Frans G. BengtssonCríticas

This is an epic novel. It got accolades and good reviews en mass. Written before WW2, befitting its time, the writer’s style is prosaic, sober, yet very descriptive. I did not finish the book on the first go in 2019. Now, Fall 2020 during quarantine, I finally completed this reading.
The characters are all fine including the protagonist Rode Ohrm, however, my favorites ate chieftain Krok and priest Father Willibald. Well-written, with interesting historical background events that blend perfectly with the plot, The Long Ships is a reading experience that excites like a H Rider Haggard novel with some mythical elements to spice it up.

Hilariously acerbic this is the story of the somewhat hypochondriac Norsman and sometime viking Orm Tosteson, how he was captured and went with his captors viking along the European coast and followed a chance rescued Jew to Spain where he and a handful of crew members served on galleys and then as guards until they could head north again. Many further adventure, somewhat episodic follow though there are significant domestic interludes, often just as interesting as the adventures. This is best taken a few chapters, one or two adventures at a time, but it is quite the worthwhile journey.

Orm Punainen seikkailee viikinkiaikana niin Espanjan alueella, Englannin länsirannikolla, kotona Ruotsissa, kuin Dnepr-joen koskillakin. Kirjoitustyyli tempaisi helposti mukaansa.

This book was written in the 1940s in Sweden, and is considered one of the finest Swedish books ever written. It is still very popular there. It takes place around the year 1000, and is the the adventures and life of a Viking named Orm, called "Red Orm" because of his hair. He travels throughout Europe, has quests, is enslaved for a couple of years and escapes, finds a wife (and treasure), meets kings, and becomes a Christian. He settles down and has children, but still becomes involved in various adventures that take him into what is now Russia. The author writes well and creates very interesting and believable characters, both male and female (including some historical personages). I like the fact that Red Orm, despite being a Viking and going through many battles and adventures is a bit of a hypochondriac, always saying that he will die soon from a wound or injury! It is a long book (over 500 pages), but reads quickly because it is hard to put down! It reminds me of one of the classic Icelandic Sagas written around the 13th Century, which I love reading. In the 1960s, it was made into a not very good movie in Hollywood, which had almost nothing to do with the book. I recommend reading it if you get a chance, it is readily available.

Picaresque. The story is told as told stories. Could have been shorter. Has an Edgar Rice Burroughs quality, but some humor. From the NYRB out-of-print series.

I enjoyed this read a lot. Often felt as though it was a Norse saga written in the medieval period - lots of historical information seemed exactly right. I think this could be used as a textbook to explore what the Viking culture must have been like: brutal, hard, bloody, tinged with salt spray. My biggest complaint about the book is the Christian conversion of its main character. It spent too much time talking about converting Vikings from their polytheistic ways. I found myself not liking the self-righteous Christians as they hacked away at the pagans. Still, the historical / cultural detail in this book shows how much good research can make a book worth reading.

I essäsamlingen Folk som sjöng får vi bland annat veta hur Röde Orm blev till men även läsa om historiska ämnen och karaktärer, verkliga som fiktiva, personer med gott minne, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Lee, Emily Brontë och Henry David Thoreau.

Karl XII:s levnad är ett bokverk av Frans G. Bengtsson som utgavs 1932 och behandlar Karl XII. Den är fortfarande förvånansvärt pigg och inte alls okritisk

Boken handlar om skåningen Orm Tostessons, kallad "Röde Orm" på grund av sin hårfärg, liv och resor. Efter att ha med våld tagits ombord på ett plundrande vikingaskepp blir han vän med de rövande vikingarna och gör goda insatser vid plundringen av en borg i Galicien. Strax därefter tas han till fånga och förs till det muslimska Spanien där han först blir galärslav (vilket gör honom vänsterhänt) och sedan blir livvakt åt härskaren Almansur, efter att det framkommit att han och hans vän Toke tidigare räddat hans nuvarande gemål Subaida. Av henne får de också var sitt svärd som de döper till Blåtunga och Rödnäbba.

Orm återvänder till Danmark och gör ett julbesök i Harald Blåtands hov i Jelling där Orm utmärker sig i ett envig.

Under ett vikingatåg till England låter han sig kristnas och väl hemma igen drar han sig tillbaka till Göinge-skogarna för att undvika Sven Tveskäggs vrede. Han bildar familj med Ylva, kung Haralds dotter, och lever gott i skogsriket i flera år tills hans bror Are återkommer efter att i många år varit i bysantinske kejsarens tjänst. Are berättar var han har gömt Bulgarguldet, en ofantligt stor skatt, och Orm tillsammans med sin son, Svarthöfde, far ut på ännu en resa för att hämta hem de

Boken handlar om skåningen Orm Tostessons, kallad "Röde Orm" på grund av sin hårfärg, liv och resor. Efter att ha med våld tagits ombord på ett plundrande vikingaskepp blir han vän med de rövande vikingarna och gör goda insatser vid plundringen av en borg i Galicien. Strax därefter tas han till fånga och förs till det muslimska Spanien där han först blir galärslav (vilket gör honom vänsterhänt) och sedan blir livvakt åt härskaren Almansur, efter att det framkommit att han och hans vän Toke tidigare räddat hans nuvarande gemål Subaida. Av henne får de också var sitt svärd som de döper till Blåtunga och Rödnäbba.

Orm återvänder till Danmark och gör ett julbesök i Harald Blåtands hov i Jelling där Orm utmärker sig i ett envig.

Under ett vikingatåg till England låter han sig kristnas och väl hemma igen drar han sig tillbaka till Göinge-skogarna för att undvika Sven Tveskäggs vrede. Han bildar familj med Ylva, kung Haralds dotter, och lever gott i skogsriket i flera år tills hans bror Are återkommer efter att i många år varit i bysantinske kejsarens tjänst. Are berättar var han har gömt Bulgarguldet, en ofantligt stor skatt, och Orm tillsammans med sin son, Svarthöfde, far ut på ännu en resa för att hämta hem de

I adored this. It's the NYRB reissue of two books originally written in the 1940s: the tale of Red Orme, a Viking chieftain, and his 10th-century life of voyaging, plundering, fighting, and—yes—becoming a family man. Swashbuckling, action-packed, but also oddly sweet, with an undercurrent of dry-as-a-bone, deeply funny humor throughout. This was exactly what I needed to read, plus I learned a lot referencing maps and looking up names as I went. For instance, Harald Bluetooth, the great king of Norway and Denmark, gave his name to Bluetooth wireless—"based on an analogy that the technology would unite devices the way Harald Bluetooth united the tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom," according to Wikipedia. But mostly this was pure fun, intelligent escapism, and recommended for everyone.

This long novel, published in the 1940s in Swedish, has been regarded as one of the best historical novels ever. I wouldn't go that far myself, but I found it mostly an enjoyable and often amusing read, following the life and voyages of Orm Tostesson in the years around the end of the first millennium, told in a Norse saga style with voyages across Europe and the Balkans and Middle East, tales of battles, horrific massacres, treasure hunts and heroic rescues, weaved into real historical events and characters . Some of the sub-stories go on a bit and become a bit tiresome but there is mostly a good narrative drive and some great set pieces. I noticed a great example of a Viking curse: "may she toss perpetually in the whirlpool of Hell amongst sword-blades and serpents' fangs".

This is a wonderful adventure story about a Viking named Orm and his various travels and adventures. Orm is kidnapped from his home in Skania (Sweden today) by sea raiders and he becomes a willing member of their crew. His adventures take him all over the known world. He becomes a bodyguard to a Moorish leader and after that goes to the British Isles. He returns home and happily marries and has one final adventure to the Ukrainian steppes. It is well written and fascinating. I found myself constantly looking up names and places to learn more about them. Highly recommend.

Gritty multi-generational 12th century viking adventure story that The Walking Drum wishes it was

Fun, interesting episodic saga but endless - gave up after 2/3...

"The Long Ships" by Frans Bengtsson is an entertaining read: historical fiction about Viking life during about a generation beginning the year 975 or so. I have read several nonfiction books about Vikings as well as many of the Icelandic Eddas (sagas written down later by others), and with two exceptions this story appears well-researched and quite accurate in facts and spirit. Many of the characters and enterprises are historic. The two areas rather curtailed are sex and gore, perhaps a wise choice.

The Vikings were robust travelers, conquerers, settlers, and mercenaries in many places and different times, so that this story is just a sample touching Viking history but may well be characteristic. The Viking age is said to have run from 793 to 1066. As example of their reach, about 865 two Vikings ships intended to sack the city of Rome from the sea but besieged and vanquished instead the wrong place (the walled city of Luni 200 mile up the coast).* They sacked Pamplona on the voyage home. The two major voyages in this story are to the Mediterranean and to the lower Volga.

Bengtsson leavens the action with subtle humor and affords a refreshing lack of acclaim for any of the three major religions coloring the action: Christianity, Islam, and Norse. They interact in interesting ways.

In reading elsewhere about Vikings, I found the Eddas interesting at first but eventually rather tiresome. Nonfiction about the Vikings tends to be less interesting than this book except when quoting 10th century historians such as the remarkable Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan, the Persian explorer Ibn Rustah or perhaps the later Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson.

So this may be your best bet for learning about Vikings from an enjoyable read. By the way, Michael Crichton wrote an entertaining and recommended semi-historical fiction about Ibn Fadlan's travels, "Eaters of the Dead", featuring the Rus' (the Volga [Baltic] Vikings). I don't know why Rus' has an apostrophe mark.

The primary manuscript relating Ibn Fadlin's writings was discovered only in 1923. He wrote about various Khans, Khazars, caliphs, and eunuchs, and also, for example,

"I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Itil. I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor kaftans, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free. Each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. Each woman wears on either breast a box of iron, silver, copper, or gold; the value of the box indicates the wealth of the husband."

Ibn Rustah wrote,

"As for the Rus, they live on an island … that takes three days to walk round and is covered with thick undergrowth and forests; … They harry the Slavs, using ships to reach them; they carry them off as slaves and … sell them. They have no fields but simply live on what they get from the Slav's lands … When a son is born, the father will go up to the newborn baby, sword in hand; throwing it down, he says, 'I shall not leave you with any property: You have only what you can provide with this weapon.'"

Quotes are from Wikipedia. Itil was the Turkic name for the Volga, which the Rus' navigated along with many major European and other western Asian rivers. I suspect the island is one of those around Stockholm. Of course, the Rus' gave Russia its name. The Rus' name is similar to one that Finns call Swedes even today, meaning "rower". "Slav" has no relation to "slave" except in later persisting misapplication.

If only Vikings had written their own stories! They had fine oral poets but little writing or manufacturing, and so apart from some authentic skaldic poems praising gods and kings we are left with their runestones and bones. Perhaps the world's oldest democracy (Iceland, 930). And genes. https://cjadrien.com/do-you-have-viking-blood/

*The Normans (Norsemen) of Sicily and southern Italy did sack Rome by land in 1084, having been called upon by the Pope in a dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor.

Fun read

Who knew a pillaging, plundering, hypochondriacal Viking could be so endearing. Loved this book, loved Red Orm and his buddies. The friendships between the men in this book were just beautiful. Bengtsson writes with such a distinct, realistic voice that I was really transported to the age.½

For a book full of war and murder this was a really fun read. It is a pure adventure novel, with Red Orm our viking hero travelling the the world fighting, killing, and loving. I’ll admit, it took a couple of chapters to get into before I really *got* the style of writing, but once I did it was so enjoyable.

Orm starts out his viking life when he is kidnapped and forced to man the oars of a viking ship. He earns his place in the crew but before he can make his way home the ship is attacked and he is taken prisoner once more, a galley slave where he does nothing but row for years.

Eventually he escapes this life and many, many more adventures are had.

There is violence, a lot of fighting, and plenty of pillaging. War and gold, that’s what life is all about, isn’t it? But there is also religion and culture and births and all sorts of domestic life too. It is a really interesting book that is very wise to the lies people tell themselves about why they do certain things.

And if that isn’t reason enough to read the book then maybe I should tell you that our hero is also a hypochondriac viking, bet you’ve never read about one of those before!

Denna volym innehåller Bengtssons barndomsminnen ""Den lustgård jag minns"" och dessutom ett antal självbiografiska uppsatser ur hans essäsamlingar.

Så fantastisk god og fortælleglad. Orm og hans lange rejse først mod vest, siden hjem til Skåne og så mod øst og hjem igen. Mange bliver slået ihjel og kvinder bliver røvet, og hvis det skete sådan for 1000 år siden så er det vel bare socialrealisme. Ellers er det bare en god, gedigen og grum og sjov røverhistorie. HBO Vikings, go home!

Hey thanks, Manny. I hate violence, historical fiction makes me throw up, I stopped reading adventure books when I was twelve and Viking gods bored me to tears when I was going through my pagan gods stage in primary school and - WOW....you've given me The Long Ships for my Birthday. That's so - well, I'm just lost for words - of you. What? Yes, I can see it was a big concession, really you wanted to get it in Swedish and I could put it on my list of languages I have to learn. And no, even though I adore knitting, really, this is so much better than that amazing pattern book I was admiring the other day. Truly. It's even better than that text book on computer humour you got me last year. What? Yes, good point, I can't really say that until I've read the book on computer humour, but you read it and so I heard a lot about it. In fact, I must remember to put that on my 'books I've lived through' shelf.

Rest is here:

http://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/the-long-ships-rode-orm-by...

Hey thanks, Manny. I hate violence, historical fiction makes me throw up, I stopped reading adventure books when I was twelve and Viking gods bored me to tears when I was going through my pagan gods stage in primary school and - WOW....you've given me The Long Ships for my Birthday. That's so - well, I'm just lost for words - of you. What? Yes, I can see it was a big concession, really you wanted to get it in Swedish and I could put it on my list of languages I have to learn. And no, even though I adore knitting, really, this is so much better than that amazing pattern book I was admiring the other day. Truly. It's even better than that text book on computer humour you got me last year. What? Yes, good point, I can't really say that until I've read the book on computer humour, but you read it and so I heard a lot about it. In fact, I must remember to put that on my 'books I've lived through' shelf.

Rest is here:

http://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/the-long-ships-rode-orm-by...

Hey thanks, Manny. I hate violence, historical fiction makes me throw up, I stopped reading adventure books when I was twelve and Viking gods bored me to tears when I was going through my pagan gods stage in primary school and - WOW....you've given me The Long Ships for my Birthday. That's so - well, I'm just lost for words - of you. What? Yes, I can see it was a big concession, really you wanted to get it in Swedish and I could put it on my list of languages I have to learn. And no, even though I adore knitting, really, this is so much better than that amazing pattern book I was admiring the other day. Truly. It's even better than that text book on computer humour you got me last year. What? Yes, good point, I can't really say that until I've read the book on computer humour, but you read it and so I heard a lot about it. In fact, I must remember to put that on my 'books I've lived through' shelf.

Rest is here:

http://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/the-long-ships-rode-orm-by...

There is no interior monologue in this novel. It's all on the outside. And even so when I think how to describe my feeling about this book, the words that come to mind are "what a lark! what a plunge!" The prose is one fresh breeze of a story after another. I loved it the way I loved Star Wars circa 1977: it allowed me to enter a world completely unlike the one I'm living in, and to know with confidence that there was going to be a happy ending.