In Nancy Farmer’s novel The Sea of Trolls, the boy apprenticed to a bard is Jack.
Jack is an Anglo-Saxon farm boy who becomes the apprentice of the bard and storyteller named Dragon Tongue. His training begins when Dragon Tongue visits Jack’s village and chooses him to accompany the traveling party. Jack’s journey soon expands into a dangerous encounter with Vikings, magic, and the world of Norse myth.
The novel draws on medieval Northern European settings and characters while telling an original fantasy story. Jack must learn courage, observation, storytelling, and the practical knowledge needed to survive far from home. His relationship with Dragon Tongue provides the book’s literary focus on oral tradition and memory.
The Sea of Trolls is sometimes confused with a direct retelling of a traditional saga. It is instead the first novel in a fantasy trilogy inspired by Anglo-Saxon and Norse culture. Its sequels are Land of the Silver Apples and The Islands of the Blessed.