The year is 901, the place, Iceland, newly settled by Nordic Vikings.

Thorgerd Thorsteinsdottir gave birth to twins barely a grown-up herself, but she had to wait a long time to have the child she had most yearned for, Thorkatla. All the more tragic are the events following the Assembly, when the little girl is seven years old – events no one can understand. Thorgerd chooses to seek support from the Norns who decide the fates of men under Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, rather than from the White Christ of her grandmother, and the quest for truth leads her to setting sail from Iceland, east across the ocean, and eventually, on a seeress‘s journey into the Underworld and the Realms of the Dead.

Under Yggdrasil is a gripping novel inspired by the Icelandic Sagas, as was Vilborg Davidsdottir’s acclaimed trilogy of novels on Aud the Deep-Minded, the first of which was nominated for the Icelandic Prize for Literature. Davidsdottir’s historical novels have been tremendously popular over the last decades, especially as they throw a new and unexpected light on the lives of women in  the Viking Age.

Nominated for the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize 2021

“A very talented author, who has
great knowledge of Old Norse
sources from which she weaves
her gripping story.”
THORA INGVARSDOTTIR, UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND

“Extremely well written, the plot is skilfully woven
and compelling from start to finish.”
SKALD.IS

“Vilborg manages to capture the reader
completely in Thorgerd’s web of fate”
LESTRARKLEFINN

“The past meets the present in a captivating way in
this book, bringing together the fascinating setting
of the Viking Age and contemporary descriptions
of the inner life of the characters. I have always
wanted to read an Icelandic Saga filled with feelings,
and this is it.”
ANDRI M. KRISTJANSSON, NATIONAL BROADCASTING
SERVICE (ON OCEAN ROAD)