If you’re looking for an absorbing fictional escape to distant lands and times, search no further than the library for a copy of “The Long Ships” by Frans G. Bengtsson. This gem of historical fiction is set in the 10th century when Vikings roamed throughout present-day Scandinavia, the British Isles, Russia and south into the Mediterranean by rivers, sea and overland.
The story follows the life and adventures of Red Orm, a boy who is abducted by marauding Vikings from his home in Skania, then part of the kingdom of Denmark, and forced to row as a slave on their ship, which in turn is captured by Moors. Taken to Spain, he ends up fighting for the Caliph of Cordova, where he is introduced to Allah and Islam. There he earns favor for his luck, skill at fighting and ability to learn the language. Red Orm eventually escapes with a ship and crew, winding up on the shores of St. Finnian’s Isle, home to an Irish monastery. There he learns about Christianity, which is beginning to spread through the North as a cultural and political force.
An extraordinary series of escapades, experiences and stories reveal fascinating insights into multiple worldviews and transforming cultures during Orm’s lifetime. Originally published in Swedish in two parts in 1941 and 1945, a combined edition was translated into English in 1954. In a classic narrative style, episodic and laced throughout with iconically dry Scandinavian humor, it relates Orm’s story in four sections: Part One, “The Long Voyage,” details his capture, escape, and return to Skania; Part Two, “In King Ethelred’s Kingdom,” his time in what would become England; Part Three, “In the Border Country,” domestic life and events at his settlement in northern Skania; and Part Four, “The Bulgar Gold,” his last great adventure.
I think of “The Long Ships” as a mash-up in style and form of “The Odyssey” and Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” with the storytelling prowess of Larry McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove.” In short, I hated for the book to end. But don’t take my word for it. The library’s excellent edition, published by the New York Review of Books, contains an enthusiastic introduction by novelist Michael Chabon, who states that he has read it four times and promises readers, “it is really good.”
If you like Viking sagas, stories set in medieval times, adventure novels or historical fiction in general, “The Long Ships” may be the book for you. It’s available in print and e-book from your Homer Public Library, which is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tune in next Sunday morning for Reading Between the Lines right here on KBBI AM 890, Homer and 88.1 FM, Seward.
Reading Between the Lines is a co-production of KBBI AM 890 and volunteers with the Friends of the Homer Library. It airs at 9:35 a.m. every Sunday on KBBI 890 AM and Seward 88.1 FM. These reviews are reprinted with permission from KBBI and the Friends of the Homer Library. Program recordings can be found at Reading Between the Lines.
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