9 h 40 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 40 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a leader owe his people when love pulls him away from duty?
In the forests of Mirkwood, the Wolfings share land, gather in their great hall, and settle affairs at the Thing. Now Roman armies threaten the Gothic tribes. Thiodolf, their respected war leader, must help defend a people whose freedom rests on the coming struggle.
But Thiodolf is bound by more than loyalty to his kin. The Wood-Sun loves him and fears for his life, while the young seer Hall-Sun senses danger ahead. In William Morris's The House of the Wolfings, a magic coat of mail brings questions of protection, love, and hidden doom into a tale of battle and shared duty.
What you’ll discover
- A hall worth defending Enter a community where shared land and shared decisions give freedom a concrete shape.
- Love against duty Follow Thiodolf as the Wood-Sun's wish to protect him clashes with his people's needs.
- Magic with a cost Discover a dwarf-forged coat of mail at the heart of the story's gathering danger.
- A seer by the hearth Meet the Hall-Sun, whose sense of danger reaches beyond what her people yet understand.
- Songs amid the struggle Hear speeches and songs rise from the action as prose gives way to verse.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy sagas, northern myth and tales of kinship, and stories where a whole community matters as much as any hero.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A clearing in the forest holds a people
- A burnt arrow sends the House to war
- A chief meets a goddess in the beechwood
- The Hall-Sun sees what the others cannot
- Three witnesses describe the men of the cities
- Two war-dukes are chosen and an old man warns
- The woods and the ridge bring the first victories
- Rome slips into the Mid-mark behind them
- The people's life matters more than any one man
- A tale told like a saga, with songs and signs
Who’s who
- ThiodolfThe dark-bearded war-duke of the Wolfings, fearless and loved by all, who must lead the kindreds while torn between his people and a goddess.
- The Wood-SunA woman of the God-kin who loves Thiodolf and fears Doom, and who gives him a dwarf-made coat of mail to keep him alive.
- The Hall-SunThe young seer who tends the holy lamp, sees visions of what is to come, and takes charge of those who stay at home.
- Otter of the LaxingsThe wise old war-duke chosen beside Thiodolf, careful in battle and quick to see the best use of his men.
- HeriulfA white-haired giant who fights with a two-bladed axe called the Wolf's Sister and sings in the thick of battle.
- Fox the RedA hunter born of a captured mother who walks into the Roman stronghold in disguise and brings back what the kindreds need to know.
- ArinbiornThe grizzled chief of the Bearings, quick to anger and fierce in defense of his kin and his burned home.
- Asmund the OldA seer of the Daylings who weeps over Thiodolf and speaks of a trap that will catch a guest.
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La casa dei Wolfing
by William Morris · 1889
A war arrow arrives at dusk, and a chief walks into the beechwood to meet a woman of the God-kin.
Medium level5–10 hours to readItaliano
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In short
Picture a clearing in a vast forest, a swift river running through it, and a long timber hall with a green glass lamp that has never gone out. At dusk a horn sounds, and a runner arrives with a burnt and bloody arrow.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A clearing in the forest holds a people
The tale opens with a place before it names a single hero. A plain lies like an island in a sea of trees, split by the swift river Mirkwood-water. The people who live there made it. They cut the trees, burned the stumps, dug dikes against floods and sowed wheat and rye.
They call their clearing the Mid-mark. All the clearings belong to one folk, the Markmen, who live in Houses. A House is a kindred under one sign, and the sign of this House is the Wolf. A Wolfing man may never marry a Wolfing woman, so the men take wives from other Houses.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1889
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 6 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Morris, William. The House of the Wolfings. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-of-the-wolfings.
Morris, W. (2026). The house of the Wolfings. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-of-the-wolfings (Original work published 1889)
Morris, William. The House of the Wolfings. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-of-the-wolfings.
@book{morris2026house,
author = {Morris, William},
title = {The House of the Wolfings},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-house-of-the-wolfings},
note = {First published 1889}
}
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What is The House of the Wolfings about?
It tells of a forest people, the Markmen, and the Wolfing kindred in particular, who face an army from the Roman cities. Their leader Thiodolf must choose between his love for a goddess and his duty to his people.
Who is the Hall-Sun in The House of the Wolfings?
The Hall-Sun is both an ancient green glass lamp in the Wolfing hall and the young woman who tends it. She is a seer, found as a child in the woods, and she guides the stay-at-homes.
Is The House of the Wolfings a true story?
No, it is a fiction by William Morris, written in the late 1800s. It imagines the Gothic tribes of northern Europe in Roman times, drawing on the old sagas, but its people and events are invented.
The author
William Morris
1834–1896 · English poet and designer
William Morris (1834–1896) was an English writer, textile designer, artist, and printer. He was born in Walthamstow and died in London. His books include The House of the Wolfings (1889), News from Nowhere (1890), and The Well at the World's End (1896). He founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891.
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