From the vastness of Stone Age Siberia to a minefield in today’s Angola, from the black beaches of Iceland to the African savannah and a Jewish-German cemetery, Karola Renard tells twelve mythic stories of initiation featuring twenty-first-century kelpies, sirens, and holy fools, a river of tears and a girl who dances on fire, a maiden shaman of ice, a witch in a secret garden, Queen Guinevere’s magic mirror, and a woman who swallows the moon. The red thread running through them all is a deep faith in life and the need to find truth and meaning even in the greatest of ordeals.
Cover art by Paul E. Crabb
The Firekeeper's Daughter: Tales of Initiation
FICTION / MYTHOLOGY
‘In her lively and vivid stories, Karola Renard points a finger towards the mythic threads that run through life’s initiations. Connecting with that thread is the beginning of finding the true ground we stand upon.’
Martin Shaw
‘Karola Renard has woven a fine cloth with her tales of courageous, loyal and insightful women. Among her lyrical words we travel to meet the girl on a wind-coloured horse; a resourceful northern huntress; lovers of moon and guardians of shrines; maiden, madonna, witch and queen. The stories roam from ice to island to dusty plain, beautifully touching into the ancient power of our shared human mythologies.’
Carolyn Hillyer