“The Long Ships”

Frans G. Bengtsson

This epic tale of Viking adventure set in the 10th century is full of what J. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis called “northerness”. It’s the adventure-filled life of Red Orm Tostesson from his abduction by Vikings in his youth to his old age. The action ranges from Scania to Denmark, Ireland, England, Andalusia, and Kievan Rus. It was first published in Sweden in the 1941 and, unlike in so many more recent historical novels, the characters are convincingly of their time.

“The Long Ships” is a good, solid, sonorous, satisfying read.