Wherever possible within this tale, I have adhered to the Old Norse spellings and pronunciations of Viking names, concepts and words. There is a certain closeness to be gained from speaking these names as they would have been spoken a thousand years ago. For example, I have used Valhöll rather than Valhalla, which is more ubiquitous now, but they refer to the same thing. There is a glossary of Norse terms at the back of the book.
Two letters in particular may be unfamiliar to readers. The letter ð (eth) is pronounced in Old Norse as ‘th’, as you would pronounce it in ‘the’ or ‘then’, but in many cases over the centuries has been anglicised as a ‘d’. So, for example, you will find Harald Hardrada’s name written in the text as Harðráði (pronounced Har-th-rar-thi) but it can be read as Hardradi for ease. Similarly, Seiðr can be read as seithr or seidr. The letter æ (ash) is pronounced ‘a’ as in cat, or bat.