In the Fire of the Forge: A Romance of Old Nuremberg — Complete
1895
In the Fire of the Forge: A Romance of Old Nuremberg — Complete
1895
Translated by Mary J. (Mary Joanna) Safford
The year is 1281. Nuremberg rises from the German night, its medieval spires catching moonlight while the Emperor's court burns with revelry below. Into this enchanted city steps Wolff Eysvogel, a young merchant's son whose ambitions threaten to pull him from the arms of Els Ortlieb, the woman he loves. She waits for him, jealous of his devotion to trade, fearing his business dealings will undo their plans for a life together. Her sister Eva, meanwhile, turns toward piety rather than the festivities of the court, seeking something beyond the world the lovers inhabit. Ebers weaves a romance rich with the texture of medieval life: the clatter of the forge, the whisper of political intrigue, the weight of family duty against the wildness of the heart. This is historical fiction at its 19th-century finest, where the past becomes a living, breathing place and love must contend with the very real demands of commerce, ambition, and social expectation. The lovers' tender scenes unfold against Nuremberg's moonlit streets while the Emperor's court celebrates above, a world where pleasure and obligation exist in constant tension. For readers who crave immersive historical romance, where the setting is as much a character as the lovers themselves, and where the stakes of the heart are played out against the machinery of medieval trade and politics.
