Travel The Two Realms to the Bosta Iron Age House

 Bernera, near the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Photo by Ariella Moon

 

Your steps will quicken when you cross the short wooden bridge that leads to the Bosta (Bostadh) Iron Age House, a must-see experience for travelers in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. As you take note of the babbling brook, and the emerald upward sloping glen dotted with daisies and buttercups, you may feel transported to a Tolkien shire.

The Bosta house is semi-subterranean, with only the tops of the double walls and the timber roof visible above ground. These were covered with sodded peat during my visit. The peat, the knowledgeable docent explained, had proven to be quite delicious to the hungry local rabbits. From some angles, the dwelling blended so well with the surrounding glen, one barely noticed it. Small details like this is why, as a novelist researching settings for The Viking Mist Great Bernera (often referred to as just Bernera) proved to be such a treasure trove.

Photo by Ariella Moon

Photo by Ariella Moon

The only door is accessed via a few stone steps that curve downward toward a very low opening with a heavy stone lintel. The design was meant to prevent wind from blowing the door open. But for my novel, I imagined the semi-subterranean structure, with its hidden-from-sight door, as excellent camouflage and defense against Viking intruders. But what if the design inadvertently blocked a Halfling on a desperate quest to find a potion stolen by the human mother he never knew?

Excerpt from The Viking Mist

He had almost missed the low, oval farmhouse, cleverly hidden behind a berm and topped with a sod roof. Had the sun’s last rays not glanced across the sheep in their hidden pen, he would have leapt past it. His sudden appearance had set the sheep crowding and bleating. Certain he had landed in the right garden next to the pen where he had seen his mother, he now waited, hoping it was her behind that door.

Shivering from nerves, he drew his cloak tightly around his body. The breeze iced, carrying the musty, metallic stench of Cold Iron. His chest tightened, and his skin beneath the serpent bracelet burned.

Author Ariella Moon. Photo by Kenzi Morison-Knox
Bernera, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Thank you for visiting the Two Realms with me! There is so much more to see, but for now I must return to writing the sequel to The Viking Mist.

Until next time, be kind and magical. Happy reading!

~Ariella

The Red Bard and the Loch Ness Monster

                         Travel The Two Realms, Part Three
                                       Loch Ness, Scotland

 

Loch Ness, Scotland

The ruins of Urquhart Castle overlook the blue-gray waters of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands, located about twenty-three miles southwest of Inverness. Reports of a monster living in the great depths of the freshwater loch have surfaced from ancient times until as recently as April 7, 2022 (Monster Sightings Register). 

Saint Columba and Nessie

Even the Irish monk Saint Columba, best known for Celtic Christianity, the isle of Iona, and having been found guilty by the High King of illegally copying a religious text, claimed in 562 AD to have encountered the water beast. While staying near the mouth of the River Ness, Columba heard rumors of the monster. So he directed a follower to swim into the river. According to Columba, when the monster appeared, he banished the creature to Loch Ness.

Alas, when I visited the famed site, “Nessie” was nowhere to be found, except as brightly colored toys in the Nessie Shop at the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition. At the time, I had little thought of including the famed loch, or its monster, in my Two Realms fantasy book series.

Years later I realized Loch Ness, geographically and historically, was an ideal fit for my fictional Scottish landscape. So I gave “Nessie” a fresh twist. But what truly clinched my decision to feature Loch Ness monster in The Viking Mist was a historical figure named “The Red Bard.”

 

As William D. McEachern describes in his book, Caledonia: A Song of Scotland, a dispute in the 1400s over ownership of Urquhart Castle eventually led the rightful, but impoverished castle owner, the Earl of Huntly, to lease the castle to Sir Duncan Grant of Freuchie. Upon Grant's death, the castle was bequeathed to his grandson, John "the Red Bard," who returned the castle to its past glory, "and ran the estates efficiently and with justice."

No writer could pass up a great name like the Red Bard. So I created  a contentious fictional backstory between my characters' ancestors and the prior owners of Urquhart Castle. 

Tensions spike when the Thaness of Thorburn finds herself not only on enemy land, but face-to-face with the famed monster of Loch Ness.

            KINDLE            KOBO

Should you find yourself traveling the Two Realms, venture to Loch Ness and drink in its beauty. Who knows? You may spot something unusual in the water!

In next Tuesday's Travel The Two Realms, we will explore the mystical Callanish Stones (Gaelic: Calanais) on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Meanwhile, you can visit The Two Realms on my Pinterest board.

Until then, stay kind and magical.

Ariella

Copyright 2022 Ariella Moon

Happy National Tartan Day!

 

Cameron Tartan,
Crown Copyright, Scottish Register of Tartans

April 6 is National Tartan Day in North America. But I wanted to include fans in the UK with a special Kindle Countdown Sale. After all, the Two Realms series takes place in medieval England and Scotland, and Fairy.

UK lovers of fantasy, shape-shifters, Arthurian legends, fairies, and strong heroines can find The Beltane Escape Kindle Countdown HERE until April 9, 2022. 

But National Tartan Day is celebrated in North America. So in recognition of my Scottish heritage, I featured (above) the ancient Clan Cameron tartan (my mother's clan).

The Scots are great storytellers. My mother was a wonderful writer. As a child, I loved to sit behind her as she tapped away on her typewriter, spinning a new novel or crafting her African memoir. What a satisfying sound when she pulled a finished page from her ancient Corona. 

Here's to Scots everywhere, and to magical lands and legends. And if you'd like to binge on a series inspired by the Motherland, I invite you to explore The Beltane Escape, The Amber Elixir, and The Viking Mist.

Make your mum proud!

Happy reading, 

                                                                     Ariella

Copyright 2022 by Ariella Moon