The Sea Mother's Gift

"The Sea Mother's Gift" is a short story by Laura Frankos, published in The First Heroes, (Tor, 2004). It is set around 1160 BC, when the eruption of the Hekla volcano in Iceland caused catastrophic climate change in northwestern Europe. The story focuses on an agricultural community in the Orkney Islands, who interpret the sudden cold front as an attack by the evil god Lord Father Winter, assisted by his fearsome accomplice Klevey, against their protectress the Mother of the Sea. Sheep farmer Dett receives a prophetic dream which contains clues to a new agricultural strategy to combat the crop shortage.

With its focus on gods and prophecies, the story can be considered fantasy, however Frankos is deliberately vague on whether any supernatural activity is actually happening, as all his dreams and waking visions can be explained away as insights from his own subconscious. The story is set in a historical period, yet the culture and demographics come primarily from Frankos' imagination - as our knowledge of British history prior to 52 BC is limited to interpretations of archaeological remains, Frankos has a virtual carte blanche in these matters, and nothing about the depicted society can be falsified.