The Storyteller and Other Tales Page 10
This, this we leave. The ealdorman, the thegns, the churls, this is all that remains. Victory denied, defeat forgotten. Who will remember or care, once the women have wept and the monks have recorded? How many unnamed, with the few now recalled?
In the dust, it does not matter.
What is a hero in the end but a man a poet sang?
And in that year someone first advised that tribute be yielded to the Danish men, because of the great terror that they wrought by the coast. That was, at first, ten thousand pounds.
About the Author
K. V. Johansen was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and is the author of numerous works for children, teens, and adults, including the epic fantasies Blackdog, The Leopard: Marakand Volume One, The Lady: Marakand Volume Two, and Gods of Nabban, published by Pyr. She predominantly writes secondary world fantasy, but is also the author of some science fiction and literary criticism, and of a collection retelling mediaeval Danish ballads. Johansen has an M.A. from the Centre for Mediaeval Studies at the University of Toronto, and is an alumna of Mount Allison and of McMaster as well. Her lifelong interest in ancient and mediaeval history and the history of languages has had a great influence on her writing and world-building. She has also worked as an editor, freelance journalist, book reviewer, and dabbles (infrequently) in illustration. She lives in New Brunswick with a moderately wicked dog.
Johansen’s website for the world of Blackdog (which is also the world of “The Storyteller”) can be reached at www.kvj.ca, while one primarily about her works for younger readers and her literary critism on the history of children’s fantasy can be found at www.pippin.ca.
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~K.V. Johansen~
Literary Guides & Criticism
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“I applaud the honesty and forthrightness of her analyses. Far too often, reviews of children’s books provide little more than vague plot summaries with very little, if any, questioning of the aesthetic or literary value of a text. Not so with Johansen’s analyses. She has her opinions and she quite adroitly defends them. She establishes clear criteria for what she considers a valid and valuable fantasy, and judges each text accordingly. And, I must admit, I found her criticism of even some of Canada’s literary icons both refreshing and, more significantly, quite convincing.” -J. Kieran Kealy, Canadian Literature
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Short stories for adults
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