The Long Ships
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The Long Ships
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Narrated by:
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Michael Page
About this listen
Bengtsson's hero, Red Orm-canny - courageous and above all lucky - is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and made to take his place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured by the Moors in Spain, where he is initiated into the pleasures of the senses and fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland, where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies. Eventually, Orm contributes to the Viking defeat of the army of the king of England and returns home an off-the-cuff Christian and a very rich man, though back on his native turf new trials and tribulations will test his cunning and determination.
Packed with pitched battles and blood feuds, and told throughout with wit and high spirits, Bengtsson's book is a splendid adventure that features one of the most unexpectedly winning heroes in modern fiction.
©1954, 2010 Frans G. Bengtsson; translation copyright 1954 by Michael Meyer; Introduction copyright 2010 by Michael Chabon (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Long Ships
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jonathan
- 19-07-19
Lucky Orm
Found the book a bit slow and boring to start but the enjoyment started, really enjoyed it because it was a little different to all he other Viking books I've listened to
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- edward sidsaph
- 08-04-18
Amazing.A joy and a pleasure to listen to.
This book in my honest opinion is the father of all other Viking books whether it be The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell or Odinn's Child series by Tim Severin.This has everything Vikings,Gods,Saxons, and Muslims layered together to bring the 10/11th centuries back to life.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- hair
- 10-02-18
This is fun
The cheerful bloodthirstiness is very beguiling and the the characters are unexpected for a heroic epic, the main character being a hypochondriac Viking. I gave up listening to the book called "The Vikings" which I'd got hoping to learn a bit of Norse history and so I was especially happy to get a feel of the Viking world from "The Long Boats", which was never dull .
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Louise Brewer
- 10-01-24
An epic adventure.
Written in the 1940s and translated from Swedish, the book reads as an epic adventure, but has the pace and plot of a modern best-seller.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hanna
- 18-06-24
A timeless Viking classic
I read that this was voted the 3rd best novel ever written in the 1900’s in Sweden, where the author and History Professor Frans G Bengtsson was from. It did not disappoint, a true classic!
Strongly recommended to anyone who is interested in Vikings or a vivid account of what life was like in Northern Europe at that time.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nile_Etland
- 19-03-18
Marvellous story, pronunciations a bit strange
I found the way that some of the words were pronounced was quite distracting - for example in UK English plait is generally pronounced 'platt', and the reader pronounced portage in the French manner, with a soft 'g'. Confusing!
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. Anthony D. Bateman
- 03-09-18
an epic saga
I wish I had known of this book yrs ago as it is older than I. 5days after purchasing, by coincidence bbc2 showed the 1964 film version and as Hollywood's want, did it no justice, narrated as if listening to an old friend I found I could listen into the early hrs as if listening to his experience, such is the writing so good to create a piece of extraordinary literature
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Graham
- 12-02-22
An excellent book. Highly recommended.
I first read The Long Ships many years ago after discovering it on a library shelf. It was a joy to read and this wonderful narration only adds to the enjoyment of the story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Manchester Mama
- 19-11-19
The only book I have listened to more than once
Love the story. Love the humour. Narrator is superb. This should be a classic and read by as many people as possible.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 08-11-20
Incredible translation
I am a native Swedish speaker and had read the original "Röde Orm" many years ago. I purchased this for my children to listen to because their swedish isn't that impressive but my own hopes were not that high. I was however very pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the story immensely. The translation is spot on and catches the tone of the story exactly. Kudos also to the narrator Micheal Page for bringing the story to life. It is a long story but it never felt slow and when it finally ended I almost wanted to start over again.
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