Sacrificial Smoke: Volume 3 in the Holme Trilogy (Modern Scandinavian Literature in Translation) [Hardcover]

Jan Fridegard (Author), Robert E. Bjork (Translator, Afterword)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Swedish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (August 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803219814
• ISBN-13: 978-0803219816
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,992,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting Conclusion To The Holme Trilogy, September 26, 2001

By 

Donald Ford ([e-mail]) (Lavina, Montana United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacrificial Smoke: Volume 3 in the Holme Trilogy (Modern Scandinavian Literature in Translation) (Hardcover)

This is the final book in the Holme trilogy, a saga about a Viking thrall and his family. The book starts out with the aftermath of the destruction of the Christian church by Holme. He leads other thralls in an uprising for freedom, which ends in disaster. Once again, Holme is in trouble and must flee again. Holme goes to see the sympathetic king, and becomes his personal blacksmith. Holme's wife Ausi and daughter Tora move onto the king's settlement as well.

The family who originally owned Holme and Ausi is down to its last two surviving members - the old chieftains wife and their son. The old woman still wants vengence, meaning she wants to own Tora and Ausi once more. She's too afraid to want to own Holme again...he's far too dangerous. However, the son Svien has other ideas. He loves Tora and wants her to be his bride of her own free will. Svien works things out with Holme and things go well with Svien and Tora.

The clash between Christians and the worshippers of the old wooden gods comes to a head, and the battle between thralls and freemen continues. This is a very untraditional tale for the genre, written throughout with virtually no dialogue. Fridegard is a first-class storyteller, and infuses beautiful descriptions of wildlife and settings like a true master. The trilogy is a truly brilliant work of artistic literature.