THE LONG SHIPS

There's a saga quality to both substance and handling in this story of the Vikings in the Tenth Century. Orm, captured by marauders from the Swedish homeland where his father was a pirate chieftain, spends his growing years with his captors and becomes their leader. Their long ships ranged the seas from their native Denmark to Spain where they too were enslaved by the Moors. Then- after escape- to Africa- to Ireland- to England where they fought at the Battle of Maldon when Ethelred was king. They returned in honour to the court of Denmark- Orm, now a man, to his home. He fought again to win the Danish princess, and in later years led his men to the wild lands of Russia in search of treasure... The tale is told as the exploits of a hero, episodically, but its flavor lies in its portrait of an era when paganism and Christianity merged and the dragon ships carried terror far and wide.