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Written in 3rd-person Viking, THE LONG SHIPS gives a more favorable view of the Norsemen, especially Orm Tostesson, who travels widely and sees the World, such as it was in the 10th century A.D. Author Frans G. Bengtsson, a Swede, knows his history, as well he should -- himself a translator of many olden works such as PARADISE LOST and THE SONG OF ROLAND. Bengtsson showed some mettle himself (Red Orm would be proud), refusing to consent to a Norwegian translation of his book as long as the Norwegians were allied with Nazi Germany.

But the book. It captures the spirit of a-Viking as a way of life. This, from p. 343 of the nyrb edition, shows the Vikings back on a voyage after a long spell at home. Old friends Toke and Orm are reunited, and with them is Orm's young son, Blackhair, who is getting his first taste of seasickness:

"I cannot understand why I have kept away from the sea for so long," [Toke] said, "for a well-manned ship is the best of all things. It is good to sit contented ashore, and no man need be ashamed to do so; but a voyage to a far land, with booty awaiting a man and this smell in the nostrils, is as good a lot as could be desired, and a sure cure for age and sorrow. It is strange that we Northmen, who know this and are more skillful seamen than other men, sit at home as much as we do, when we have the whole world to plunder."

"Perhaps," said Orm, "some men prefer to grow old ashore rather than to risk encountering that surest of all cures for age that seafarers sometimes meet with."

"I smell many odors," said Blackhair in a distressed voice, "but think none of them good."

"That is because you are unaccustomed to them and know no better," replied Orm. "It may be that the sea-smell here is not so rich as that in the west, for there the sea is greener with salt and so has a richer tang to it. But this smell is nothing to complain of."


Orm travels to Spain under the Moors and is captured. He and a fellow Viking become bodyguards for a Muslim prince and convert to the faith of Muhammad (to become a Muslim is a simple act, after all -- one need only recite that there is only one God and Muhammad is His prophet).

When their chance to escape comes, Orm and friend flee and wash up on an Irish island. Soon they're in a second escapade battling King Ethelred of England -- another real person (this being historical fiction). A brief idyll takes us to Denmark, where Orm marries, has children, and becomes relatively comfortable, though adventures never cease (including a battle against raging berserkers) and Orm converts to Christianity, something many Vikings still shied away from in his day.

The last segment takes us past Kiev where Orm and a shipload of Vikings seek out Bulgar gold. This last part moves quickly and seems to get short shrift compared to the Moorish segment and the English one.

Overall, a wonderful plot book that gives you a real sense of how the Vikings lived, ate, killed, and thought. Of course, not all Vikings are alike, as Orm proves all too well. Written in a traditional, narrative style, the book has an old-fashioned feel to it and catches you up in the tide of its story. You grow to like Orm and his wild wife, Ylva. And, when all is said and done, you kind of miss them.

One more voyage, you wonder? But Bengtsson is long gone, having died in the 50's. A wonderful modern classic with a nice plea for all to read from Michael Chabon in the introduction. Ah, the Mysteries of Jutland....