feeling. She decides then that they must leave their home.

Varg

Varg and his sister Frøya are slaves at Kolskegg’s Farm. However, after Frøya is murdered, Varg kills this owner and escapes to Liga. He is searching for a Galdurman or Seiðr-witch so they can perform an akáll. An akáll is an invocation or ritual used to reveal the last moments of a dead person. His search leads him to the Bloodsworn, who have a Seiðr-witch thrall. Svik, a veteran Bloodsworn, however, tells Varg that Vol only performs rituals for the Bloodsworn. So, if he wants to hire the witch, he must become a Bloodsworn.

Elvar

Elvar is a young woman who wants to make a name for herself as a warrior with the Battle-Grim, a band of mercenaries who hunt down the Tainted. The Tainted are descendants of the Gods, and their blood grants power but also fear, hatred and enslavement. Collars forged from the chains of the dead gods are used to control them. The Battle-Grim’s current mission is to capture a berserkir, a warrior who has Berser the Bear god’s blood in his veins.

---

• Inciting Incident

Orka

Orka and Thorkel’s steading is attacked. Breca is kidnapped and Thorkel fatally wounded. He lives long enough to tell Orka that their son was taken by a Tainted, a Dragon-born Tainted. However, Dragon-born Tainted are thought to be legend. No one has ever seen one. 

Varg

Varg fights Einar Half-Troll. Ultimately, Varg is knocked out as he is biting Einar’s calf. Varg loses the fight, but he is the only one that has come close to besting Einar Half-Troll. When Varg regains consciousness, he finds himself alone on a beach. Exhausted, he makes camp but is soon found by Leif Kolskeggson, the son of the man he killed. Leif and his men quickly overpower Varg and they are about to chop off his hand in revenge when the Bloodsworn intervene and save Varg from his fate. Varg is taken in by the Bloodsworn but has yet to prove himself as one of them.

Elvar

Elvar’s inciting incident occurs before her first POV chapter. She is driven by a desire for battle-fame and independence from her family’s legacy. Later, it is revealed that she is the daughter of a powerful jarl and that she left her home to escape her destiny of being married off to Queen Helka’s son. She is devoted to her chief, Agnar.

---

• First Plot Point; Thrust into Act 2; Crossing the Threshold

Orka

After following the trail of the people who attacked her home, Orka tortures them to get the name of the person behind it all, Drekr. Then she goes back to bury Thorkel. But before she does that, she digs up a chest of weapons she had hidden long ago. Saying goodbye to her husband is hard, but Orka does so before setting out to find her son and kill whoever took him.

Varg

Varg becomes an apprentice and starts his training with Røkia, a fierce warrior. When Varg asks Glonir, the Bloodsworn chief, if Vol can perform the akáll for him though, Glonir says no. Varg still needs to proof himself, he says. Varg quickly gets a chance to though, when tensions with Prince Jaromir of Iskidan rise. Varg kills one of the prince’s men when a fight erupts between them and the Bloodsworn. The fighting, however, is soon interrupted when three black drakkar are seen gliding across the water to port. Queen Helga has arrived to Liga. Later, Varg sets out on his first mission with the Bloodsworn.

Elvar

After a relentless chase, the Battle-Grim find the berserkir engaged in a desperate fight against a troll. He is trying to protect his wife and child. The Battle-Grim slay the troll. Elvar delivers the killing blow and captures Berak, his wife, Uspa, and son, Bjarn, in the process. However, as they head back to the ship, they are attacked by a giant sea serpent. In the chaos, Bjarn falls into the icy water and Elvar dives in after him. Just as the serpent is about to kill them, Uspa reveals her powers as a Seiðr-witch and sends the creature back into the depths of the ocean.

The Battle-Grim find an oath-stone when they stop to make camp for the night. Uspa shows them what is inscribed on it: the gods-fall. During the night, they’re attacked by night-wyrms, deadly creatures that burrow into the ground and suffocate their prey from within. Eventually, the Battle-Grim escape, set the wyrms ablaze, and run back to their ship.

ACT 2A: REACTION

• Twist #1

Orka

Orka goes back to Fellur to find out where Breca was taken. First, however, she finds and rescues Mord and Lif. She tells them to go to the river and wait for her there. The two boys went back to the Althing to kill Guðvarr and avenge their father. However, they were caught and were about to be executed. Orka sets them free and they help her escape Fellur after she attacks Sigrún and Vafri.

Varg

Varg apologizes to Einar for biting his leg. Although initially hostile, Einar eventually accepts Varg’s apology and they share bread. The two talk about Skullsplitter, the legendary former chief of the Bloodsworn. Skullsplitter’s battle-fame is told like a saga and it inspires every warrior to live up to their legacy.

Elvar

The Battle-Grim arrive to Snakavik, and head over to Jarl Störr’s mead hall. On their way there, however, they encounter a group of men with raven feathers in their hair. They are Raven-Feeders, a rival mercenary group led by Ilska the Cruel. Agnar offers the berserkir they captured to Jarl Störr. He buys him and pays double the price of what any other buyer would’ve paid. To confirm that the prisoner is indeed a berserkir, Jarl Störr’s Seiðr-witch, Silrið, performs a ritual with the severed head of Hrung, a giant infused with Snaka, the Creator’s magic. Hrung tastes the blood and declares that Berak is indeed a berserkir. After the ritual is done, Hrung sniffs the air and calls out Elvar’s presence in the hall. Elvar is now forced to step forward and greet Jarl Störr, her father.

---

• The First Pinch Point

Orka

Orka sneaks into Sigrún’s chamber and kills the jarl’s lover. She also knocks Sigrún out with the butt of her seax. Orka interrogates Vafri, and finds out that Drekr is the one who took Breca and that he is probably on his way to Darl. Darl is Queen Helka’s fortress and seat of power. When Orka hesitates, Vafri attacks. But Orka kills several of Sigrún warriors, slashes the jarl’s face and kills Vafri as she counterattacks and escapes.

Varg

Skalk, a Galdurman in Queen Helka’s service, hires the Bloodsworn to investigate why some of Helka’s people living along the northwestern border to Jarl Störr’s lands are dying. They are being slaughtered by an unknown force, and the group prepares for a journey to the Boneback Mountains. On the way there, Varg asks Glornir if Vol can perform the akáll now, but the leader of the Bloodsworn says that Varg still needs to prove himself; he isn’t a part of the Bloodsworn yet. Disheartened, Varg decides to ask Skulk instead.

Elvar

The morning after their arrival, Jarl Störr visits the tavern where Elvar and the rest of the Battle-Grim are staying at. He wants to have a word with his daughter. He offers Elvar everything she’s ever desired, including command of her own warband. Now, Elvar has to make a decision but is conflicted. She has worked hard to earn her place in the Battle-Grim. So, she visits Hrung and asks him what she should do. He gives her a cryptic answer just before her father enters the room. Elvar narrowly escapes and avoids getting caught by him.

---

• Premise

Orka

Orka, Lif, and Mord arrive to Darl and she sends the boys away with a bag of coins. Alone, she starts looking for Drekr but is thrown out of a tavern after she asks the bartender about him. Outside, Orka follows a burned man to a boat, where some children are being loaded. She frees the children, but Breca isn’t among them.

Varg

Varg and the Bloodsworn continue their journey to the Boneback Mountains. Skalk tells Varg that if he performs the akáll, Glornir won’t be happy and he will kick Varg out of the Bloodsworn. So, he suggests Varg sleep on it. Eventually, Varg and his companions come across a grisly sight: Helka’s warriors, gutted and skinned, hanging from the trees. This exposes Skalk’s lies about not being able to send men this way and the pain of seeing the mutilated bodies starts taking a toll on one of Skalk’s men. The Bloodsworn prepare for an impending fight. As they travel on, they encounter a troll and go to battle. A mysterious red-eyed man wielding a bone sword stands in front of the troll. Glonir is the first one to fight the red-eye man but is injured. Varg, gripped by bloodlust, engages the red-eye man in a brutal fight and manages to kill him by driving his cleaver into his skull.

Elvar

Ilska and the Raven Feeders attack. Elvar and the rest of the Battle-Grim repel the attackers but Uspa is found unconscious and her son Bjarn has been kidnapped. Later, Uspa reveals that Ilska’s men were not after Bjarn but her. She and her husband stole Graskinna, a book of dangerous magic, from Ilska and later burned it to keep its secrets from being used. Ilska is hunting her because she knows the way to Oskutreð—the site of the gods-fall battle where Ulfrir, Berser, and many other gods fell and where Lik-Rifa, the dragon, is imprisoned.

---

• The Midpoint

Orka

Orka confronts Drekr. He gains the upper hand and is about to strangle Orka with his axe when Mord and Lif arrive and rescue her.

Varg

The red-eye man Varg killed was a dragon-born, a child of Lik-Rifa, thought to not exist, while the bone sword he wielded was a talon of the dead eagle god, Orna.  After the fight, Varg wakes up to find his friend Torvik next to him. Vol, the Bloodsworn’s the Seiðr-witch, is also there asking Varg about his sister and the akáll he’s been asking Glonir for. Just then, Skalk walks in and tricks Vol and knocks her unconscious. Yrsa, one of Skalk’s lieutenantsm, kills Torvik. Varg asks Skalk why he is attacking them and the Galdurman says that both he and Vol are too powerful and that they should both align themselves with Queen Helka. Skalk escapes with Yrsa and Vol.

Elvar

Uspa agrees to guide the Battle-Grim to Oskutreð only if the group agrees to swear a blood oath to save Bjarn afterward. Elvar and a small group of Battle-Grim bind themselves to Uspa before they start their journey to the Boneback Mountains.

---

ACT 2B: ACTION

• The Second Pinch Point

Orka

Orka continues on her pursuit of Drekr, but now she owes a blood-debt to Lif and Mord for saving her life. So, they make a plan to kill Guðvarr and Jarl Sigrún, but it goes awry when a warband filled with Sigrúns and Helka’s warriors arrives. They flee instead of facing these overwhelming odds and burn a bridge to prevent Guðvarr from following them.

Elvar

Elvar and the Battle-Grim continue on their way to Oskutreð.  When they reach the vaesen pit, they encounter a bunch of tennúr that attack them. Biórr saves Elvar and Grend from the vaesen; Elvar and Biórr become lovers.

---

• Plunge Into Act 3 (75%):

Orka

Orka, Lif, and Mord head to Grimholt. On the journey, they encounter frost-spiders, creatures whose venom can paralyze and freeze the blood. They free a giant raven that was trapped in the spider web, but Lif is paralyzed by the spiders’ venom and Mord stands over him, protecting him. Skalk, Yrsa, and his group come upon the frost-spiders and kill them. However, Mord kills one of Skalk’s people and he captures all three of them, taking them to Grimholt.

Varg

Varg learns the truth: All the Bloodsworn are Tainted. Glornir, their leader, is berserkir while he carries the blood of Ulfrir, the wolf god. Glornir officially invites Varg to join the Bloodsworn and they set out to hunt Skalk and search for Glonir’s wife, Vol.

Elvar

The Battle-Grim arrive to Oskutreð, where they meet Vörn Askasdottir, the Froa sapling and guardian of the great ash tree, Aska. Vörn allows the Battle-Grim to loot the area but warns them to stay away from the locked cellar, where Lik-Rifa, the dragon god, is imprisoned and the dead tree of her mother. However, Ilska, Drekr, and Skrið soon arrive and it is revealed that they are dragon-born—children of Lik-Rifa.

---

ACT 3: RESOLUTION

• Climax (96%-98%)

Orka

Orka, Lif, and Mord arrive to the Grimholt, yet they have the unfortunate luck of meeting Skalk as he is fleeing from the Bloodsworn and takes all three of them prisoner. Later, he asks them who they are and Orka tells him at first that they are traders. However, when Skalk threatens to poke Lif’s eye out, she confesses that she is looking for her son, who was taken by Drekr. Before Skalk can get more information, though, Guðvarr arrives and kills Mort. Orka wolf blood rages at the boy’s death and she frees herself from her restraints killing several of Skalk’s men in the process. She is soon overpowered though but two giant ravens, which she liberated from the frost-spiders, arrive to aid her. And in their wake, Spert and Vesli enter the room happy to have finally found their mistress; together, they decimate Skalk’s men.   

Elvar

The Battle-Grim face the Raven Feeders. Agnar challenges Ilksa to a holmganga, but Skrið volunteers to fight it. Agnar wins but he is gravely wounded. Biórr walks up to him and stabs him through the mouth. Revealing that he’s tainted with the blood of Rotta, the rat, he frees the Battle-Grim’s seiðr-witch and hunder-thrall, both of them children with the blood of Hunder, the hound.

Agnar’s death and Biórr’s betrayal, whom Elvar had taken as a lover, stun her. Yet, she still confronts the Raven-Feeders. Ilksa, however, manages to free Lik-Rifa from her prison and the dragon kills two of the three sisters that guarded her. Lik-Rifa and the Raven-Feeders then head east to the goddess’s hall, Nastrandir. Elvar then realizes that Uspa was right: they never should’ve come to Oskutreð.

Varg

The book ends when Varg and the rest of the Bloodsworn arrive to Grimholt to find the aftermath of the battle. Orka, covered in gore, stands among the dead. Glornir recognizes her, and she tells him that his brother and Orka’s husband Thorkel is dead and that Breca, their son, is missing. Glornir refers to Orka as “Orka Skullsplitter”, revealing her identity as one of the most legendary warriors in the world.

Each image used in this post is copyrighted material. None of these book cover pictures are mine; I borrowed them from Goodreads. The 3-Act diagram(s) is mine.