The Weaver and the Witch Queen

by Genevieve Gornichec

She had thought that nothing would frighten her more than Solveig, but it turned out that the unknown was more terrifying still.

And Gunnhild would never forget the way her mother looked at her then, as though she were sorry that Gunnhild had ever been born.

I wonder what it’s like, Gunnhild thought, not to have a mother or a husband telling you what to do all the time. I wonder what it’s like to be a woman respected on her own, for her own skills, and not who she’s related to.

As for you, Gunnhild Ozurardottir—I see blood in your future. Blood and terror,” Heid told her. “But I also see greatness. These things are, in many ways, inseparable from one another.”

“Who says a woman has to be defined by her men? By her male kin, and then by her husband and sons? Who says? Who says a woman can’t stand for herself and make her own way?”

“You’ll get used to being afraid. If you don’t feel fear, why would you need to be brave?”

The pain had rendered Oddny prone on her bedroll. She’d never felt so betrayed; her own body had turned on her and would do so every moon until she was her mother’s age. She’d felt utterly hopeless.

“But it’s all right to feel weak, Oddny. Sometimes our bodies give us more pain than we can bear. But any gods worth worshipping know that not every person can give the same effort.”

“Thank you,” she said, straightening. “For not saying you’re sorry for my loss. For not saying ‘but she’s your mother.’ For not—for not making me feel like a monster. If you would continue to treat with me as though nothing has changed, I’d be glad of it.”

I can’t simply look at someone I’ve just met and decide to seduce them. I feel as though I have to know them to even want them in that way.

“How will you ever master your fear if you won’t admit to feeling it in the first place? Embrace it. Wield it. Things are only going to get more difficult from here. But in the end, it shall be worth it.”

Because I never should’ve doubted myself in the first place, Gunnhild wanted to say. Because I take failure so seriously that I let it determine my worth.

There’s more to being a man than doing the things men are supposed to do. I think that’s what Gudrod was trying to tell me. I was his brother because I said I was, and that was enough for him. And I think our father would’ve felt the same way.”

I don’t think the dead want us to die for them. I think a better way to honor them is to live.”