When cultures collide, themes of transformation are necessary. And what better place to discuss cultural conflict than sometime long passed, like say England around the time of Robin Hood and the Magna Carta. Opening up to a wider audience, the historical novels of Douglas Nicholas bring a little magic and horror into the stories of that transitional time. And who might be the displaced cultural heroes and heroines at such a time long ago? Why the Irish Queen Maeve and her granddaughter Nemain are hiding among the English as musicians and healers, that’s who. Maeve is a warrior chieftain, who goes by the name of Maggie. Both she and her granddaughter are priestesses in the ancient cult of the triune Celtic Goddess Maeve. 
Often referred to as the Morrigan, the Celtic Goddess is maiden, mother, and crone, sort of like the Christian trinity of father, son, and holy spirit. And of course there is the delightfully confusing background of the Vikings, variously called the Angels, the Saxons, and the Normans who are edging into Christianity.
Three books comprise the story of Maeve and her gypsy like troupe. The viewpoint is that of the youngest member of the troupe, a Saxon boy called Hob, who was orphaned and raised by an old Catholic priest. Maggie’s troupe rolled into town and she chose Hob (Robert) as her apprentice. The old, nearly blind priest trusts Maeve with the life of his ward because he’s an excellent judge of character and knows she is a good woman, who will teach Hob how to survive in the world. Maggie’s other follower is her devoted warrior/lover Jack Brown, who survived a Crusade to the Holy Land. That’s right, the men are believers in the new religion. But there’s something very odd about Jack. He can’t speak much because of a wound to the throat, which he received on that Crusade, actually a bite made by a very powerful and strange animal. He might have died except for the
Knights of the Temple, whose war horses trampled the beast as they rode down the caravan’s Saracen attackers. Unfortunately for poor soldier Jack, the beast’s bite transformed him into a bear like creature.
As you might guess, this is where the shape changer motif is introduced. Bears kill anything in order to eat and humans are just as delicious as venison. For a Christian, being possessed by a demonic spirit is a fate worse than death, so Jack hunts for a healer of extraordinary fame and power. He finds Maggie at a fair and she finds him very attractive and strong, the ideal companion for a warrior queen in exile. So she uses all her powers with magic and herbs to push the beast deep inside the man and hence tame it. Of course the man is eternally grateful for being restored to the human tribe. In all three novels there are very dark forces at work and the Church hierarchy finds it necessary to use Maeve’s skills to defeat the evil.
In Something Red the story begins for the boy Hob, who leads the ox which pulls the main wagon. There are three animal helpers, an ox, a mare, and a donkey which pull the three wagons. The women sing and play the Celtic harp, Jack the Irish drum and Hob the harmonium. Maeve has taught them all to play. That’s how they earn their way through the English countryside, by singing and making music so people can dance in the inns or by the campsite. They also heal people. They are the traveling medics of the time and are adept in their pharmacology and technical skill. By adding the gore of a series of mysterious murders which seem to be following the troupe, Nicholas heightens the suspense and tension. The history of the times is illustrated by in depth descriptions of the travelers and the people they meet, not to mention the castles and countryside of the time. There is something monstrous present, but it is subtle and eludes the powers of Maeve and Nemain. Ironically it is always the eye of the hawk, the boy’s attention to detail, which resolves the puzzles in each novel.
In Something Red the troupe deals with an ancient shapeshifter, a fox. They join forces with the Norman nobility in dealing with this werewolf like creature. In The Wicked it is an ancient vampire and his wife. In Throne of Darkness (also called Hounds of Hell) the problem is a Moroccan sorcerer and his were-hyenas, who interestingly enough have been hired by the infamous King John of Magna Carta fame. Hob represents the old Viking culture, the Saxons, who conquered Briton by defeating the Celts and the Romans. He is one of Robin Hood’s people. Jack might be an Angle or a Saxon, one of the older Viking races which converted to Christianity. Only Maeve and Nemain are true Celts of the old religion and these warrior queens work with their male lovers to rid the countryside of the monsters. The series is an interesting and exciting way to educate the reader about puberty, adolescence, marriage, commitment, and life in the thirteenth century. And the clash of culture is a recurrent theme as well.
The books favor the old Irish traditions of Maeve and her people over the Christian and the Moor. Indigenous cultures are usually matrilineal, as they were at the time of Mohammad, but warrior males change all that and obliterate their own history, as did the Jews. We find it easier to see and understand if we have an indigenous background, as most Americans do. Strong women and men make for a strong story line and both are needed to combat the Dark. This is not really about the past, it is about the eternally recurring patterns of human psychology, how our unconscious animal selves can easily surface when they are not acknowledged and cared for. Maeve is the symbol of the Queen Goddess who loves all of life and keeps everything in balance. She is the gateway of life and death through which all must travel.
Merlin and the White Eagle 