The Long Ships
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Long Ships or Red Orm (original title: Röde Orm) is a best-selling Swedish novel written by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson 1941-1945. It is one of the most widely read books in Sweden, topping the charts of most loaned books at Swedish libraries for many years. The novel is divided into two books with two parts each. The first book was translated to English by Barrows Mussey as Red Orm in 1943, but later editions and newer translations use the title The Long Ships.
The language of the novel is modeled on the norse sagas, and historic names, people and events are woven into the fiction. The 1963 Yugoslavian movie The Long Ships is loosely based on the book.
Plot
The book is mainly about Viking travels that the main character Orm (nicknamed "Red Orm" for his red hair and beard) undertakes. He is first shanghaied by a Viking tribe, then taken captive and brought to Spain where he serves as a bodyguard for Al-Mansur. He then returns to Scandinavia and visits the king Harold Bluetooth, before returning to his homelands in Scania, Sweden. After several adventures in his home country he finally sets out on a journey to Kiev to retrieve a treasure hidden by his brother Ale.
Themes
A typical theme of Red Orm is religion. The main character Orm is first pagan norse, but converts to Islam during his stay in Spain. He encounters a Jewish friend, and in the end embraces Christianity and builds himself a church. Mainly the plot gives a flattering image of Christianity, but the Christians are also portrayed partly as barbarians in certain parts of the world.
