Historical and background notes
Glossary
Aos Sí or Fair Folk: fairies
bandruí: a female druid or seer
Broch: a tall, round, stone-built, hollow-walled Iron Age tower-house
Caesars: the Ancient Romans
Camanachd: the old name for the Scottish game of shinty, a game similar to hockey
Clachneart: the Stone of Strength—an ancient form of shotput
Place names
An t-Eilean Sgitheanach: Gaelic name for the Isle of Skye
Beinn na Caillich: the Red Hill of Skye
Dun Ardtreck: a broch located on the Minginish Peninsula of Skye
Dun Ringill: an Iron Age hill fort on the Strathaird Peninsula of Skye
An Teanga: an Iron age broch located on the southern coast of Skye
Bodach an Stòrr (The Old Man of Storr): a pinnacle of rock on the north-western coast of the Isle of Skye
The four tribes of The Winged Isle*
The People of The Eagle (south-west)
The People of The Wolf (north-west)
The People of The Boar (south-east)
The People of The Stag (north-east)
Gods and Goddesses of The Winged Isle*
The Mother: Goddess of enlightenment and feminine energy—the bringer of change
The Warrior: God of battle, life and growth, of summer
The Maiden: Young goddess of nature and fertility
The Hag: Goddess of the dark—sleep, dreams, death, winter, and the earth
The Reaper: God of death
Festivities on the Isle of Skye*
Earth Fire: Salute to new life and the first signs of spring (February 1)
Bealtunn: Spring Equinox
Mid-Summer Fire: Summer Equinox
Harvest Fire: Festival to salute the harvest (Aug 1)
Gateway: Passage from summer to winter (October 31/November 1)
Mid-Winter Fire: Winter Equinox
* Author’s note: I have taken ‘artistic license’ when it comes to the names of the tribes, festivities, and gods and goddesses upon the Isle of Skye. The historical evidence is very scant, making it a challenge for me to get an accurate picture of what the names of the tribes living upon Skye during the 4th century would have been. Likewise I could not find any references to their gods and festivities. The Picts were an enigmatic people, and we only have their ruins and symbols to cast light on how they lived and whom they worshipped. To make my setting as authentic as possible, I have studied the rituals and religions of the Celtic peoples of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales of a similar period and have created a culture I feel could have existed.
The culture, language, and religion of the Picts is one largely shrouded in mystery. Unlike my novels set in 7th Century Anglo-Saxon England, which is a reasonably well-documented period, researching 4th Century Isle of Skye proved to be a challenge. Pictish culture is largely an enigma to us. However, they did leave behind a number of fascinating stone ruins, standing stones, and artifacts, as well as a detailed collection of symbolic art.
I created the four tribes of The Winged Isle from Pictish animal symbols. This is not a far-fetched idea; many Iron and Bronze-age peoples identified themselves with animal symbols. The clans we identify with Scotland did not appear until a few centuries later.
Cast of characters (in alphabetical order)
Ailene: daughter of Mael and Maphon
Cal, Namet, Lutrin, and Ru: Galan’s four most trusted warriors
Deri: young woman married to Cal, one of Galan’s warriors
Donnel mac Muin: youngest brother of The Eagle chieftain
Eithni: Healer at Dun Ringill, sister to Tea
Galan mac Muin: Eagle chieftain
Loxa mac Wrad: Urcal’s brother
Luana: Donnel’s wife (deceased)
Lucrezia: Tarl’s wife
Mael: Luana’s sister (married to Maphan)
Ruith: the seer at Dun Ringill
Talor: Luana and Donnel’s infant son
Tarl mac Muin: younger brother of The Eagle chieftain
Tea: Galan’s wife
Urcal mac Wrad: Wurgest’s elder brother, the Boar chieftain
Wurgest mac Wrad: Urcal’s brother (deceased)
Gurth mac Bolc: Urcal’s cousin
Modwen: Urcal’s wife
Varar: Urcal’s young son
Fortrenn: chieftain of The Stag