Glossary

Runes
An old alphabet once used in Scandinavia and Iceland.
Cryptogram
A message written in code.
Alchemist
An early scientist who mixed chemistry with magic.
Eider-down
Soft feathers from the eider duck, used in quilts. Hans hunts for it.
Crater
The bowl-shaped hole at the top of a volcano.
Lava
Melted rock from a volcano, which sets hard as it cools.
Basalt
A dark rock made from cooled lava.
Fossil
The remains or print of something that lived long ago, turned to stone.
Ichthyosaurus
An ancient sea reptile shaped a bit like a dolphin.
Plesiosaurus
An ancient sea reptile with a long neck and flippers.
Mastodon
A huge extinct relative of the elephant.
League
An old measure of distance, about three miles.

Image credits