Shauna Lawless: ‘This is always what I’ve loved about Irish mythology: the drama and the magic’
Tell us about your new novel, Son of the Serpent. In the fifth volume of the Gael Song series, the Anglo-Norman army is preparing to invade Ireland. While the Irish kings argue over how best to deal with this threat, Ireland’s immortals discover new magical powers. It’s the second book in your Gael Song: Era II series. Tell us about the opportunities and challenges of writing a historical series? The challenges always revolve around accuracy. If you’re telling a story set in the past, it must be authentic and feel like a real place, otherwise, what’s the point? I didn’t want my retelling of Clontarf or the Anglo-Norman invasion to be invented within my imagination. I wanted it to be as accurate as possible, but when you’re going as far back as the 10th century, this can be difficult. An author truly must become a detective. What style of houses did people live in? How has the language evolved between now and then? How was religion perceived and structured? Was there a legal system? What did people eat? These questions are sometimes difficult to answer, and I’ve had to delve into archaeological digs, source documents, translations of source documents, monastic annals, historical textbooks, as well as my own site visits. The opportunities, however, are immense. It’s an opportunity to explore humanity and how we’ve changed (and how we have not). I’ve had so many people read my novels and say it’s inspired them to read the historical sources themselves or to pick up historical nonfiction books – and I’m quite often told by readers that it has reignited an interest in Irish history and mythology that they’d had in childhood but let slip away. This is the greatest compliment of all. Tell us about your debut novel, The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (2022). I have five novels out in the Gael Song series. The sixth novel will be out next year, and these six books are split into two eras. The first era (made up of the first three books) is set around the Battle of Clontarf. The second era is set around the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is the first novel and begins in AD 981. Not only do I follow the historical timeline, but there are characters with magical gifts derived from Irish mythology. If you want to read my work, begin here. How did you go about combining Irish mythology, folklore and history to create a historical fantasy? It was honestly just the way the story came out. I suppose I was very influenced by the Irish mythology I had read. The Táin, for example, is a story about a battle between Ulster and Connacht, but within the story there are magical elements and characters. This is always what I’ve loved about Irish mythology: the drama and the magic. And so it felt natural for this story, a story which revolves around a historical battle, to contain elements of mythology and magic. I was helped by the source documents too. Though they don’t often make it into textbooks; they are full of magical happenings. Gerald of Wales writes about werewolves and ghost armies roaming the forests. Njal’s Saga (an Icelandic saga that documents Clontarf) records incidents of scalding blood rain and of attacking flocks of ravens that seem to have claws and talons made of steel. ‘Merging Irish myths and Irish history gave my story its soul’ You write about two tribes, the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians. Who were they? They are two magical tribes of people who lived in Ireland and they are documented in Lebor Gabála Érenn (also known as The Book of Invasions). The Tuatha Dé Danann have a range of magical gifts, and they include the Morrígan, Manannán mac Lir, the Dagda and Brigid. The Fomorians are described as cruel and greedy, and they fight against the Tuatha Dé Danann. Their king, Balor, has one eye with seven eyelids that can destroy everything around him. In Irish mythology, the Tuatha Dé Danann defeated the Fomorians at the Second Battle of Moytura. However, in my story there are some surviving descendants of each tribe who are still secretly at war with each other. How deliberate was it to have strong female characters such as Fódla and Gormflaith? Very deliberate. Historical retellings are traditionally told via the perspectives of kings and warriors. I understand why – they are often the more active characters. However, that is only one way to view history, and the perspective of women needs to be brought to the forefront more often. Which history books would you recommend? Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf by Seán Duffy; Viking Pirates and Christian Princes by Benjamin Hudson; Strongbow: The Norman Invasion of Ireland by Conor Kostick. You also write stand-alone novellas. Tell us about them I have written three novellas. They are all prequel stories connected to the main Gael Song series. I’d recommend reading Dreams of Fire if you want to read a story about characters with mythological powers. Dreams of Chaos is about the early life of Brian Boru and his son Murchad, and Brian’s bid to become king of Munster. Dreams of Sorrow is a novella I would read after reading the second book in the main series, as it gives the backstory of a crow called Senna. Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend? Book: May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry; film: The Odyssey ; podcast: The Ancients (for history buffs) and Plot Twist (by Victoria Aveyard and Soman Chainani for publishing and writing gossip). Son of the Serpent is published by Head of Zeus