A thrall named Holme is the protagonist of Land of Wooden Gods, which centers on the slave population of Sweden in the ninth century, when the country was on the verge of Christianization. The novel begins with the abandonment of a slave baby, condemned to the wolf-infested woods by a Viking chieftain upset by thrall unrest. The ensuing action shows Holme, the father, acting as not slave has ever before. Fridegård, a master at creating atmosphere, sets the scene for his monumental work: a Viking village, with its log halls, stable, and sty; feuding families and human sacrifice; broadsailed dragon ships; and a port of pirates. The remaining novels in the trilogy—People of the Dawn (1944) and Sacrificial Smoke (1949)—were published by the University of Nebraska Press in 1990.
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Book Description
The romantic and powerful Viking warrior is a favorite subject of novelists, moviemakers, and historians. But he is not the hero of Land of Wooden Gods. His servant is. Jan Fridegård (1897-1968) recreates the Viking period from a new perspective, bringing to life not only a warfare culture but the institutions that supported it, especially slavery and a religion of fear. Originally published in Sweden in 1940, Land of Wooden Gods is the first volume of a trilogy of novels that Scandinavians consider among the greatest and most accurate every written about the Vikings. For capturing its directness and emotional force in English, Robert E. Bjork won the 1987 Translation Prize of the American-Scandinavian Foundation.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A diligent if lusterless interpretation of Viking history in the ninth century, this first volume of a trilogy by Swedish novelist Fridegard (1897-1968) eschews warrior glories and focuses on the thrall Holme and his rebellion against his oppressors. The chieftain of his settlement sentences all thrall babies to death, and although the servants pk learn to take this in stride, Holme and Ausi, whom Holme had raped and impregnated, flee the community pk with their offspring in tow. According to Bjork, Holme--the homeless boy who was found on an islet or "holme" and has grown up to be a master smith--embodies his author's proletarian and anarchist ideology, and eventually emerges as a noble revolutionary. As protagonists, Fridegard's archetypes are unfortunately one-dimensional. The taciturn, dour and brutal Holme (he saves one child but disfigures another and abandons a third in the forest) is inscrutable; and Ausi's embrace of Christianity is simplistic ("Everything had seemed so bright and joyous while the stranger was there; now, since he had brought light and then disappeared, it was even darker than before"). Even human sacrifice and ritual orgies are depicted in prose as wooden as the Norse idols.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Swedish
Original Language: Swedish
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Twist On The Viking Saga,
By Donald Ford (dford@midrivers.com) (Lavina, Montana United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Land of Wooden Gods (Modern Scandinavian Literature in Translation) (Hardcover)
The Holme Trilogy is really interesting, because in this Viking saga, the traditional warrior isn't the hero...his slave (thrall) Holme is. The book begins with a woman thrall, Ausi, giving birth to Holme's child after he raped her. (It seems that virtually every sexual relationship begins with/is always by rape.) The Viking chieftan of the settlement orders that the baby be abandoned to die in the woods, but Holme rescues the child (an unheard of act). He, Ausi & the child flee into the woods, living in a cave for a while. They later relocate outside a trading city on an island. The book has virtually no dialogue in it, and is interesting because the book shifts from blind narration to a "stream of consciousness" perspective from the characters even in the midst of a paragraph. The author does a brilliant job of setting the scenes & describing things in great detail. The book is filled with beautiful, haunting & terrifying imagry. Much like many of the works of Knut Hamsun, this is an "unromantic romance." The book grabbed my attention early on & held it fast. It's a wonderful story & a brilliant work of art. I can't wait to start reading part two later tonight. Get this!
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