Seattle Author Breathes Life into Ancient Saga

Seattle author Victoria Randall announces the release of her fantasy novel, The Ring of the Dark Elves, based on Norse legends, the Volsunga Saga, and the Nibelungenlied, the first time this story has been told in English since William Morris translated the Volsunga Saga in 1870.

(Seattle, WA. May 16, 2003) Seattle author Victoria Randall announced the advent of The Ring of the Dark Elves, an Editors' Choice selection of iUniverse. This marks the first time the saga of Sigurd Fafnirsbane has been retold in English since William Morris' translation of the Volsunga Saga in 1870.

The Midwest Book Review calls it an epic, enthralling tale, . . entertaining and imaginative . . . and a highly recommended addition to personal and community library Science Fiction and Fantasy collections." (Midwest Book Review, Sept. 21, 2003)

For centuries the Norsemen plundered northern Europe, leaving devastation and terror in their wake; but they also created a hero who has lived for over twelve centuries in sagas, epic romance and opera. The story of that hero, The Ring of the Dark Elves, is set in the savage, beautiful world of Norse legend, inhabited by dwarves, sea nymphs, shape-changing giants and mortal men, ruled by the immortal Aesir. It is a tale of valor and avarice, love and vengeance, and the uncanny curse laid on the sea nymphs' golden ring. This is the tale from which Richard Wagner created his great operatic Ring cycle, and from which J.R.R. Tolkien derived many of his most potent plot elements. But it is a tale of courage and enchantment in its own right, worthy of retelling.

Asked how she came to write The Ring of the Dark Elves, Ms. Randall says, "I became familiar with the story of the ring when Wagner's Ring cycle was performed by the Seattle Opera Company, and I began investigating its sources. I thought it would make a wonderful movie, and was amazed that no one had written a definitive modern version. I'm not a movie maker, so I did the next best thing and wrote The Ring of the Dark Elves in an attempt to make the tale accessible to people unfamiliar with the opera." Asked who she envisions as the audience for her book, Ms Randall says, "Despite the dragon on the cover, it's not a children's book. There are adult themes such as incest and forced marriage, and a lot of bloodletting. I recommend it for mature 13 year olds and up."

A graduate of Oberlin College, Victoria Randall published The Witchstone, a fantasy novel, in 1976. For the past seventeen years she has worked as a registered nurse, specializing for the most part in rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord and head injuries. Her oldest son, Keith Graham, is the artist who created the cover painting for The Ring of the Dark Elves.

The Ring of the Dark Elves is the archetypal ring legend, the tragic tale of the greatest hero of Norse legend, of which William Morris wrote, "This is the great story of the North, which should be to all our race what the tale of Troy was to the Greeks." Available in May 2003, ISBN 0-595-27235-5, $20.95 from barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com or by calling iUniverse at 1-877-823-9235. It is also available from Ingram or Baker and Taylor. An excerpt from The Ring of the Dark Elves can be found at http://www.talesoffantasy.com/   

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