52 pages • 1 hour read
A Curse Carved in Bone
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Chapter 44-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence and death.
Chapter 44 Summary: “Freya”
After Freya’s failed attempt to enlist Steinnun’s help, Guthrum finds Freya and relays the message that Harald will spare Bjorn if Freya surrenders for her own execution. If she doesn’t, Bjorn will die by means of the blood eagle, a torturous death reserved for traitors. Desperate, Freya considers attacking Grindill to rescue Bjorn and kill Harald, but the draug refuse to fight their own people.
On the verge of surrendering, Freya realizes that Skoll and Hati can recognize Harald’s scent no matter what form he takes. She formulates a plan to flush everyone out of the fortress with smoke. The wolves will identify Harald when he tries to slip out in disguise, and then Freya will kill him.
Chapter 45 Summary: “Bjorn”
Harald provokes Bjorn in his prison cell by mocking Freya’s moral predictability and Bjorn’s powerlessness to save her. Then he confesses that he isn’t the real Harald of Hrafnheim. He met Harald when Harald was young and his father was still the jarl, then he consumed Harald’s body and took over his life. He did the same, he admits, with Snorri and Saga’s corpses.
