Tindr Trivia Quiz

Answer: His boat is stolen by pirates.

Sea travel is very perilous for the characters in this series, is it not? Pirates take his boat, let Halle stay to pilot it, and make Dagr jump overboard. He survives by clinging to a featherbed--an unexpected medieval flotation device. He makes it back to his homeland, where he weds Rannveig. Personally, I thought this section, the time before Tindr's birth, was the least engaging part of the series.

"Tindr" is the first book in the series not to be told in first person.

Answer: Fever

The fever spares his life, but leaves him deaf just as he starts to learn to speak. Because of this, he can never speak intelligibly, but he can easily communicate with his own sign language and likes to sing, which he can feel in his vocal cords. It takes a while for Ragnfast to explain to him that the fever killed his sisters.

Answer: Falling from a bluff

This series displays a wide variety of ways in which the medieval world killed its people and how tenuous life was then. Though Tindr tries to save him, Assur falls while climbing and breaks his neck. Tindr thinks of him as Purple Neck because of his birthmark. Being deaf and having no way to learn names (as his culture lacks writing), he assigns his own names and gestures to others, typically by their most striking characteristic. Ceridwen is Bright Hair and Sidroc is Scar (I resist the urge to imagine Sidroc as a dark-maned lion; it does not help the the fourth book mentions the Circle of Life a couple of times).

Answer: White deer

He sees Freyja, Lady of the Forest, as a white hind (female deer) a few times before she comes to him in human form and has sex with him. As there is no evidence of fantasy in this world, I interpret this scene as a hallucination and an excellent dream.

Biologically, a white hind or stag has a condition called leucism, in which an animal lacks pigment in the hair and skin. This could be the case with the white hind that Tindr sees.

Answer: Wanting to be named Kilton's heir

Ceric has noticed that although he is Gyric's firstborn, his younger brother Edwin, adopted by Godwin, will inherit Kilton. Ceric desires to be named heir instead and wonders if this thought is treasonous. Ceridwen tells him it is not, and that only the King can change the succession. Ceric has no idea that Edwin is Godwin's son with Ceridwen--the only ones alive who know are Ceridwen and Sidroc. Worr suspects but cannot confirm it. Ceric thinks observing an Offering might be sinful, but not treasonous.

Answer: He doesn't want to be Jarl.

In temperament, Yrling's daughter Ashild is more suitable to be Jarl, but as a girl, she cannot inherit. Hrald does not like the idea of killing men in combat and wants a calmer life like Sidroc and Tindr have now. Hrald and Ceric should change positions: Ceric will likely not inherit but wishes to, while Hrald wishes to give up becoming Jarl and stay in Gotland but cannot.

Answer: Sigvor

Toste suspects Sigvor of something and follows her to the cove, where he sees her in her lover Eirik's arms. He intends to only kill Eirik, but his spear hits Sigvor. Tindr provides testimony, using his mother to represent Sigvor, to show that the woman's death was accidental. Toste is not outlawed, but he knows he will lose his children and that his life as he knew it is over.

Answer: The animals he kills

He draws a picture of each stag and boar he kills, certain that Freyja sends them to him to sustain his own life. In exchange, he thanks both the animal for its life and the gods for sending him the animal. Ceric thinks Tindr prays to the animals, but Hrald explains what he actually does. Tindr gives thanks for rabbits and squirrels but does not commemorate them on his stone.

Answer: Wolf Eyes

When Tindr gives her the sign for himself, tapping his ear, she indicates that she considers his main characteristic his ice-blue eyes, so she points to her eyes to "speak" of him. This sign catches on, and others start referring to Tindr this way when they sign to him.

She learns his real name later and likes the sound of it. Tindr thinks of her as Deer, as her blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned appearance reminds her of the vision he had of Freyja years earlier.

Answer: Yes

He weds Seara. It is a very fast courtship but appears to be a good match--she cannot return home without shame, he cannot hear her Finnish speech, and both are attuned to nature. Tindr pays her chieftain father one of his gold pieces (given to him by his mother as something of a dowry) as her bride price. All Tindr has to do is remain on Gotland so Seara's father may see her on his way to trade; as Tindr loves the island and would never leave it, this is no trouble for him.