I wrote February's short story at Dream of Shadows. You can read it here until August, after which it will be available in the print edition.
It's a sequel to my previous short story, "Chramn the Unconquered," available here.
Chramn and all of his tribespeople have their names taken from Merovingian history. Chramn's name comes from the Old French word for raven, and his strangling in the first story is a reference to the death of a Chramn in Gregory of Tours' History of the Franks. The Warriors, on the other hand, take their names from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso: Aquilant and Grifon are the twin sons of Oliver. Their names mean eagle and hawk, hence their line in the story. Likewise, in the Orlando Innamorato and again in Orlando Furioso, they face off against a giant named Orillo who first sends his giant crocodile after them. There's a great essay in, I believe, Fortune and Romance: Boiardo in America (edited by Jo Ann Cavallo) that talks about Orillo being symbolic of gnosticism. The bee brooch was inspired by the brooches discovered in the tomb of the Merovingian king Childeric I.
I wanted to set these stories on a fantasy tundra because it's a landscape I've been fascinated by for some time. It's similar to the steppe, a somewhat overused fantasy setting, plus it calls to mind all those great illustrations of ice age mammals. I also chose the tundra because I've become obsessed with caribou lately. They're really fascinating creatures, and the big implausible landsleighs (think viking longships crossed with toboggans and hauled by caribou) seemed like a nice evolution of that famous Frank Frazetta painting.
The story itself is, I guess, about feeling stupid and dumb and how sometimes just putting yourself out into the world can be part of the solution.
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