 |
| "Black Headed-Gull with Sky Background (2)" by Wildlife Boy1 is licensed under CC BY 2.0. |
This novel is a fantasy set in the past—AD 1, in ancient Ireland. My goal is to write it in a way that gives readers a sense of that moment in Irish history while still making it a fictional, fantastical tale. I have always been a fan of Jean M. Aule's book The Clan of the Cave Bear and wanted to write something in that vein. My new book, Ailionn, will hopefully be such a book.
Of course, Aule’s book was not fantasy. It was a wonderful work of prehistoric fiction that, besides being a great story, also demonstrated what life might have been like for humans and Neanderthal's during that time. Ailionn will hopefully do the same for the humans living in Ireland around AD 1, while still being a unique fantasy. It uses life during the "Iron Age" as a backdrop, as Celtic-speaking people moved across the island of Ériu—the “old Irish” name for Ireland—living in small settlements or clacháns (pronounced klah-khens).
Before starting to write the book, I had to do a lot of research, including research into the main character’s name. Ailionn (pronounced AH-lin), could actually have been the name of a female living in Ireland at that time. Now, I am well into writing the novel, and I continue to research many topics. Not only am I learning a great deal, but I'm also thrilled that what I'm learning is adding so much depth and texture to the story. It’s exciting!
Just today, I completed Chapter 8 and will share a short excerpt with you. As always, thank you for reading my blog and being interested in my work. And for those of you who have read one or more of my six published novels, I will work as hard as possible to make Ailionn one of my best!
Excerpt from Chapter 8 of Ailionn!
(In the excerpt, there are old Irish words you won't know that have been explained earlier in the book. To make it easier for you to read, I will put their definition in parentheses beside the words. Also, dair is pronounced dahr and teach is pronounced tyak.)
Ailionn continued along the trail, glancing to her left as she looked for a good place to enter the woods to hunt. Then it dawned on her: the fog had lifted even more, allowing her to see better. She kept going until she found a promising spot, then left the well-used trail for the wilds of the ancient forest.
As she moved deeper into the forest, she was initially distracted by the dense, varied growth of plants and trees, with the dair (oak) and coll (hazel) trees being the most prominent. Both were very important to the people of Ériu. Dair trees, which were much larger and sturdier, provided wood for tools, furniture, and even boats—Colm’s and Fionn’s boats were both made mainly of dair wood. The trees’ nuts, which ripened and fell to the ground during harvest time, were collected, boiled to remove the bitterness, and eaten or sometimes fed to cattle. Coll trees were smaller, and their branches were thinner and much more flexible. They were woven together to make the wattle for building a teach (house). Their nuts, which also ripened and fell at harvest time, were eaten and enjoyed by practically everyone.
Bringing her attention back to the job at hand, Ailionn started looking for signs of animals in the area: tracks or other indications of movement, such as broken branches or disturbed foliage, and droppings or the smell of urine. She also listened to the sounds of the forest and watched for the behaviour of certain smaller animals that might indicate a larger predator stalking them. To be an effective hunter, Ailionn had to engage every one of her senses as she moved farther into the forest.
As she did, it became obvious that animals were plentiful in this area, judging by the signs she saw on the ground and among the low-lying shrubs, as well as from the varied sounds all around her. As she continued to hunt, she realized that it was getting harder to see. The fog was returning, growing heavier and denser the farther she walked into the forest, and the rain had picked up.
Ailionn stopped for a moment to consider what she should do. She did not want to get caught in a heavy downpour, unable to find her way back through the fog. As she was considering her options, she heard the wings of a large bird beating rapidly overhead as it moved through the air. Then, right in front of her, she saw its shadowy figure inside the fog, swooping down and zig-zagging through the trees...
