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A review by kiwi_fruit
The Long Ships: A Saga of the Viking Age by Frans G. Bengtsson, Michael Leverson Meyer
5.0
A classic of the historical fiction genre and a fun read.
This tenth century saga retells the adventures of Orm Tosteson (Red Orm) and his Norse merry men, going a’viking abroad, converting to Christianity and eventually settling down in the border lands with his wife Ylva. The stories are many and varied and the reader will enjoy learning about the ancient ways of the Vikings, the fighting skills, the cunning, the luck and even the wisdom required in settling disputes at the Thing. They are all written in a tongue in cheek fashion.
Relations with the Smalanders continued to be peaceful, and there were no local incidents worth mentioning, apart from the usual murders at feasts and weddings, and a few men burned in their houses as the result of neighbourly disputes. At Gröning, life proceeded tranquilly.
Some things never change, here some of Orm’s advice for marital bliss:
It was a strange peculiarity of Orm’s that he never birched his wife; even when a great anger came over him, he restrained his temper, so that nothing more came of it than an overturned table or a broken door. In time he perceived a curious thing: namely, that all their quarrels always ended in the same way; he had to mend the things he had broken, and the matter about which they had quarreled was always settled the way Ylva wanted it, though she never upturned a table or broke a door, but merely threw an occasional dish-clout in his face or smashed a plate on the floor at his feet. Having discovered this, he thought it unrewarding to have any further quarrels with her, and a whole year would sometimes pass without their harmony being threatened by hard words.
Wonderfully entertaining, informative and historically accurate Viking caper. Highly recommended.
4.5 stars.
This tenth century saga retells the adventures of Orm Tosteson (Red Orm) and his Norse merry men, going a’viking abroad, converting to Christianity and eventually settling down in the border lands with his wife Ylva. The stories are many and varied and the reader will enjoy learning about the ancient ways of the Vikings, the fighting skills, the cunning, the luck and even the wisdom required in settling disputes at the Thing. They are all written in a tongue in cheek fashion.
Relations with the Smalanders continued to be peaceful, and there were no local incidents worth mentioning, apart from the usual murders at feasts and weddings, and a few men burned in their houses as the result of neighbourly disputes. At Gröning, life proceeded tranquilly.
Some things never change, here some of Orm’s advice for marital bliss:
It was a strange peculiarity of Orm’s that he never birched his wife; even when a great anger came over him, he restrained his temper, so that nothing more came of it than an overturned table or a broken door. In time he perceived a curious thing: namely, that all their quarrels always ended in the same way; he had to mend the things he had broken, and the matter about which they had quarreled was always settled the way Ylva wanted it, though she never upturned a table or broke a door, but merely threw an occasional dish-clout in his face or smashed a plate on the floor at his feet. Having discovered this, he thought it unrewarding to have any further quarrels with her, and a whole year would sometimes pass without their harmony being threatened by hard words.
Wonderfully entertaining, informative and historically accurate Viking caper. Highly recommended.
4.5 stars.