The Long Ships

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This article is about the novel by Frans G. Bengtsson. For the 1963 film loosely based on the book, see The Long Ships (film). For Viking ships in general, see Longship. For other uses, see Longship (disambiguation).
The Long Ships
Norstedts
Publication date
1941–1945
Published in English
1943
Pages603 (total pages)

The Long Ships or Red Orm (original Swedish: Röde Orm meaning Red Orm, lit. Red Serpent or Red Snake) is an adventure novel by the Swedish writer Frans G. Bengtsson. The narrative is set in the late 10th century and follows the adventures of the Viking Röde Orm - called "Red" for his hair and his temper, a native of

Norse pagan outlook with the exclusiveness of Islam and Christianity.[1]

The novel is divided into two parts, published in 1941 and 1945, with two books each. It used to be one of the most widely read books in Sweden.[citation needed] The first part was translated into English by Barrows Mussey as Red Orm in 1943, but later editions and newer translations by Michael Meyer use the title The Long Ships. The book has been translated into at least 23 languages.

Characters

Main characters

  • Orm Tostesson: The son of a Scanian chieftain.
  • Åsa: Orm's mother. The family matriarch.
  • Toke Grey-Gullsson (Toke Grågullesson): An adventurer from Blekinge who joined Krok's company. He becomes the lifelong friend of Orm.
  • Father Willibald: A priest assigned as physician to King Harald's court.
  • Ylva Haraldsdotter: King Harald's daughter with an
    Obotrite
    slave-girl. Later Orm's wife.

Secondary characters

  • Krok: The leader of the expedition to Spain.
  • Rapp: A member of the expedition, then a galley slave with its other survivors. Later a retainer of Orm.
  • Gudmund: A landowner who has a tense relationship with Orm.
  • Olof Styrsson: An experienced chieftain from Finnveden.
  • Ludmilla Ormsdotter: Orm's restless daughter. Betrothed to Olof.

Recurring characters

  • Solomon the Jew: A
    Sephardi
    silversmith rescued by Krok's company.
  • Lady Subaida: The young daughter of a Leonese margrave. This is the name given to her after she becomes a concubine of Almanzor.
  • The Erin Masters: Two jester brothers (Felimid and Ferdiad) from Ireland.
  • Rainald: A Lotharingian priest sent to Scandinavia to replace a priest held as a thrall.
  • Mirah: An Andalusian slave-girl at King Harald's court. Also Toke's future wife

Plot

Orm and his Viking companions follow Almansur in his campaigns against the Christian kingdoms of the North.

The first book covers the years 982 to 990. While still a youth, Orm is abducted by a

Thorkell the High in England and when he learns that Harald's daughter Ylva is staying in London, gets baptised and marries Ylva. They move to a neglected farm, his mother's inheritance in Göinge, northern Skåne, near the border with Småland
. During the following years (992 to 995), Orm prospers, and Ylva gives birth to twin girls (Oddny and Ludmilla), a son, Harald, and later to another son (though possibly from Rainald), Svarthöfde (Blackhair in the Michael Meyer translation). Meanwhile, Orm also gets busy in converting the heathens in the district, with the help of Father Willibald.

The

Canute the Great
. The story ends with the statement that Orm and Toke in their old age "did never tire of telling of the years when they had rowed the Caliph's ship and served my lord Al-Mansur."

Writing process

Frans G. Bengtsson in 1943

The Swedish writer Sven Stolpe reports that somebody asked author Frans G. Bengtsson "what intentions he had with The Long Ships", to which Bengtsson responded that he had no particular intentions. "I just wanted to write a story that people could enjoy reading, like The Three Musketeers or the Odyssey."

The research for the book was based largely on

psychological realism
" in the literature of his day where the thoughts and feelings of the characters are discussed explicitly rather than indicated by actions and outward signs. In the Swedish original of The Longships, the grammar is deliberately slightly archaic.

Joan Klein noted that "Within the 10th Century plot, the book's Viking protagonists never heard of

during the Second World War, a time when Nazi Germany was involved in a horrific persecution and massacre of Jews, while the Nazis claimed the Viking heritage for their monstrous version of German and Germanic Nationalism. Bengtsson in effect throws the Viking heritage back in the Nazis' face" [3]

Adaptations

The 1964 British-Yugoslav film The Long Ships (starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier) very loosely based on the book, retaining little more than the title (of the English translation) and the Moorish settings. In the 1980s, there were plans for a large-scale Swedish screen adaptation. The film was supposed to be directed by Hans Alfredson and star Stellan Skarsgård as Orm and Sverre Anker Ousdal as Toke. The project was cancelled for financial reasons, but Alfredson's script was reworked into radio theatre which was broadcast in 1990.[4]

A

album format
was published in four volumes between 2000 and 2004, covering the first book in the series.

Swedish author Mikael Westlund published his debut novel Svarthöfde in 2002, which expands on the brief summary at the end of The Long Ships, giving the further adventures of Orm's son Svarthöfde (Blackhair) and the sons of Sone. As with Bengtsson's novel the language has an archaic flavor, leavened with humor, and several historical figures appear.

In 2011 the Swedish production company Fladen Film announced they had acquired the film rights for the book, and that an adaptation was under development.[5]

In May 2014, during the press conference of Swedish film company

Västra Götaland
in 2016, however Film i Väst decided to end their collaboration with Aalbæk and the film project was cancelled.

In 2017, the

Dyrehaven
park.

In 2020, Royal Dramatic Theatre featuring Emma Broomé as Orm, Lennart Jähkel as both Krok and king Harald and Karin Franz Körlof as Ylva. Though awarded with rave reviews, the production was cancelled early due to COVID-19.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ The Paris Review
  2. ^ Lönnroth, Lars (2012-02-09). "Det våras för Bengtsson och hans vikingar". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  3. ^ Dr. Joan Klein, "A Distant Mirror - Historical Writing as a Method of Slyly Commenting on Contemporary Issues" in George Whitley-Smythe (ed.) "A Round-Up of Recent Essays in Twentieth Century Cultural Issues"
  4. ^ "Falsk som vatten (1985): Kommentar". Swedish Film Database (in Swedish). Swedish Film Institute. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  5. ^ Macnab, Geoffrey (2011-05-16). "Swedes plan huge Long Ships franchise". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
  6. ^ Wennö, Nicholas (2014-05-17). "Skarsgård med söner blir Röde Orm". Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  7. ^ "Vikingasagan "Röde orm" blir film". Svenska Dagbladet. 2014-05-17. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  8. ^ "Red Serpent". Det KGL Teater. Retrieved 2017-05-06.
  9. ^ "Äntligen premiär för Röde Orm | Dramaten".

Editions

English translations
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