A country boy creeps unwillingly to school on a lark-filled summer morning. Norse crusaders, preparing to sail on Earl Rognvald's crusade in 1151 break into the burial chamber at Maeshowe seeking treasure, and cut runes in its massive stones. And the famous Iceland poet Thorbjorn leaves his farm to join the group of poets whose lyrics stud like gems that famous pilgrimage. The ancient northern ceremonies of solstice and equinox, Easter and Yule, are brought to vivid life in the poems collected in this book, and so also are some of the holidays of the Christian calender. The cycle of seasons is more noticeable in the north, especially perhaps winter, the time of story-telling and music. There are tributes to the great poet of winter, Robert Burns, and a celebration of the Irish veteran of the Peninsular War who founded a tavern in Orkney in 1821. The life of an islander is 'sweetly compacted' in The Laird and the Three Women.

ジョージ・マッケイ・ブラウンは、北の孤島オークニーの祈りと歴史を詩情豊かに紡ぐ稀代の語り部です。本作は、少年の日常から十字軍の息吹まで、幾千年の時が重なり合う北方の魂を鮮やかに描き出しています。厳しい自然と共鳴する営みは、石に刻まれたルーン文字のように力強く、冬の深い闇の中でこそ命の音楽が響き渡るのです。 特筆すべきは、季節の円環の中で、生と死、聖と俗が溶け合う文学的な深層です。大地の記憶と現代の歌声が共鳴し、読者は時空を超えた叙事詩的な旅へと誘われます。簡潔な言葉に宿る重厚な精神性は、単なる記録を超えて、私たちの心に「生きることの尊厳」を鮮烈に刻みつけてくれるでしょう。