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The Forge
Four nights to earn a relic. Neither of them expected what else they'd forge.
Rivals-to-Lovers Mythology Retelling
She didn't forge it for the goddess. She forged it because she could.
Völund, the most celebrated seidr-smith in the nine realms and Freya's most trusted disciple, has one travel to the undercity beneath the Fire Mountains, retrieve the legendary Brísingamen necklace, and return it to his goddess. It should be simple. He is Freya's chosen. His name is known across every forge from the mountain to the Summerlands. No one has ever denied him anything.
Dvalin, master of the undercity forge and successor to the legendary dwarven smiths Brokkr and Sindri, has no interest in Völund's reputation or his mission. The Brísingamen is the first thing she has ever made that bears no one's shadow but her own. Not the gods. Not her masters. No one. She will not hand it over for coin, for flattery, or for fear of Freya's name. But she will make him earn it.
Four nights. Each night, they forge as peers—same billet, same fire, same measure—and each night, they speak one truth from the work.
Völund, used to being the best in every room, finds himself unsettled by a woman whose judgment leaves him feeling warm and full. Dvalin, who has spent her life proving herself against the legacy of masters and gods, finds the mountain prince irritating, impressive, and impossible to look away from. Neither of them intends what happens next.
The Forge is the origin story of the Brísingamen, the legendary necklace of Freya, told through the courtship of two master smiths who are too proud to admit what they're actually forging. A companion novella to the Leifthasir's Saga series, it can be read as a standalone.
For readers who mythology retold with intimate, grounded character workRivals-to-lovers romance with real emotional tensionCraft, competition, and the pride of making beautiful thingsF/M slow-burn driven by wit and matched skillStories where the mythology feels lived-in rather than performed
Rivals-to-Lovers Mythology Retelling
She didn't forge it for the goddess. She forged it because she could.
Völund, the most celebrated seidr-smith in the nine realms and Freya's most trusted disciple, has one travel to the undercity beneath the Fire Mountains, retrieve the legendary Brísingamen necklace, and return it to his goddess. It should be simple. He is Freya's chosen. His name is known across every forge from the mountain to the Summerlands. No one has ever denied him anything.
Dvalin, master of the undercity forge and successor to the legendary dwarven smiths Brokkr and Sindri, has no interest in Völund's reputation or his mission. The Brísingamen is the first thing she has ever made that bears no one's shadow but her own. Not the gods. Not her masters. No one. She will not hand it over for coin, for flattery, or for fear of Freya's name. But she will make him earn it.
Four nights. Each night, they forge as peers—same billet, same fire, same measure—and each night, they speak one truth from the work.
Völund, used to being the best in every room, finds himself unsettled by a woman whose judgment leaves him feeling warm and full. Dvalin, who has spent her life proving herself against the legacy of masters and gods, finds the mountain prince irritating, impressive, and impossible to look away from. Neither of them intends what happens next.
The Forge is the origin story of the Brísingamen, the legendary necklace of Freya, told through the courtship of two master smiths who are too proud to admit what they're actually forging. A companion novella to the Leifthasir's Saga series, it can be read as a standalone.
For readers who mythology retold with intimate, grounded character workRivals-to-lovers romance with real emotional tensionCraft, competition, and the pride of making beautiful thingsF/M slow-burn driven by wit and matched skillStories where the mythology feels lived-in rather than performed
72 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 13, 2025
About the author
H.F. Day
5 books9 followersH.F. Day is an author and illustrator of myth-rich fantasy grounded in the Viking Age. Her debut novel, A Tale of Scorched Ash and Elm, braids the intimacy of family drama with the sweep of legend, drawing closely from the Eddas and Sagas. A lifelong student of Norse history and material culture, H.F. Day cares about getting the small things right: ships and seasonal light, law and longhouses, so the big things feel true. She has traveled widely and credits her inspiration to favorite locations such as Ireland, Spain, Romania, and the Rockies for shaping her eye.
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