Am Bratach No. 201
July 2008
editor@bratach.co.uk

Bookends
by Kevin Crowe

Mandy Haggith “The Last Bear”, Two Ravens Press, 2008. £8.99.

This story, set in North West Scotland over a thousand years ago, pits two groups against each other: the Vikings from Scandinavia who at the time the novel is set have settled to a mainly peaceful life and the Celts who earlier arrived in Scotland from across what is now known as the Irish Sea. It is also a struggle between two sets of ideologies: the pantheism of the older pagan beliefs and that of Christianity bought to Scotland by the likes of St Columba. Central to the story is the relationship between humanity and the natural world.

The old ways are represented by Brigid (ironically, also the name of an ancient Celtic saint), who is the repository of ancient lore and traditional healing, and who has great affinity with the life of the forest — and in particular with the bear. Formerly a lover of the headman, Bjorn, she is now an outcast who lives in the forest and is banned from the village.

The new ways are represented by Margaret, a Christian from an aristocratic background who is the wife of Bjorn, and whose brother, James, is a priest. Our first meetings with both women find them, in their different ways, in prayer: Margaret kneeling to say the Lord’s Prayer and Brigid drinking a bitter brew to achieve union with Father Bear.
Straddling the two worlds is the headman Bjorn, the son of an Orkney princess and a Norwegian jarl. He is a convert to Christianity, but still has a love of and respect for the older ways, and finds himself torn. He is also hot headed and when a pack of wolves attack the village, he organises a party to seek out and destroy the animals. This begins with a party at which the drink flows freely and everyone eats their fill; then the posse of men — all either hungover or still drunk — set off. Inevitably, it ends in disaster, with the death of several men and a serious life threatening injury to Bjorn.

The convalescence of Bjorn is the heart of the book. We see the jealousy that exists between Margaret and Brigid, each of whom has their different ideas on how to treat Bjorn’s injuries. The consequences are far reaching and tragic.

With the exception of the priest James, who is a stereotype from a narrow minded form of Christianity — in fact something of a straw man — all the main characters are well drawn and rounded. They all come to life on the page, and we find ourselves drawn into their conflicts, first taking one side, then the other. We suffer their pain and we enjoy their pleasures. There is hardly a greater compliment that could be paid to any novelist.

But there is more to this book than an emotionally engaging and satisfying fiction. In this multi-layered work there are many themes of direct relevance to twenty-first century Scotland, of which I will briefly mention three.

Mandy was a committed environmentalist long before it became fashionable, and the needless destruction of the natural world is a constant theme from the priest’s instruction that the rowan trees be cut down to the extinction of the bear. Bjorn is at his strongest when he is at one with the environment and weakest when he places the human above the rest of nature. Brigid’s strength comes from her closeness to and respect for the natural world.

One of the key causes of conflict is that of religion: the “old” ways against the “new” — Brigid versus Margaret. Neither seems able to understand, let alone respect, the viewpoint of the other. Sadly, this has been a recurring theme throughout history, whether it be between religions or between different interpretations of the same religion.

Sectarianism still exists in certain parts of Scotland as does anti-Semitism and more recently Islamophobia. Mandy shows just how destructive such intolerance can be.
Finally neither party to the conflict — neither Viking nor Celt — were native to Scotland, and yet both found a land that provided for their needs. To this day, Scotland remains a land of immigrants, from the Gaels and the Scandinavians to the Asians and Poles. This often leads to conflict, but ultimately it is one of the nation’s enduring strengths.

Mandy has previously had two fine collections of poetry published, both reviewed in the Bratach. In this beautiful and poetical novel, she demonstrates an equal skill at writing fiction.