Viking villainy

1:38pm Saturday 9th February 2008

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ROSALIND Kerven knows what makes children tick.

After all, you don't write more than 50 children's books without understanding a thing or two about sword fights, treasure and villainy.

Which is why these are all key ingredients in her new book, Viking Villain: The Cursed Sword.

The book is the first part of Rosalind's Grim Gruesome series, seven children's books about a Viking villain called Grim Gruesome, which will be launched at Jorvik Viking Festival on Thursday.

Rosalind, of Northumberland, has specialist knowledge of world myths, legends and folk tales, but it took her five years to find the characters for Grim Gruesome.

"Vikings are something that I have always been interested in and I wanted to try to find a really exciting, accessible way of trying to tell the story about them to children," she said. "I know from reading to children that children love hearing about sword fighting and treasure. You only have to mention sword fighting and they all shout out cool'.

"Children like imagining about things they can't possibly do in the modern world.

"There were no health and safety laws in Viking times and it was all fight for your life."

Viking Villain: The Cursed Sword is a bit like a fairytale, she says. It features Bjarni and Astrid, two children who are plunged into a terrifying adventure by a magic sword.

"It's a bit of a romance really," says Rosalind. "It's about a boy who is very poor and a girl who is very rich and they are banned from seeing each other.

"Then there's Grim Gruesome, a child-hating villain and he lays cunning traps to trap children. They don't know where he is until he's caught them."

Unlike many series, the books are based on the villain rather than the heroines. It's historically accurate, crammed with swordfights, treasure and scary scenes. With the second book due out next year, Rosalind's Vikings are set to keep children entertained for the long haul.

To mark the launch, Rosalind will read the short version of the complete book in the marquee outside the Jorvik Centre on Thursday at 10.30am and 2pm. There will be free book marks and activity sheets as well as reduced-price books and a chance to get them signed.

• Viking Villain: The Cursed Sword is available from Jorvik Centre shop, Waterstone's, Borders and W H Smith, priced £5.99