The Sea of Trolls

The ship pulls ashore, and Rune gives a bottle of poppy juice to Jack and a bottle of wolf-brew to Olaf. Jack, Olaf, and Thorgil disembark. Although some of the flora and fauna in Jotunheim resemble those in Middle Earth, they are larger and more dangerous. The trio crosses a meadow of poisonous flowers, and Olaf carries his companions to safety when they grow dizzy. He brings them to shelter in a cave, starts a fire, and gives them food. When the shield maiden protests that Jack should be the one completing these tasks because he’s a thrall, Olaf says they’re all equal while they’re on a quest.

The following morning, while Thorgil rests, Olaf takes Jack hunting and shows him the route they will take on their quest. They see a golden dragon catch an elk, and Jack is both awed and terrified when the creature looks him in the eye before flying off with her quarry. Jack asks Olaf why Thorgil hates him, and the warrior explains that she was a thrall until her father died three years ago. When Thorgrim was mortally wounded in battle, he asked that Thorgil’s mother and the dog who saved Thorgil’s life be sacrificed as part of his funeral rites. Olaf asked for the girl to be entrusted to him and immediately freed her. 

The man explains that he had Jack collared so that he could protect the boy from the king, but he never intended to make him do chores like cleaning the pigsty. He tells Jack that it was honorable of him not to seek vengeance against the thralls who mistreated him. His praise fills the boy with pride and joy.

Olaf and Jack return from their hunt with three grouse. After they eat, Jack hides the remaining food high in a treetop. Olaf and Jack bathe so they won’t attract predators, but Thorgil refuses to bathe. That night, they hear an enormous creature devour the food. The next day, the creature follows them as they make their way along a river. The trio hides under a mass of fallen trees. Thorgil grows angry when Olaf compliments the young bard’s perceptiveness, and she shouts, “I can do anything better than Jack!” (278). Bold Heart cries out in alarm, and the deadfall shakes under the weight of the unknown predator.

Jack begs Olaf and Thorgil to flee while Bold Heart distracts the creature so that they can survive and save Lucy. However, the warriors are determined to fight. They drink the flask of wolf-brew and charge at the predator, which is an enormous troll-bear. Bold Heart pokes out one of the bear’s eyes, but the beast breaks the bird’s wing. Thorgil slips and breaks her ankle, and Jack pulls her to safety. 

Olaf battles the bear, and the deadfall collapses under them. The troll-bear dies instantly, and Olaf is mortally wounded. Jack finds Bold Heart and helps Thorgil reach the dying warrior. Olaf names Thorgil as his adoptive daughter. The distraught shield maiden declares her wish to die alongside him, but he urges her to live.

Jack comforts the dying Olaf by promising to set the deadfall ablaze as his funeral pyre and by singing the poem that he performed before the king and queen: “Listen, ring-bearers, while I speak / Of the glories of battle, of Olaf, most brave. / Generous is he, that striker of terror” (289). Jack despairs of his chances of rescuing his sister without Olaf’s help, but he regains hope by reaching out to the life force. Jack’s magic sets the deadfall ablaze, and Thorgil tries to crawl into the flames so that she can go to the afterlife with Olaf. She believes that she’ll go to Hel if a thrall kills her, so Jack threatens to murder her if she tries to immolate herself. The dragon swoops around the burning deadfall, and Thorgil says that the creature has come to honor the fallen hero.

The next morning, Jack must renew his empty threat to kill Thorgil to prevent her from waiting for the dragon to devour her. As the days pass, she becomes more appreciative of Jack and curious about his past. She opens up about how her father used to beat her and about Maeve, the dog who saved her life when she was an infant. Jack comforts her by saying that Maeve is on the Islands of the Blessed.

One morning, Thorgil tells Jack to leave her to die, and he goads her by calling her Jill, the Saxon name her mother wanted to give her. She bites him in retaliation. Jack reminds her that Olaf wanted them to cooperate, and they call a truce. Thorgil explains that she wants to suffer because “Odin loves warriors who can endure pain” (298). The ruler of the Norse gods tore out his own eye so that he’d be permitted to drink from Mimir’s Well, and Thorgil tells Jack that he will also have to “sacrifice something of overwhelming importance” (301). The well is guarded by Norns, supernatural entities who water Yggdrassil and decide people’s fates. Although Jack has lost hope that his quest will succeed, he soldiers onward with the wounded Thorgil and Bold Heart.

The dragon catches Jack and Thorgil and brings them to her four dragonlets to teach her offspring how to hunt. Bold Heart tells the dragon that a rival dragon has come to the area, and she leaves the nest to investigate. Next, the crow convinces the fiercest dragonlet to dispose of his siblings. Thorgil kills the last dragonlet. The creature’s acidic blood burns her face and tongue, rendering her unable to speak. The encounter with the dragons ruins most of their supplies, and Jack fears for their survival as they stagger through a frozen wasteland.

Thorgil guides Jack down from the icy cliffs into a warm valley filled with berries, mushrooms, flowers, and a refreshing stream that is “just warm enough to feel nice” (314). Thorgil, Jack, and Bold Heart eat and rest together.