Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen

Author talk with Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen about her novel series Vølvens vej.

Throughout her writing career, Vedsø Olesen has explored mythology - from the Gudestorm trilogy, where an Egyptian god is resurrected in the present day, to the critically acclaimed five-part epic Vølvens vej. The series draws inspiration from the Poetic Edda, an Old Icelandic collection of poems about Norse mythology and heroic sagas, and particularly the poem "Völva's Prophecy" about the creation, destruction, and rebirth of the world - the same poem that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

When the Poetic Edda was written down in the 13th century, women were overlooked. Vedsø Olesen corrects this: in Vølvens vej, they are the central figures. The series' protagonist Snehilde is a völva - a seer whom even the gods consult - but she is more than a fortune-teller. She is an active heroine who takes her fate into her own hands.

Vedsø Olesen is a trained physician and made her literary debut in 2000 with Salernos sol. Since then, she has written novels in science fiction, historical fiction, and mythological narratives, and in 2022 she won the DR Novel Prize for the first volume of Vølvens vej.

The conversation is led by Sigurbjörg Elín Hólmarsdóttir and takes place in Salen, Nørre Havnegade 15, Sønderborg.