They Came on Viking Ships is a children's historical novel by Jackie French, first published in Australia in 2005. In 2007 it was retitled as Slave Girl for its publication in Britain, and Rover for its publication in the United States. Plot summary The story focuses on a 12-year-old girl called Hekja. Hekja lives with her mother in a simple village by the sea. Her two brothers and father have all died. At the beginning of the book, she comes to the aid of a small puppy who was attacked by a seagull on the beach. Hekja takes the puppy to the village's witch, Tikka, for her to help heal the puppy. Hekja is told that the puppy was one of the chief's litter, and she had already given it the True Name of Riki Snarfari (Mighty Rover). The puppy was considered the useless one of the litter and apparently had no value. The chief has shown little interest in him and gives him away to Hekja but later becomes jealous of how strong the pup is. Tikka shows the girl how to look after Snarf, as he becomes known affectionately by Hekja. Eventually, Snarf recovers, and hardly limps at all from the wound. The time comes for Hekja to spend the summer up the mountain with the other girls of the village. It is a tradition of the village for girls to stay on the mountain when they become of age, and the girls look after the cows and produce cheese whilst up the mountain, with the women bringing supplies "twice every full moon". Except for Hekja's best friend, Branna, the other girls are mean or indifferent to Hekja and abuse Snarf. One foggy day, the girls hear a howl. Hekja goes to investigate and Snarf follows her. Hekja finds a wolf and plans to kill it before it eats one of the calves. The girls hide and try to persuade Hekja to come back and let the wolf take a calf, but Hekja is stubborn, and wherever Hekja goes, Snarf follows. The wolf appears and Snarf bites it around the neck while the wolf is biting the dog's leg. The wolf quickly dies from the bite. Snarf is considered a hero and is treated with respect and Hekja also becomes a hero. Hekja becomes friends with all the other girls and they discover that she has a wonderful