Gisele and the Northman

In the medieval city of Paris, fifteen-year-old Princess Gisele bears witness to history as Viking warlords arrive to negotiate a peace treaty with her father, King Charles. From a distance, she observes the chieftain of these Northmen, a villain named Rolf who is also known by his fierce battlefield alias, Rollo. It is only after the treaty negotiations have concluded that she learns her fate—to become Rolf’s wife. In a marriage ceremony the next day, she and the Northman marry.

For decades, Rolf has led thousands of warriors as they raided and pillaged the towns and cities along the river Seine. Experienced and cunning, he senses that the era of unrestrained violence by Northmen is coming to a close. His marriage to Gisele marks an opportunity for their two peoples to put an end to bloodshed. He moves quickly to settle his men on the land he has been given around Rouen.

Rolf’s sovereignty over the land, granted under the terms of the fragile peace treaty, is threatened on all sides by scheming enemies. Noblemen in Paris resent the king’s offer of peace with their old foe. A Danish king covets the land he has been given. And disaffected men within Rolf’s own ranks plot to overthrow him.

Is Rolf’s young wife the ally he needs to meet these challenges? Can Gisele adapt to her role as wife of this strange and violent man?

Gisele and the Northman is a fictional novel set in the turbulent era of tenth-century France.