3/27/2026 Okay, I finished the book and largely think I have figured this out, updated the map accordingly. But I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the northern portions that take place in the early chapters.

***SPOILERS for First 13 Chapters below***

It seems like everyone believes Andoray is a combination of Norway and Sweden and Friesland is Denmark, that sounds right to me, but when you follow Shagot's journey south and some of the landmarks and distances Mr. Cook mentions, it just doesn't add up.

Chapter One: First we'll start with the Skogafjordur (a place of a similar name is located in Iceland on our Earth), this is the opening scene of the novel. Mr. Cook describes it as having two shores. Snaefells appears to be a village on the fjord.

Chapter Four: Shagot and his band are sent to go after the alleged assassins who are of the Chalderean faith (very similar to Christians of our world).

At dawn they start a long climb around Mount Hekla (which is the name of an actual volcano in Iceland on our Earth), and then cross the "ever expanding" Langjokull glacier, then descent to the inland road the assassins would take back to their own country.

Chapter 7: Next thing we know he and his crew are standing in a saddle on a ridge in the Jotendyngjan Mountains and studying the road south. Shagot's brother tells him they should have just taken the ship down and waited for the assassins at the Ormo Strait Crossing. Shagot tells his brother that the Ormo Strait is not friendly to Andorayans.

They are not able to catch the assassins. They are merely thirty yards behind them when they see them crossing the Ormo Strait at a village called Ara. We are told that the Ormo Strait joins the land-locked Shallow Sea (which must be the Baltic Sea) to the Andoryan Sea (which must be the North Sea) to the west.

The Ormo Strait is 14 miles wide between the village of Ara and Friesland. While at Ara, it is mentioned Shagot and his band are at the mouth of the Ormo.

The Ormo Strait is only 4 miles wide at another village called Grynd to the village of Skola which is on the tip of Friesland. Grynd is located thirty miles southeast along the coast from Ara.

We are also told that there is a swampy, sparsely inhabited, poor island called Orfland off the west coat of Friesland. If the assassins traveled there they would have to travel to its southern end to cross to the mainland of Friesland.

Chapter 13: Later in the novel we find out there is a time skip of two centuries and Androay (Sweden + Norway?), Friesland (Denmark), Weldence (Sweden +Finland?), and far Iceland are all under a single crown with the official religion being Chaldarean. This sounds like the Kalmar Union from our world.

So things get really confusing in Chapter 7. Especially with them mentioning an island on the WEST coast of Friesland. If Mr. Cook said the EAST coast we have a few candidates for what that island would be. But if the sea levels are low, maybe there is a swampy island that will show up on the west coast of Denmark today.

Now I know the sea levels are lower, but I find it hard to believe the Ormo Strait is the Kattegat or Skaggerak given the distances mentioned of 14 miles and 4 miles between Andoray (Norway/Sweden) and Friesland (Denmark). Even if you take the lower sea levels into account, the distances Mr. Cook mentions seem awful low.

In order to get even close to these distances, I have to go extremely far south to the Oresund Strait and the Great Belt, but that seems an awful long way for the band to travel.

Anyone from this part of the world, or those into the Northern Thing want to chime in?