Resumo de O colar do andarilho

The story in 10 parts

1. Key idea 1 · free to read

   A poet is betrothed to a beauty

   Olaf is the younger son of Thorvald, lord of the hall called Aar in Denmark. He looks back at his youth through the memory of a later life. He recalls a plain dotted with burial mounds, and a huge mound said to cover a chief called the Wanderer. His nurse Freydisa, a wise woman who serves Odin, tells him the man lived long ago.

   Olaf has a red-haired older brother, Ragnar, and a foster brother, Steinar, whom he loves above all men. Ragnar is to be betrothed to Iduna, daughter of the fierce chief Athalbrand Fork-beard. Ragnar distrusts her at once, Iduna hates him in return, and the match falls apart. Then Athalbrand sees Olaf staring at his daughter. He scorns him as a thin skald, yet agrees, since he wants Thorvald's wealth and ships.

   The warnings are small. Freydisa mutters that Olaf has Ragnar's leftovers. Olaf hears none of it, bewitched like a bird before a snake.

   When those who care for you are uneasy, listen before you leap.

2. 2

   A bear hunt shows Olaf's sharp mind

   Early spring brings word of a white bear near Aar.

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3. 3

   A ghost and a necklace test a lover

   Olaf rides out with Iduna and finds her talking of war.

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4. 4

   Olaf robs the grave and dreams of Egypt

   At midnight Olaf and Freydisa dig into the east side of the mound.

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5. 5

   Wedding morning brings betrayal and war

   The day before the wedding, Athalbrand takes Iduna to sleep on his ship, and Steinar goes with them.

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6. 6

   Olaf dares to challenge Odin

   Olaf is now lord of Aar, yet he is alone.

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7. 7

   In Byzantium, Olaf guards a dangerous empress

   The story jumps to Byzantium, where Olaf, now a captain of the Northern Guard, is known as Olaf Red-Sword.

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8. 8

   Heliodore and the battle in the garden

   As Olaf walks down the aisle of St. Sophia, a woman's face draws him.

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9. 9

   Mercy matters more than vengeance

   Look back across the tale and one theme stands out.

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10. 10

    Memory, fate, and the shape of the telling

    The book is told by Olaf himself, a later self recalling an earlier life, and he says so openly.

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