A Curse Carved in Bone

Nordeland’s heraldic banner features a white wolf; Fenrir—a wolf figure in Norse mythology—adorns the bows of Harald’s ships and is tattooed on his thralls. Harald has two wolves named Skoll and Hati—also inspired by Norse mythological figures—as his guards and familiars. Harald strongly identifies with wolves, which symbolize strength, cunning, and aggression. When he reveals his true nature in Chapter 32, he takes on a wolf-like appearance: “Harald’s grin was all teeth” (224). This imagery reinforces his symbolic connection to wolves.

In Norse cosmology, Fenrir is a child of Loki and therefore a brother to Harald. Skoll and Hati are children of Fenrir. Their familial relationship to Harald, a child of Loki, contributes to the book’s examination of loyalty. Though Harald’s thralls sport tattoos of Fenrir, their loyalty to him is coerced. Skoll and Hati, too, are only loyal to Harald because of the runes painted on their fur. They abandon him to join Freya, implying that real loyalty must be earned.

The “wolf in sheep’s clothing” idiom serves as an icon—in literature, a description or image that uses a figure of speech to convey meaning.