A Viking Voyage: In Which an Unlikely Crew of Adventurers Attempts an Epic Journey to the New World [Hardcover]

W. Hodding Carter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2000

W. Hodding Carter admits he cannot sail a Sunfish, hates to be cold, and panics when he's lost. So why did Carter devote three years of his adult life, not to mention a small fortune, to dodging polar bears and icebergs on an open-decked wooden ship resembling an over-sized canoe?

He wanted to be a Viking. Obsessed since childhood with Leif Eriksson and his triumphant voyage a thousand years ago from Greenland to North America, Carter hatched the admittedly crazy idea of reenacting Erikson's voyage in a replica of the precarious square-rigged Viking cargo ship known as a knarr. Never mind that he had a wife, twin daughters, and another baby on the way. Carter was going to make it happen. This enthralling, inspiring, occasionally hair-raising, and genuinely hilarious book is the account of how he pulled it off.

With funding from Lands' End and expertise gleaned from Viking enthusiasts all over the world, Carter had the knarr constructed by an eccentric boat builder on a small Maine island. He then arranged to have the Snorri, as he dubbed the craft, shipped to the southern tip of Greenland, where he and his grab-bag crew of eleven would embark in midsummer. The departure was inauspicious, to say the least: for two solid weeks, the Snorri tacked back and forth in the windy fjord by Erik the Red's ancient farm, covering a grand total of eighty miles.

Although that first attempt ended in defeat in the middle of the Davis Strait, Carter, his prudent red-haired captain, and their crew were not about to surrender. The next summer, in even worse weather, the Snorri was back on course and these latter-day Vikings were ready to handle anything Mother Nature dished out atop the icy, open sea.

Well, almost anything . . .

By turns thrilling and slapstick, sublime and outrageous, A Viking Voyage is an unforgettable adventure story that will take you to the heart of the most magnificent, unspoiled territory on earth, and even deeper, to the heart of a journey like no other. A celebration of the people and places Carter visits and a treasure-trove of fascinating Viking lore, this is a mesmerizing story of friendship and teamwork--and of accomplishing a goal that once seemed impossible.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The author himself describes his story as a tale of "quixotic idiocy, passion, determination, frightening beauty, love, loss, enlightenment, failure, and redemption...." Initially, only the idiocy is apparent. On a whim, Carter decides to reenact the voyage of Viking Leif Ericson, who, in the year 1000, sailed his knarr (a Viking longboat) from Greenland to a land he called "Vinland." But why should anyone care? Because Vinland, many experts believe, was located somewhere on the northeast coast of North America, meaning that Ericson beat Columbus to the New World by nearly 500 years.

To realize his dream voyage, Carter endures an almost comical assortment of trials. First, he must find someone to build, pay for, and help sail the boat. Then, he and his novice crew must sail it from Greenland to North America, struggling with the arctic cold, 1,000-year-old technology, and their own ineptitude. Carter describes their exploits with equal parts humor and terror. Fighting frostbite, he muses,

Like Robert Peary, I was going to lose my toes. Unlike him, I would whine and scream until the end. And I certainly would not be able to claim I discovered the North Pole or anything at all beyond learning that Viking boats were not meant to sail windward in anything beyond a duck pond.

For the landlubber, it's difficult to fathom why even the most die-hard Viking fanatics would go to such dangerous lengths to emulate their Norse heroes. Carter's account renders their passion more understandable, revealing little-known gems of Viking history and myth, and garnishing them with thrills and triumphs from his own adventures. Readers may not be inspired to rush out and build their own knarr, but they will find that Carter makes good on his introductory boast, wrenching new adventure from a world with seemingly no unexplored territory. --Andrew Nieland

From Publishers Weekly

Travel writing has churned up a new subset: the Ironic Adventure, in which the protagonist, unlike traditional explorers, is unskilled, untrained and traveling on a whim. In this engaging but uneven adventure, self-proclaimed "chicken" Carter repeats the successful formula of his previous book, Westward Whoa, in which he retraced the steps of Lewis and Clark. This time he goes back over the voyage Leif Eriksson made from Greenland to the New World. Accompanied by a motley crew of friends (all except two have no previous sailing experience), Carter decides to accomplish his journey on a reproduction of a Viking "knarr" or cargo ship. Initially budgeted for $3,000, Carter's adventure becomes a half-million-dollar production, funded by the Lands' End clothing company. The most interesting parts of the book come before the ship ever sets sail, as Carter desperately tries to meet his deadline for building the knarr, hampered by unfriendly Norse scholars and aided by expert craftsmen. After he sets sail, the ship breaks down, and Carter must rouse support for a second attempt, which ultimately succeeds. This second part is precisely written, with careful as well as humorous details of sailing life. But the "ironic" approach here trivializes Carter's effort; at times it's hard to give him the credit due for succeeding in such a wild trip because his initial impetus was nothing more than a lark, and because his writing is undercut by his continuing attitude of "I can't believe we are doing this!" 5-city author tour. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (May 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345420039
• ISBN-13: 978-0345420039
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,733,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On the Viking Trail, July 5, 2000

By 

GCollins - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Viking Voyage: In Which an Unlikely Crew of Adventurers Attempts an Epic Journey to the New World (Hardcover)

As one directly involved in publicizing the second - and triumphant - voyage of the Snorri, and privileged enough to witness in person, its arrival on the shores of L'Anse aux Meadows, I found the book captivating and could not read it fast enough!

Hodding Carter paints an original and incredibly entertaining picture of the voyage and managed to keep me in suspense the entire time - even though I already knew the outcome!

I was riveted by Hodding's vivid descriptions of the crew's first nights at sea, and touched by his words of devotion to his wife and children.

However, I am a little disappointed that the book does not contain any color pictures of the Snorri at sail or the landing at L'Anse aux Meadows (where hundreds of local Newfoundlanders gathered to greet the conquering crew). Sounds nitpicky, but to see the Snorri and crew at full sail was awe inspiring -- almost relegating Hodding and crew to second billing!

Nonetheless, the book was skillfully written and thoughfully assembled. The only question I am left with is, how in the world was Hodding Carter able to maintain such a detailed account of the journey considering the Arctic conditions?

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the hero as doofus, May 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Viking Voyage: In Which an Unlikely Crew of Adventurers Attempts an Epic Journey to the New World (Hardcover)

Finally, a real adventure with a sense of humor and some humility! I just picked up this new book by Hodding Carter and read it straight through. It's the story of Carter's admittedly crazy idea to build a Viking cargo ship ("knarr") and retrace Leif Erikkson's historic voyage discovering North America ("Vinland"). From it's conception as an eccentric lark, born mostly of boredom from working at a post office, to it's successful completion -- Carter raised half a million dollars, built the 50 odd foot boat and sailed all the way from Greenland to Newfoundland over the course of two summers with a mostly inexperienced crew -- the story is hilarious and, at times, moving. Carter's style is uniformly informative, unpretentious and graceful. It was a pleasure to read and got me interested in history in a whole new way! I highly recommend this book. It was especially refreshing to see an addition to the adventure genre completely free from the macho posturing of the so-called adrenaline junkies.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic time travel, December 22, 2000

By 

Susan Zuckerman - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Viking Voyage: In Which an Unlikely Crew of Adventurers Attempts an Epic Journey to the New World (Hardcover)

I followed "Viking Voyage 1000" for 2 summers on the Internet, and was delighted that Carter's book is definitely not a duplication. It's more nitty gritty, not quite so clean-cut, and much more into the relationships, often tense, among the crew.

Having spent time in Greenland, in some of the same spots the Snorri sailed, I was delighted to relive the essence of Greenland which Carter magnificently captures -- the rawness of the elements, the tranquility of the vast openness, and how precious people are when so few.

On one level I'm taken back into Viking times in this book, sailing a square-sailed ship that refuses to make progress in a headwind, yet with favourable winds effortlessly skims the waves. Yet we are with thoroughly modern men on this voyage, learning rather painfully how to slow down to the pace of rowing hundreds and hundreds of miles, missing children and sweethearts, and eventually finding contentment in the merciless whims of Frey and Thor.

I was sorry to finish this book, to finish the voyage through these beautiful northern waters. I especially enjoyed Carter's very honest, analytical, and humourous perspectives, and his very easy-going style of writing. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Viking times, or just a good true adventure story.