| Nordy Bank | |
|---|---|
First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Sheena Porter |
| Illustrator | Annette Macarthur-Onslow |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Publication date | 1964 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 144 pp |
Nordy Bank is a children's novel by Sheena Porter, published in 1964. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal for that year.[1]
Contents |
Six children plan a camping trip in the Easter holidays, deciding on Brown Clee Hill as it is out of the way of summer visitors. They set up camp on the top of the hill, which turns out to be the site of an Iron Age hill fort, Nordy Bank. Bronwen is particularly susceptible to the atmosphere of the place, and shows unexpected knowledge about its construction. Her personality begins to change, as from a quiet good-natured girl she becomes argumentative, then increasingly withdrawn and sullen. Bron is aware of the change and frightened by it. Her friend Margery believes she is possessed by the spirit of an Iron Age woman.
Meanwhile an Alsatian dog of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps escapes while on his way to retraining by the National Canine Defence League after being retired due to partial deafness. Being muzzled, he is unable to hunt and becomes increasingly hungry. When the dog appears lurking round the camp, the dog-loving Bron reacts with fear and hostility, calling him a wolf. However, his forlorn state eventually rouses her true self and she befriends him.
The novel is set primarily in a precisely described location, Nordy Bank on Brown Clee Hill in Shropshire. The surrounding countryside, the Shropshire Hills, the village of Clee St. Margaret and the market town of Ludlow also feature prominently.[2] The author lives in Ludlow.[1]
Nordy Bank is the site of an ancient hill fort, designed for defence against attackers and wolves. The differences between Roman, Iron Age and Stone Age camps are described.
Margery and Bron quote from A. E. Housman's poem "The Welsh Marches" while looking at the surrounding landscape. The theme of the poem, the long history of warfare in the region, the "war that sleeps" in the land itself, is echoed in the novel.
Bron takes Rosemary Sutcliff's Warrior Scarlet, about a Bronze Age boy, to read at camp, and is reading aloud to the others the chapter in which the wolves attack when the army dog first appears.
Nordy Bank received the Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature. In The Nesbit Tradition, Marcus Crouch calls it Sheena Porter's finest book. While he describes the camping scenes as beautifully done, conveying a sense of adventure and good companionship, he regards the novel as primarily concerned with the development of personality. "In Nordy Bank Sheena Porter shows how self-discovery can go hand-in-hand with the discovery of society. It is an effective lesson, the more so because the lesson is contained in an absorbing and dramatic story and the inner and outer themes are inseparable." [3]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Time of Trial |
Carnegie Medal recipient 1964 |
Succeeded by The Grange at High Force |