The House of the Wolfings

About the book

The Wolfings belong to the kindreds of the Mark, whose fields, halls, crafts, and shared customs form a closely imagined communal world. When Roman forces threaten their country, the war leader Thiodolf becomes central to its defense. His bond with the mysterious Wood-Sun introduces a conflict between the desire to preserve one beloved life and the responsibilities a leader owes to others. Morris tells the story in alternating prose and verse, using deliberately archaic language to evoke a legendary past. The supernatural does not displace the practical details of assembling and sustaining a people at war. Instead, enchantment and prophecy sharpen the book's concern with mortality, belonging, and the price of placing private safety above common life.

• Community and sacrifice
• Love and duty
• Resistance to empire

Why read it

Read it for a fantasy whose imagined society matters as much as the exploits of its central warrior.

English text in prose and verse