Tag Archives: Vikings

One of my stupider posts…

Which is saying a lot.

I’m just getting going on a reeeeeally long book to review, so I’ll be posting oddments here for a few days. And Friday is a day I often do musical posts.

But I didn’t have this in mind, I swear to you. I was looking for some kind of hymn in Old Norse, and stumbled on this… thing.

I guess it’s kind of amusing. In Simon & Garfunkle style, they tell how the Vikings settled in Britain and assimilated. And they list some of the Viking contributions to British culture. I got a giggle or two out of it.

You’ll notice, if you’ve read my novel The Elder King, that they repeat the story that the nursery rhyme, “London Bridge Is Falling Down” refers to King Olaf Haraldsson (later Saint Olaf) pulling down London Bridge during his time as a mercenary in England. I use that legend in my book, but integrity forced me to confess in the Afterword that there’s no genuine historical basis for it. One translation of Heimskringla includes a skaldic poem with the lines, “London bridge is falling down / Gold is won and bright renown.” But that line was a whimsy of the translator’s. It doesn’t appear that way in the original poem. Scholars are confident that the nursery rhyme commemorates a much later occurrence.

Have a good weekend, if you can handle that disappointment.

My ancestors in the news

Avaldsnes Church on Karmoy island. Picture by me June, 2022.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking this blog hasn’t been providing enough Viking News lately. Why would anyone come to a book blog, except to read about Viking News? Sure, I’ve given you a few saga reviews in recent weeks, but what you want (I have no doubt) is the kind of breaking, “you read it here first” information for which my name is, perhaps not renowned, but definitely -nowned.

Well, I’ve got one today. Not only is it a major archaeological story, but there’s a personal connection to me – which makes all the difference, I know.

The story was announced yesterday, but I waited till an English version appeared today to share it. Because I hate translating for free.

This from Sciencenorway.no: New Discovery of a Viking Ship in Norway

Just over a hundred years ago, the archaeologist Haakon Shetelig was incredibly disappointed when he did not find a Viking ship during an excavation of the Salhushaugen gravemound in Karmøy in Western Norway.

Shetelig had previously excavated a rich Viking ship grave just nearby, where Grønhaugskipet was found, as well as excavated the famous Oseberg ship – the world’s largest and most well-preserved surviving Viking ship – in 1904. At Salshaugen he only found 15 wooden spades and some arrowheads.

“He was incredibly disappointed, and nothing more was done with this mound,” says Håkon Reiersen, an archaeologist at the Museum of Archaeology at the University of Stavanger.

It turns out, however, that Shetelig simply did not dig deep enough.

About a year ago, in June 2022, archaeologists decided to search the area using ground-penetrating radar or georadar – a device that uses radio waves to map out what lies below the surface of the ground.

Now if you’ve been following this blog, you know that I have a personal connection to Karmøy island. My great-grandfather Walker was born there (under another last name, naturally), and baptized at Avaldsnes Church (pictured above). The three mounds described in this article are a short distance north of the church, and I don’t believe I’ve actually ever seen them.

Still, I was at Avaldsnes last June, precisely when they were doing the georadar surveys. That pleases me immensely. I was On the Scene – if clueless as usual.

‘Eirik the Red’s Saga,’ and ‘The Saga of the Greenlanders,’ from ‘The Complete Sagas of Icelanders’

One morning Karlsefni’s men saw something shiny above a clearing in the trees, and they called out. It moved and proved to be a one-legged creature which darted down to where the ship lay tied. Thorvald, Eirik the Red’s son, was at the helm and the one-legged man shot an arrow into his intestine. Thorvald drew the arrow out and spoke: “Fat paunch that was. We’ve found a land of fine resources, though we’ll hardly enjoy much of them.” Thorvald died from the wound shortly after. The one-legged man then ran off back north. They pursued him and caught glimpses of him now and then. He then fled into a cove and they turned back. (Eirik the Red’s Saga)

I hope I don’t cause any embarrassment when I publicly thank my friend (and our frequent commenter) Dale Nelson, formerly of Mayville State University in North Dakota, for these books. Along with his wife Dorothea, Dale has gifted me – entirely to my surprise – with the full, boxed set of The Complete Sagas of Icelanders. It’s published by Leifur Eiriksson Publishing in Reykjavik, and is a collection of brand-new scholarly translations, carefully selected and edited by a team of scholars.

When you read the title, The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, you’ll probably assume, as I did, that this is a collection of all the Icelandic sagas. Once I’d read the introductions (there are several) I realized that that would involve a very large collection indeed. It would have to include legendary sagas of pre-historic legends, as well as later sagas about bishops, saints and courtly love. What the editors here mean by “the sagas of Icelanders” is in fact the classic sagas – the tales of the Icelandic settlers, heroes, and feuding in the Viking Age.

Just my meat, in fact. I have a good number of saga translations in my library already, but this collection gives me a set of uniformly high-quality translations living up to the latest standards of criticism. I’m delighted to have it.

In this post I’ll review the first two translations in the first volume – Eirik the Red’s Saga and The Saga of the Greenlanders.

These two sagas are (as the editors freely confess) not the best, considered purely as texts. What we have is two different accounts based on the same original events, but developed into two highly divergent narratives. (This is embarrassing, I must admit, for someone like me who spends a lot of time defending the use of sagas as historical sources. But nobody’s saying the saga texts didn’t suffer alteration with time – only that they contain useful information, which certainly remains true even of the Vinland sagas. We’ve got an archaeological dig in Newfoundland to prove it.)

Generalizing a great deal, I can say that Eirik the Red’s Saga (I should mention that the editors here have chosen a different manuscript source from most previous translations, so this version is a little different from other published editions) describes Leif Eiriksson discovering Vinland (America) by accident, blown off course in a storm while sailing to Greenland from Norway. Later the focus switches to Thorfinn Karlsefni the Icelander, and his wife Gudrid.

The Saga of the Greenlanders, on the other hand, attributes the first sighting of land in Vinland to Bjarni Herjolfsson, who is similarly blown off course, but never touches land. Leif later buys his ship and makes a voyage of exploration, followed by two of his brothers, and Thorfinn Karlsefni, and finally his sanguine sister Freydis.

When I was young, most historians considered The Saga of the Greenlanders earlier and more reliable than Eirik the Red’s Saga. Today I’m given to understand that historians consider both of them useful in parts. Both, it must be admitted, are also garbled in places, and contain preposterous elements.

What they have in common, it seems to me, is the fact that the story of Vinland is in a way secondary. The discovery is recounted, not primarily for its importance as a watershed historical event, but as a family achievement.

What lies behind both versions (it seems to this reader) is the fact that it was written by, and for, the descendants of the married couple Thorfinn Karlsefni and Gudrid the Far-Traveled. Both narratives mention (as briefly as possible) the fact that Gudrid was descended from slaves. This was embarrassing in that culture – though pretty common in Icelandic society, many of whose Norse pioneers had married slave women. Great pains are taken in both versions to explain to the reader that, in spite of her low birth, Gudrid was recognized as a remarkable person very early in her life. Then we are told of her many adventures, culminating in her pilgrimage to Rome late in life and her death as an anchoress, a highly respected woman.

This professional translator finds no fault in the translation here. I’m not qualified to judge how well the Icelandic text is interpreted, but I know a clunky translation when I see one, and these two are very good, very smooth. I might also mention that the physical volumes are sturdily bound in signatures between handsome leather-covered boards, and the text, printed on heavy, acid-free paper, is in a highly readable font.

(One point that amused me is that, though the publisher uses Icelandic spelling in calling itself Leifur Eiriksson Publishing, the translators chose to use the more familiar form of “Leif” in the text.)

The Complete Sagas of Icelanders is an expensive set, but if you can afford it, I recommend it highly.

Major publishing announcement

I am delighted to be able to announce that King of Rogaland, the sixth book in the Saga of Erling Skjalgsson, is available for Kindle download as of today. Makes a great Christmas present for Kindle readers.

Get your copy here.

‘River Kings,’ by Cat Jarman

A friend gave me a copy of Cat Jarman’s River Kings out of the blue, and I read it with great interest. I wasn’t always comfortable with the book, but it does very well in the job the author (a Scandinavian-English archaeologist) sets out to do. I believe its sales have been successful, and it deserves them.

The story begins with a nice narrative “hook” – a carnelian bead found in excavations at a Viking burial site in Repton, England. Carnelian is a semi-precious stone that was popular among the Vikings (especially with Viking women) and was imported from India. That is a long road to come by, and Dr. Jarman follows that road – through known evidence and speculation – to show how the great Viking trade system passed through England to the Baltic, down through Russia to Constantinople and the Caspian Sea region, eventually linking up with sources of carnelian. At each step along the way she describes how people and objects moved, how the world worked, and what social and economic forces impelled trade. She has the professional ability to provide many fascinating details of Viking Age life, and I benefited from reading this book.

My sole real quibble is purely a subjective one. As a woman of the 21st Century, the author looks everywhere for evidence of women’s activity and influence, as well as for signs of what we call today “cultural diversity.” She finds them and emphasizes them.

This is perfectly fair. I do the same in my own studies, though I’m looking for different things. If I disagree with her on some points, she’s the one with the credentials, so the burden’s on me. And I have to admit, she provided evidence I wasn’t aware of on the touchy subject of women warriors. I’m still skeptical about them, but the other side’s argument is stronger than I thought.

I recommend River Kings. It is informative, interesting, and well-written.

‘The Wolf Age,’ by Tore Skeie

As Northumbria’s lord, Eric Håkonsson continued to use the Norse title of jarl, and this was the first time the title was used in England. It eventually came to replace the Anglo-Saxon title of ealdorman, and continues to be used in England today in its current form—“earl”.

It’s amazing to me that just when I’m mapping out my epic novel about Erling Skjalgsson and Saint Olaf Haraldsson, an invaluable book on this very subject shows up. Divine appointment? Maybe, but I try to confine my personal grandiosity to self-mockery. However it is, Tore Skeie’s book, The Wolf Age, is just what I was looking for, not to mention being an excellent popular historical work in its own right.

The epistemological elephant in the room in any book dealing with the North Sea region in the period under discussion (in particular the reigns of Aethelred the Unready, Svein Forkbeard, and Knut the Great in England, and the two Olafs in Norway) is the question of the reliability of the Icelandic sagas, our sole source of information for much of Norwegian history at the time. Author Skeie tries not to trust the sagas too much, yet the story doesn’t veer far from them either. The book actually begins by talking about Snorri Sturlusson, author of Heimskringla, the sagas of the Norse kings, in order to provide perspective.

Much has been written over the years about the dramatic events leading up to the Norman conquest in 1066. But the tale of the Knut Sveinsson’s Danish conquest is equally fascinating, and arguably more dramatic. It teems with interesting, enigmatic, maddening characters, fateful accidents, and tragic decisions. I suppose it’s only because the Danish dynasty didn’t last that attention has turned away from it.

I was surprised to note that King (later saint) Olaf Haraldsson, about whom we don’t know a lot for certain (especially if you exclude the sagas), still comes off as the most intriguing character in the book. This is similar to my own experience in research.

The book is full of useful information that will be of great benefit to me. But anyone interested in Viking Age history will also learn much. There are details I might disagree with. The author states categorically that the men who rowed Viking ships wore rowing gloves – I’m not sure how he knows that for sure. He states that infant baptism wasn’t generally practiced in Norway in Olaf Trygvesson’s time – I find that dubious. He suggests Erling Skjalgsson wasn’t even present at the battle of Nesjar. I doubt that too.

But all in all, The Wolf Age is a treasure trove. It was a relatively fast read, and well translated. I highly recommend it.

‘Vikings at War,’ by Hjardar and Vike

If the originator of the insult failed to respond to the challenge to fight he was considered an unmanly, false and unreliable coward. The punishment for that was to be outlawed, which meant that anybody could take his life without having to pay a fine. If the offended party declined to fight, the penalty was less severe, but he had lost the trust of society and could no longer speak at the ting or swear an oath.

Now and then a book comes along in the field of popular Viking studies that makes me want to stand up and yell, “Hey! Read this one!” to my fellow reenactors. Such a book is Vikings at War by Kim Hjardar and Vegard Vike (both of them Norwegian scholars. Hjardar is also a reenactor). Vikings at War is a great big book, and it’s packed with stuff you’ll want to know if you’re into Vikings.

Various sections of the work cover: 1. The Vikings (that is, who they were and where they came from), 2. The Art of War, 3. Viking Fortifications, 4. Viking Ships, 5. Viking Weapons, and 6. Viking Invasions (covering the various theaters of action in which the Vikings fought, from the Middle East to America).

Embarrassing as it is for an old know-it-all like me to admit, I learned a lot from Vikings at War. Particularly interesting (to me) was the examination of the Vikings’ activities in France, where their infamous depredations were often carried out at the invitation of the French nobility, who enlisted them as allies in their internecine fights.

Long ago, on my web page, I wrote that too much had been made by 20th Century scholars of Vikings being essentially peaceful. That they had their peaceful side I had no doubt, but I felt the theme was being oversold. If the recent movie, “The Northman,” hadn’t already convinced me that this is no longer a problem, Vikings at War would have done it. Hjardar and Vike understand that being a merchant doesn’t necessarily make you peaceful (especially when slaves are your major merchandise), and that a Viking man, whatever his occupation, was always prepared to defend his honor with the weapons he carried at all times.

Every student of the Viking Age will find things to quibble with here, as in any book. The description of the “incident” at Portland which opens the book is imaginative, and includes details which (I think) are not necessarily supported by the record. Viking feminists will find fault with the authors’ reluctance to wholeheartedly embrace the idea that shield maidens were a common phenomenon in the Viking Age (I agree with the authors). Although the authors cite one of the books written by Prof. Torgrim Titlestad (for whom I’ve translated), they don’t entirely endorse his theories.

But there’s a treasure trove of information here, which will make every reader richer and wiser in knowledge of the field. This is a book that belongs on the Viking shelf of anybody who has a Viking shelf. A magisterial work. Well written and highly recommended.

Minot after-report

Me and Erik and Alex at Hostfest.

Thank you for your patience while I was out of town. I know it was a trial for you, and I appreciate the strength of character you exhibited.

This year’s Norsk Høstfest in Minot featured an element of suspense. It’s been two years since the festival has actually been held, due to circumstances you’re all familiar with. It’s under new management now, and much smaller than it’s been in the past. Everyone wondered how it would go.

Rather to my surprise, it went pretty well. At least as far as I could tell. Our Viking Village was in a different location this year, a building that’s kind of out of the way. Also, a display of RVs on sale was parked in front of us.

Nevertheless, the festival people found ways to direct people out to us, and I did good business. Sold all the books I brought. I also passed my Viking mail shirt and fighting sword on to the younger generation (for money). That was a bit of a wrench, like a guy selling his motorcycle at last. But I did it. It was time.

Saw lots of people; talked to some of them, mostly about my books. We were fed at the festival, and housed in a hotel (those who didn’t camp in their Viking tents), and paid pretty decent mileage. Chances are, those expenses will be the final straw that puts the festival in the red and ends it for good and all, but at least I got mine.

Special thanks are due to the guy with the ABC Seamless siding display, who gave us all complimentary fly swatters, enabling us to fight back against that particular plague. It made all the difference.

Dannr, the blacksmith.
The bowyer.
The bead maker.
The couple with the Norwegian Forest Cats.

Vikings and their hair

I know nothing about the guy who made the video above, but he agrees with me, which conclusively proves him an authority.

Viking reenactments these days are infested with misguided people who use the History Channel Vikings series as a costuming model.

Where, oh where can today’s reenactors find a proper role model for their impressions?

I do this solely as a public service.

Amazon Prime viewing report: ‘Vinland Saga

My curiosity got the better of me. I couldn’t resist sampling Vinland Saga, a Japanese anime series about Vikings set at precisely the point in history I’ve been writing about in my Erling books. What follows isn’t exactly a review, because I don’t think I’ll be finishing the series, but it’s certainly interesting enough to tell you about. You may be surprised to learn that I have a lot of positive things to say.

When we think of Vinland and the Norse discovery of America, the name we generally think of is Leif Eriksson. But in many ways the real hero of the saga (at least in one of its two versions) is another man, an Icelander called Thorfinn Karlsefni (the nickname means “quite a guy” or “manly stuff”). Though it’s not plainly stated, I’m pretty sure the Thorfinn portrayed in Vinland Saga is that guy – but during an imagined childhood and youth.

As the series tells it, Thorfinn is the son of Thors, the Troll of Jomsborg, a former Jomsviking (a legendary order of Vikings based in Poland) who grew to hate war and deserted, fleeing to the peace of Icelandic farming. A friend of theirs is Leif (Eriksson, one assumes, portrayed here as a wandering blowhard rather than chieftain of the Greenland colony, as he actually was), who regales Thorfinn with tales of the rich soil and mild climate he encountered when he visited Vinland, years ago.

Then the Jomsvikings show up at their home, extorting through threats of violence Thors’ agreement to join them in enlisting in the army of Svein Forkbeard of Denmark in his conquest of England. Thorfinn stows away on the ship, eager to see war. On the way to England, Thors (who’s all but invulnerable) is murdered by the pirate leader Askeladd (a name borrowed from a figure from Norwegian folklore, something like Jack the Giant Killer). Improbably, Askeladd is amused by Thorfinn’s attempts to avenge his father, and keeps him with his army, promising to kill him in a proper duel when he’s old enough.

The next episodes deal with the Danish conquest of England, as Thorfinnn grows to be a feared warrior. At that point, I kind of lost interest. Not that the story wasn’t interesting, but the whole thing got too weird for me. I think there’s a whole artistic sensibility surrounding anime as an art form that I’m too old to adjust to.

Nevertheless, I have to say that there were elements of surprising authenticity. I’d say Vinland Saga is at least 50% more faithful to history than the History Channel Vikings series. Costumes and props are surprisingly good in a lot of cases. The history follows actual chronology. Real persons show up all the time – though sometimes in bizarre ways. Thorkell the Tall is an actual giant here. King Svein’s son Knut, later to become King Canute the Great, is presented as a guy who looks like a girl (and how they’re going to develop that story line I have no wish to discover).

In short, you can learn some genuine history by watching Vinland Saga. I did not expect to be able to say that. If you appreciate anime as an entertainment form, you just might enjoy it.