Widow's Fire and Ambition

Gormflaith, wife to the Viking King Amlav, finds herself widowed and unmoored in a world where power is a man's game. Her mother, Ethlinn, a dying Fomorian with fire-magic, warns her that their kind are nearly extinct, hunted by the Tuatha Dé Danann's descendants. Gormflaith is told to hide her power, marry strategically, and help her brother Máelmórda become High King. But Gormflaith's ambitions are her own: she will make her son Sitric king, not for her brother's cause, but for her own legacy and her son's freedom. The death of Amlav is not an end, but a beginning—a spark for Gormflaith's ruthless pursuit of power in a land torn by myth, magic, and war.

Sisters Torn by Law

Fódla, a healer and Tuatha Dé Danann descendant, is summoned by her sister Rónnat's desperate magical call. Rónnat, nearly killed in a Viking raid led by Sitric, is pregnant by a mortal man—an act forbidden by the council's New Agreement, which bans Descendants from interfering with mortals. Fódla saves her, but the sisters are divided: Rónnat believes in love and mingling with mortals, while Fódla clings to the rules, haunted by the loss of her own mortal daughter. The council's laws, meant to protect their dwindling kind, now threaten to destroy what little family they have left.

Blood and Betrayal in Dublin

Sitric, Gormflaith's son, seeks to prove himself through violence and cunning, raiding a nunnery at his mother's urging. The act sets off a chain of betrayals: Egil, a bastard with divided loyalties, witnesses the raid and is later killed by Gormflaith to protect Sitric. Gormflaith manipulates, seduces, and murders to secure her son's path to the throne, showing that in Dublin, blood ties are both weapon and weakness. The city's throne is won not by strength alone, but by the cold calculus of survival and ambition.

The Healer's Dilemma

Fódla, haunted by the death of her giftless daughter, is drawn back into the politics of the Descendants. She is tasked with spying on King Brian Boru of Munster, using her healing skills to gain trust. The council's laws forbid her from interfering, but her compassion—and her sister's plea—pull her toward the mortals' world. Fódla's journey is one of internal conflict: can she remain neutral, or will love and empathy force her to break the rules, risking everything for a chance at peace?

Thrones and Schemes

Gormflaith's machinations extend beyond Dublin. She arranges alliances through marriage, manipulating her stepdaughter Gytha's union with Olaf Tryggvason, a powerful Viking earl, to secure military support. As Dublin faces threats from within and without, Gormflaith and her brother Máelmórda plot to use Sitric's kingship as a stepping stone for their own ambitions. Every relationship is transactional, every marriage a move in a larger game for control of Ireland.

The Gathering of Gifts

The council of the Tuatha Dé Danann debates whether to reunite their four ancestral treasures, hoping to restore their waning powers and ensure magical children are born again. Old wounds and rivalries surface, and the trial of Rónnat for breaking the New Agreement becomes a test case for the future of their kind. The treasures symbolize both hope and danger: united, they could restore the Descendants' strength, but also tempt them to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Sons, Mothers, and Power

Sitric's rise to power is marked by violence, betrayal, and the ever-present influence of his mother. Gormflaith's love is fierce but conditional, and her willingness to sacrifice others—including herself—shapes Sitric's destiny. The tension between personal love and political necessity is mirrored in Fódla's relationship with her nephew Broccan, whom she raises in secret, torn between duty to her people and the bonds of family.

The Price of Peace

A fragile peace is brokered between King Brian Boru and High King Sechnall, splitting Ireland into north and south. The peace is sealed with oaths, fosterage of children, and strategic marriages. Yet beneath the surface, old grudges and ambitions simmer. The peace is as much a weapon as a shield, and both kings prepare for the next inevitable conflict, using every tool—kin, hostages, and faith—to secure their positions.

The Siege and the Storm

When Sitric and Máelmórda capture Donnchad, King of Leinster, they provoke a siege by Brian and Sechnall. Sechnall's duplicity is revealed as he manipulates both sides, and the Dubliners are forced into a disastrous open battle at Glenmama. The storm of war is both literal and metaphorical: alliances shatter, heroes fall, and the cost of ambition is paid in blood. The old order is swept away, and the survivors must reckon with the consequences.

The Fall of Kings

Dublin falls to Brian Boru. Sitric flees, Harald is slain, and Máelmórda is disgraced. Gormflaith, ever the survivor, negotiates with the victors, offering alliances and marriages to secure her family's future. The victors are not immune to loss: the cost of victory is high, and the new rulers must contend with the same cycles of betrayal and ambition that undid their predecessors.

The Healer's Choice

Fódla faces her greatest test when Murchad, Brian's son, is poisoned. Forbidden by her people's laws to use her magic on mortals, she must choose between obedience and compassion. In a moment of courage, she saves Murchad, breaking the New Agreement and sealing her own fate. Her act of mercy is a turning point: it offers hope for peace, but also marks her for exile or death among her own kind.

The Queen's Last Bargain

Gormflaith is forced into marriage with Brian Boru as the price for her family's survival and her brother's ambitions. Betrayed by her son and brother, she faces a future as a pawn in others' games. Yet even in defeat, she plots revenge, determined to outlast her enemies and reclaim her agency. Her story is one of endurance, adaptation, and the refusal to be erased.

Exile, Sacrifice, and Survival

Fódla, now marked as a lawbreaker, prepares for exile. She delivers the possessions of her fallen friend Lonán to his family, haunted by the cost of her choices. Offered a home by Murchad, she is torn between hope and fear, knowing that her fate—and that of her nephew Broccan—hangs in the balance. The search for belonging, safety, and meaning is as perilous as any battle.

The Crannog's Whisper

Rónnat, exiled to a crannog, communes with the wind and the spirits of the land. She foresees a coming war within a war, and warns Colmon that Fódla's fate will determine the future of all their kind. The cycle of violence, love, and sacrifice is not yet broken, and the next generation will inherit both the wounds and the hopes of their ancestors.

The Enduring Wind

As the old world crumbles and new powers rise, the stories of Gormflaith, Fódla, and their kin echo on the wind. The lessons of ambition, love, and mercy endure, carried forward by those who survive. The struggle for peace, belonging, and meaning is never truly over, but the hope for a better future persists—whispered by the wind, remembered by the land, and carried in the hearts of those who refuse to surrender.

Characters

Gormflaith

Gormflaith is the daughter of a Fomorian, a queen by marriage, and a mother whose love is both fierce and transactional. Her psychoanalysis reveals a woman shaped by trauma, forced into marriage as a child, and determined never to be powerless again. She manipulates, seduces, and kills to secure her son Sitric's future, but her love is conditional—she expects loyalty and achievement in return. Her relationship with her brother Máelmórda is fraught with rivalry and shared ambition, while her connection to her mother Ethlinn is a source of both wisdom and bitterness. Gormflaith's development is a study in adaptation: she endures loss, betrayal, and exile, yet always finds a way to survive, even if it means sacrificing her own happiness or dignity.

Fódla

Fódla is a Tuatha Dé Danann descendant, a healer whose gift is both blessing and curse. Haunted by the loss of her mortal daughter, she is torn between the laws of her people and her empathy for mortals. Her psychoanalysis reveals a woman paralyzed by grief, yet capable of great courage when pushed to the brink. Her relationship with her sister Rónnat is central: Rónnat's defiance and belief in love challenge Fódla's adherence to rules. Fódla's journey is one of self-discovery, as she learns to trust her own heart, even when it means breaking the laws that define her identity. Her development is marked by sacrifice, as she risks everything to save others, ultimately choosing mercy over obedience.

Sitric Silkbeard

Sitric is the son of Gormflaith and Amlav, a prince who becomes king through violence, cunning, and his mother's relentless ambition. His psychoanalysis reveals a man struggling to define himself apart from his mother's expectations, torn between love, loyalty, and the brutal realities of power. Sitric's relationships—with his half-brothers, his mother, and his lovers—are transactional and fraught with betrayal. His development is a tragic arc: he achieves the throne, but at great personal cost, losing love, family, and ultimately his own sense of self.

Máelmórda

Máelmórda is Gormflaith's brother, a Fomorian descendant obsessed with reclaiming lost power and destroying the Tuatha Dé Danann. His psychoanalysis reveals deep insecurity masked by bravado and cruelty. He manipulates family and allies alike, using Gormflaith and Sitric as pawns in his quest for kingship. His relationship with his sister is both codependent and adversarial, and his inability to achieve his ambitions leads to increasing desperation and moral decay.

Rónnat

Rónnat is Fódla's sister, a witch who breaks the New Agreement by loving a mortal and bearing his child. Her psychoanalysis reveals a woman driven by love and idealism, willing to suffer exile for her beliefs. She serves as Fódla's conscience, challenging the rules that keep their kind isolated and urging her sister to choose compassion over obedience. Rónnat's exile is both punishment and liberation, and her prophetic warnings foreshadow the coming conflicts.

Tomas

Tomas is the chief druid and leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann Descendants. His psychoanalysis reveals a man consumed by the need for order and survival, willing to sacrifice personal happiness for the greater good. His relationship with Fódla is complex: once lovers, now adversaries, their bond is strained by grief and conflicting loyalties. Tomas's rigidity is both his strength and his downfall, as it blinds him to the necessity of change.

King Brian Boru

Brian Boru is the King of Munster, a self-made ruler who rises from humble origins to challenge the old order. His psychoanalysis reveals a man of vision and pragmatism, capable of both great violence and genuine efforts at peace. His relationships—with his sons, his enemies, and his new wife Gormflaith—are strategic, but not without genuine feeling. Brian's development is a study in the costs of ambition: he achieves power, but at the expense of trust and stability.

Murchad

Murchad is Brian Boru's son, a formidable fighter and, eventually, a symbol of the possibility for peace. His psychoanalysis reveals a man torn between the expectations of violence and a longing for a better world. His relationship with Fódla is transformative: her act of mercy saves his life and offers a glimpse of a different future. Murchad's development is a testament to the power of compassion in a brutal world.

Broccan

Broccan is Rónnat's son, raised by Fódla. He represents the possibility of reconciliation between mortals and Descendants, the hope that love and kindness can transcend old divisions. His innocence is both a source of vulnerability and a catalyst for change, as the adults around him are forced to confront the consequences of their choices.

Ethlinn

Ethlinn is Gormflaith and Máelmórda's mother, a Fomorian whose long life is marked by loss, survival, and the burden of history. Her psychoanalysis reveals a woman hardened by suffering, determined to pass on the lessons of survival to her children. Her relationship with Gormflaith is both nurturing and manipulative, and her legacy shapes the destinies of her descendants.

Plot Devices

Dual Narratives

The novel alternates between the perspectives of Gormflaith and Fódla, contrasting the ruthless pragmatism of the Fomorian queen with the conflicted compassion of the Tuatha Dé Danann healer. This structure allows the reader to see the same events through different lenses, highlighting the ambiguity of morality, the complexity of power, and the universality of loss.

Myth and History Intertwined

The story weaves together real historical events (the rise of Brian Boru, the Battle of Glenmama, the politics of 10th-century Ireland) with Irish myth (the Tuatha Dé Danann, Fomorians, magical gifts). This blending serves as both a narrative device and a commentary on the nature of history: the past is always shaped by the stories we tell about it.

The New Agreement

The New Agreement, a set of laws forbidding Descendants from interfering with mortals, is both a plot engine and a symbol of the tension between survival and compassion. It drives the central conflicts—Rónnat's exile, Fódla's dilemma, the council's debates—and forces characters to choose between obedience and empathy.

Marriage as Power

Marriage is used as a tool for alliance, control, and survival. Gormflaith's marriages, Sitric's unions, and the fosterage of children are all means of consolidating power, but also sources of personal tragedy and resistance. The transactional nature of these relationships exposes the costs of treating people as pawns.

Foreshadowing and Prophecy

Rónnat's prophetic connection to the wind, the recurring warnings of coming conflict, and the ever-present threat of the Descendants' extinction create a sense of inevitability and tension. The future is always uncertain, but the past's wounds and choices echo forward, shaping what is to come.

Analysis

Shauna Lawless's The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is a masterful fusion of myth and history, using the lens of two powerful women to explore the cycles of violence, ambition, and survival that define both families and nations. The novel interrogates the costs of power—how love, loyalty, and even compassion are weaponized in the pursuit of security and legacy. Through the dual narratives of Gormflaith and Fódla, Lawless examines the tension between obedience and empathy, the burden of inherited trauma, and the possibility of change in a world governed by old wounds and new ambitions. The story's use of myth is not mere ornament: it is a commentary on the stories we tell to justify our actions, the laws we create to protect ourselves, and the hope that, even in exile and defeat, the wind may yet carry whispers of peace. The lesson is clear: survival demands adaptation, but true healing requires the courage to break the cycle—and to choose mercy, even when the cost is exile.

Last updated: May 6, 2025