A short novella steeped in both history and magic, about the horses of Iceland and the man who brought them there from a distant land.

In the ninth century, Norse trader Eyvind of Eyri joins a caravan to travel on the Silk Road. His search for riches, however, takes an unexpected turn when he stumbles upon a restless ghost and a seemingly magical white mare.

The story is narrated by the voice of a scholarly Christian priest; a framing device that adds a layer of cultural complexity, but also keeps characters and events somehow at distance from us readers. It is nevertheless a fascinating read, but more because of its historical ambience and hypnotic prose than for any personal investment in Eyvind’s own journey. 

The book clearly relies on a deeper knowledge of both history and folklore. Not every aspect of the world is thoroughly explained, but what we get is generally enough to understand and appreciate the setting, while also being left with some rekindled curiosity for the cultures we encounter. 

Although, some personal knowledge, or at least an inclination to have fun with Google, is probably needed not to miss some not-so-secondary nuance: for instance, a few lines that could sound like culturally misplaced lawyer jokes get an entirely different meaning when you find out how in old Icelandic traditions lawmen were rather depicted as sages.

The speculative elements are closer to magical realism than to fully fledged fantasy, both because of their folkloric roots and because of the metanarrative (as in, even in universe, we don’t witness firsthand to supernatural events, but through sources that may or may not be entirely reliable).

An unusual and fascinating read that feels like a legend of old.