What do you think?
Rate this book
Dragon Under the Hill
To Edmund Laidlaw, the holy island of Lindisfarne is an enchanted place—beautiful, remote, full of legend.
But it has a terrible and bloody history, as Laidlaw discovers when he takes a holiday there with his wife Runa and their young son Erik.
Caught between past and present, Laidlaw watches horrified and helpless as a dark remorseless power reaches out from the grave to overwhelm his son and exact a terrible vengeance.
But it has a terrible and bloody history, as Laidlaw discovers when he takes a holiday there with his wife Runa and their young son Erik.
Caught between past and present, Laidlaw watches horrified and helpless as a dark remorseless power reaches out from the grave to overwhelm his son and exact a terrible vengeance.
335 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
2 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Gordon Honeycombe
33 books1 followerRonald Gordon Honeycombe was an author, playwright and stage actor, well known in the United Kingdom as a national television newscaster.
Gordon Honeycombe was born in India, but educated at the Edinburgh Academy and at University College, Oxford, from which he graduated with an MA in English. He undertook National Service with the Royal Artillery, mainly in Hong Kong, where he was also an announcer with Radio Hong Kong. Returning to the UK, he embarked on an acting career which led to television and public prominence as a national newscaster.
As a newscaster, Honeycombe always seemed warm but stern while on-screen. Off camera, he was a flamboyant, fun-loving character with a devilish sense of humour.
He later settled in Perth, Western Australia, where he continued to work in radio, television and theatre, and was regularly engaged in voice-over work for radio and television, and in documentary narrations.
Gordon Honeycombe was born in India, but educated at the Edinburgh Academy and at University College, Oxford, from which he graduated with an MA in English. He undertook National Service with the Royal Artillery, mainly in Hong Kong, where he was also an announcer with Radio Hong Kong. Returning to the UK, he embarked on an acting career which led to television and public prominence as a national newscaster.
As a newscaster, Honeycombe always seemed warm but stern while on-screen. Off camera, he was a flamboyant, fun-loving character with a devilish sense of humour.
He later settled in Perth, Western Australia, where he continued to work in radio, television and theatre, and was regularly engaged in voice-over work for radio and television, and in documentary narrations.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 31, 2023
I bought this book decades ago from some used bookstore and it sat on my shelf unread all this time - I'd give it the eyeball whenever I moved and it was packed and unpacked yet again. Looking at the book as a physical object, I probably bought it because it seemed to be a ghost novel, and the packaging illustration vaguely cast it as some YA-styled "British boy's spooky adventure novel," in the model of childhood favorites like Susan Cooper's DARK IS RISING series. On finally turning to it, I find much of that supposition is correct, but some of it wrong - this is no YA novel, for example.
A couple, Edmund & Runa Wardlaw, are vacationing with their seven year old son Erik in Lindisfarne (the Holy Island), a quaint fishing enclave in Northern England. They meet and befriend a History Professor, Mervyn MacDougall, as they explore the picturesque and historic locale. MacDougall is translating a recently discovered fragment of parchment which suggests that Lindisfarne is the first place where a Viking pillage on English soil took place. And Erik, whilst in conflict with his father, uncovers an ancient, hidden grave and Viking treasure trove...the insidious influence of which begins to infect and threaten the family's stability.
This is a well-written, slow-burn read, strikingly sad at times. Modern readers looking for panoramic action and of-the-moment characterizations should look elsewhere - this book would appeal more towards those who enjoy the English Ghost Story/"pleasing terror" model of M.R. James (a reoccurring, half-glimpsed, threatening figure seen brandishing a weapon on a barren beach is a visual touchstone), or its modern (albeit non-urban) "psychologically tinged" manifestations in the work of Ramsey Campbell. Fans of the "Folk Horror" movement might also enjoy this, although a caveat that here we are not focusing on rural traditions, but on ancient history.
The small cast - essentially the family and the Professor, with some locals for color - means that we spend a lot of time in these character's heads, which again might be a problem for modern readers who unreasonably expect a British father character in 1971 (written by an author 35 years old at the time) to hold up-to-the-minute progressive opinions and expectations about his wife and son (Ed is domineering, but not a monster). But the honest, deeply felt characterization is vital for the creeping menace of such a small scale story (a tragedy, even) to take hold. While this is a tale of the savage past slowly impinging on the modern world, with an innocent family as a target, I also appreciated the restraint shown by the author. There is no vast and formless evil here (although the influence of Odin the one-eyed is felt, and he even makes recurrent appearances), just an awful past driven by cultural viciousness and historically-minded revenge being played out on the current stage.
Equally well-done is the choice to underpin this quiet supernaturalism with rich psychological detail: the situational/geographic and hereditary (Runa is from Norway) influences, the normal family dynamic of conflict between a growing boy and his father (there is a surprisingly frank - not exploitative - sexual element underscoring the story, from Oedipal conflicts real and imagined, to minor details like copulating crabs, to recurrent symbolism involving Odin the one-eyed, claimed swords/spears and dragons), the dynamic between husband and wife, Ed's thoughts and feelings about his past and married life/career direction, Runa's protectiveness of her son, etc.
And the way that these psychological aspects are exploited by the malignant past to achieve its ends are well-tempered, generating an ominous, menacing feeling of dread and inevitability. And the pacing, while considered (a slow-burn, as I said), means that when the supernatural moments do manifest (a boy speaking with an adult's sinister voice, a dream vision of a hideous Viking burial rite involving ritualized rape and murder, and - much as in the film THE HAUNTING - invisible poltergeist-like poundings and assaults) they are surprisingly powerful and creepily effective. Plainly put, small details (the death of a hamster was never so affecting!) gain resonance due to the careful composition and thoughtful writing. I could easily see this being filmed in the style of those late 70s BBC-TV James adaptation to effective success.
In other words, if all that sounds like your thing, you probably wouldn't go wrong in reading this. Now I have to see about Honeycombe's Neither Sea Nor Sand...
A couple, Edmund & Runa Wardlaw, are vacationing with their seven year old son Erik in Lindisfarne (the Holy Island), a quaint fishing enclave in Northern England. They meet and befriend a History Professor, Mervyn MacDougall, as they explore the picturesque and historic locale. MacDougall is translating a recently discovered fragment of parchment which suggests that Lindisfarne is the first place where a Viking pillage on English soil took place. And Erik, whilst in conflict with his father, uncovers an ancient, hidden grave and Viking treasure trove...the insidious influence of which begins to infect and threaten the family's stability.
This is a well-written, slow-burn read, strikingly sad at times. Modern readers looking for panoramic action and of-the-moment characterizations should look elsewhere - this book would appeal more towards those who enjoy the English Ghost Story/"pleasing terror" model of M.R. James (a reoccurring, half-glimpsed, threatening figure seen brandishing a weapon on a barren beach is a visual touchstone), or its modern (albeit non-urban) "psychologically tinged" manifestations in the work of Ramsey Campbell. Fans of the "Folk Horror" movement might also enjoy this, although a caveat that here we are not focusing on rural traditions, but on ancient history.
The small cast - essentially the family and the Professor, with some locals for color - means that we spend a lot of time in these character's heads, which again might be a problem for modern readers who unreasonably expect a British father character in 1971 (written by an author 35 years old at the time) to hold up-to-the-minute progressive opinions and expectations about his wife and son (Ed is domineering, but not a monster). But the honest, deeply felt characterization is vital for the creeping menace of such a small scale story (a tragedy, even) to take hold. While this is a tale of the savage past slowly impinging on the modern world, with an innocent family as a target, I also appreciated the restraint shown by the author. There is no vast and formless evil here (although the influence of Odin the one-eyed is felt, and he even makes recurrent appearances), just an awful past driven by cultural viciousness and historically-minded revenge being played out on the current stage.
Equally well-done is the choice to underpin this quiet supernaturalism with rich psychological detail: the situational/geographic and hereditary (Runa is from Norway) influences, the normal family dynamic of conflict between a growing boy and his father (there is a surprisingly frank - not exploitative - sexual element underscoring the story, from Oedipal conflicts real and imagined, to minor details like copulating crabs, to recurrent symbolism involving Odin the one-eyed, claimed swords/spears and dragons), the dynamic between husband and wife, Ed's thoughts and feelings about his past and married life/career direction, Runa's protectiveness of her son, etc.
And the way that these psychological aspects are exploited by the malignant past to achieve its ends are well-tempered, generating an ominous, menacing feeling of dread and inevitability. And the pacing, while considered (a slow-burn, as I said), means that when the supernatural moments do manifest (a boy speaking with an adult's sinister voice, a dream vision of a hideous Viking burial rite involving ritualized rape and murder, and - much as in the film THE HAUNTING - invisible poltergeist-like poundings and assaults) they are surprisingly powerful and creepily effective. Plainly put, small details (the death of a hamster was never so affecting!) gain resonance due to the careful composition and thoughtful writing. I could easily see this being filmed in the style of those late 70s BBC-TV James adaptation to effective success.
In other words, if all that sounds like your thing, you probably wouldn't go wrong in reading this. Now I have to see about Honeycombe's Neither Sea Nor Sand...
December 18, 2007
If you love a good ghost story, this one will have you going around the house, turning on lights on a sunny day. I love this book--a well-crafted story, and one that you can read for the history and the shivers.
May 8, 2015
The Wardlaw family travel to the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne so that Ed, a lecturer in Medieval History, can work on his PhD. There, they meet Professor Mervyn MacDougall, who's translating a document recording what it claims is the first Viking incursion onto British shores: the sack of Lindisfarne by Guthorm, followed by his death at nearby Bamburgh, after which Guthorm’s son vows revenge. Unknowingly, the Wardlaws encapsulate the two sides of this historical conflict: Ed is descended from Guthorm’s killer, while his Norwegian wife, Runa, is of Guthorm’s line. As the past — and the supernatural influence of Odin All-Father himself — seeks to take hold of the present and play out that long-promised revenge, it finds a handhold of sorts in seven-year-old Erik, whose clashes with his father are starting to take a decided Oedipal turn. Things wouldn’t be too bad, only young Erik unearths Guthorm’s tomb, which of course contains this Viking's weapons. Erik begins sneaking them back to his bedroom. Then, one night, walking alone in the town square, Ed has a spear thrown at him. The head is authentic Viking, carved with runes spelling out the name 'Guthorm'; the haft is made out of a mop-handle from Ed’s own kitchen.
Another supernatural-tinged novel from Gordon Honeycombe, newsreader and author of the love-beyond-death novel, Neither the Sea nor the Sand. Here, the emotional atmosphere is less intense than in that book. The plot, and the historical mystery that’s being uncovered, gets a nice, slow set-up, meaning the characters and their relationships are well-developed by the time the supernatural really takes hold. But, though the characters and story kept me reading till the end, there didn’t seem as much, I don’t know, meaning behind this replaying of the past. Why does it happen? Is it just ancestry, or is it the baleful influence of one-eyed Odin, hobbling about the island of Lindisfarne like the one god who missed out on Ragnarok? Or is it something Freudian and Oedipal? I don’t know, but though I enjoyed it, I felt there was something missing from the supernatural element, enough to knock a star off a nevertheless fine book.
Another supernatural-tinged novel from Gordon Honeycombe, newsreader and author of the love-beyond-death novel, Neither the Sea nor the Sand. Here, the emotional atmosphere is less intense than in that book. The plot, and the historical mystery that’s being uncovered, gets a nice, slow set-up, meaning the characters and their relationships are well-developed by the time the supernatural really takes hold. But, though the characters and story kept me reading till the end, there didn’t seem as much, I don’t know, meaning behind this replaying of the past. Why does it happen? Is it just ancestry, or is it the baleful influence of one-eyed Odin, hobbling about the island of Lindisfarne like the one god who missed out on Ragnarok? Or is it something Freudian and Oedipal? I don’t know, but though I enjoyed it, I felt there was something missing from the supernatural element, enough to knock a star off a nevertheless fine book.
June 7, 2013
I must have read this over 30 years ago, and would like to read it again. I found a used copy on amazon and purchased it with the intent of picking it up sometime soon. I recall it as chilling and unnerving. There are passages I can vividly recall, even after all of this time. Norse and/or Viking mythology is heavily embedded, and the ghostly images are unsettling. I can't wait to delve into it for a second time. The only problem is that I have a huge stack of other novels to read for the first time.
September 2, 2022
Longbottom, the hamster, deserved better.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
April 21, 2019
Very sad. It amazed me that the men drank 6 rounds at the pub & then drove their cars.
June 7, 2013
Cool plot line based on Anglo-Saxon history in Britain, but dated in its language and characterizations.
June 28, 2020
A book choke-full of potential that never take off.
If wishes were horses, Stephen Gregory, Sheridan Le Fanu, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson , Sarban, Thomas Tryon and Arthur Machen would have collaborated to make this novel a stunning feat for the eyes, the minds, the hearts and the memories of all readers.
I felt there were too many elements that drag this book down to a transient and flat experience: a child talking like a 40 yr old man even before the whole story kicks off while his parents don't even come close to act like common human beings; a string of short scenes that do not add anything or relate to the development of the story; the exciting outline of a powerful ending left in the hands of a meek and shy writer.
What a shame.
If wishes were horses, Stephen Gregory, Sheridan Le Fanu, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson , Sarban, Thomas Tryon and Arthur Machen would have collaborated to make this novel a stunning feat for the eyes, the minds, the hearts and the memories of all readers.
I felt there were too many elements that drag this book down to a transient and flat experience: a child talking like a 40 yr old man even before the whole story kicks off while his parents don't even come close to act like common human beings; a string of short scenes that do not add anything or relate to the development of the story; the exciting outline of a powerful ending left in the hands of a meek and shy writer.
What a shame.
November 8, 2018
This was a compelling read - atmospheric and dark, with such a a strong sense of place. What keeps me from giving 4 stars to the book however is the set of characters who fuel the plot. What a bunch of crazies! I could never tell whether or not the immaturity of Ed and the sullen and irrational behavior of Erik was normal for both or just part of the haunting they experience. And Runa - I pity her, but really hold her in disdain. To be in the middle of those two boys. Wow. If the ending had been different, I would have recommended therapy for all of them.
November 15, 2021
From my vague recollection having read this in high school (or just out of it), the premise was fascinating but some sections of it were a little dry. I did care about the characters though and wanted to see it through to the end to see if the family would survive. I would go so far as to give it 3.5 stars were it possible to show the half star in the rating field. Not as gripping as The Shining, but it engaged me nonetheless.
August 15, 2019
Read this book originally in my preteens. It was memorable enough that when i came across it again some 20 years later at a used book sale, i knew it instantly, purchased and carried home in triumph. Luckily, read again as an adult, it still reads well. Although it would probably be shelved with horror books, its not that scary (good for chicken me). But it is engrossing with references to norse customs/history which had always been interesting to the uninitiated child i was. The miasma which enfolds father as it proceeds, is like the dream a dreamer cannot awake from. Anxiety builds as the son moves toward another reality - somewhere parents cannot go. The ending is satisfying. I recommend!
January 26, 2011
I'll bend my rule here (and possibly be slightly mislead) in that I'm giving 2 stars to a book I strongly dislike. I do this because the book is well constructed and uses some interesting (albeit in a crushingly negative and depressing way) imagery. It is well written using a somewhat mythological storyline or plot device. I suspect you'll put what's going on together before the character does, but that's not all that unusual and here it's handled alright. I find it a little hard to complement the book as it's much like saying "wow that was a great left hook you just used to break my jaw". It doesn't matter how well it's done if you don't like it.
I don't like it. On a personal level I don't like books "of this type" and when I read this I was away from home, in a stressful situation and so...the story here effected me "badly" delivering little (for me) beside depression. Again, lest you didn't pick it up the first 3 times I said it...I didn't like it, but it's written very well and I'm sure some will find it to their taste.
******************* Spoiler Below Line ******************************
This is another "haunted place destroys family saga" and I find those supremely distasteful. The very fact of the writing's quality can (at least for me) make that worse. Though it was first this novel puts me strongly in mind of Burnt Offerings and The Shining. They both deal with haunted places and the slow, painful, yet inevitable destruction of a family. I don't know if Honeycombe influenced Marasco and/or King or not, but (for me) the similarities seem unavoidable.
This book and this type of book is not for me. You may enjoy it, if you do I'm happy for you.
I don't like it. On a personal level I don't like books "of this type" and when I read this I was away from home, in a stressful situation and so...the story here effected me "badly" delivering little (for me) beside depression. Again, lest you didn't pick it up the first 3 times I said it...I didn't like it, but it's written very well and I'm sure some will find it to their taste.
******************* Spoiler Below Line ******************************
This is another "haunted place destroys family saga" and I find those supremely distasteful. The very fact of the writing's quality can (at least for me) make that worse. Though it was first this novel puts me strongly in mind of Burnt Offerings and The Shining. They both deal with haunted places and the slow, painful, yet inevitable destruction of a family. I don't know if Honeycombe influenced Marasco and/or King or not, but (for me) the similarities seem unavoidable.
This book and this type of book is not for me. You may enjoy it, if you do I'm happy for you.
October 24, 2018
I read this book many many years ago after visiting Lindisfarne and it has always stayed with me.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews