I embarked on the retelling of Hakon"s story decades ago. I could write an entire dissertation on why I chose to tell his story, but I"ll spare you all the details. Suffice it to say that, in Hakon, I found a character who cut across the grain of convention. Most Viking heroes we read about are some combination of huge, crafty, battle-wise and pagan. Hakon was young and inexperienced and Christian, yet his rise to the High Seat of Viking Age Norway is no less heroic and his story contains all of the drama so indicative of that time. And, for the most part, it is true.
The retelling of Hakon"s rise did have some complications though. Let us start with names and place names. Depending on what you read and where you look, you can find Hakon"s name written as Haakon, Hakon, Hacon and so forth
