63 pages • 2 hours read
The Sea of Trolls
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Chapters 13-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of suicidal ideation, graphic violence, and death.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Olaf Explains the Afterlife”
Olaf’s ship continues its voyage north, and the leader teaches Jack more about his language and culture because he wants the young bard to be able to write songs in his honor. The siblings are the only captives remaining on board the vessel. When Jack asks Olaf to let his sister go, the man strikes him. Lucy comes to her brother’s defense, and her knowledge of the Northmen’s curse words amuses and placates Olaf.
Jack observes that Thorgil is despondent, and Olaf explains that the shield maiden hoped to perish on her first expedition. The Northmen believe that dying in combat is the only way to reach Valhalla, the heaven where “the best and brightest spent all day in ferocious battle” and all night feasting (124). Warriors who don’t die in battle are sent to Hel’s frozen realm with the thralls. The conversation about afterlives reminds the young bard of his teacher, who said that he would “retire to the Islands of the Blessed with the ancient kings and queens of Ireland” when he died (126).
