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The Far Traveler Voyages of a Viking Woman Nancy Marie Brown Books

Download As PDF : The Far Traveler Voyages of a Viking Woman Nancy Marie Brown Books

The Far Traveler Voyages of a Viking Woman Nancy Marie Brown Books

I've been reading this book since the end of March, and I don't really know why I kept avoiding it all these months. I just felt that it was an interesting premise that somehow faltered. There was nothing wrong with the scholarship, or the writing, but it felt disjointed to me as if the author simply didn't know how to construct a narrative.

The story of Gudrid should have been riveting. This is a woman who traveled from her Scandinavian home to Greenland, Iceland, and the area of the Americas known to Vikings as "Vinland," for its wild grapes. In her old age, she made a pilgrimage to Rome and became a nun. But the book goes every which-way, bouncing from her life, to archeological information, to Erik the Red, and back again, never quite allowing the reader to come to know Gudrid on a level where we could feel engaged with her life and adventures. I recognize that there's scant information about her, but what there was could have been better used, in my opinion.

Still, if you're interested in Viking travels to the new world, this book does offer some insights, and that's not a bad thing.


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The Far Traveler Voyages of a Viking Woman Nancy Marie Brown Books Reviews

Want to know more about Vineland, Greenland and the extent that a woman traveled during the early days of Iceland, this is the book.
The story telling pulls you in. The author has written a book that based on fact draws you into the events like a good saga would.
This book is filled with really fascinating bits of history of Iceland and the Vikings. As other reviewers relate, it is somewhat oddly told and includes details most readers will find tedious on weaving and using archeologists tools and the like. Overall, I am glad to have read it, and the author does an excellent job of filling out the character of Gudrid and laying down good basic Icelandic history.
This wasn't exactly the book I thought it was going to be, but I learned a lot about the times that Gudrid lived in. They were brave and hearty and I can't imagine sailing to the coast of Canada to live for a few years surrounded by hostile Indians and a hostile climate. She is amazing. Good read.
I was not sure how this book would read when I first purchased it, but I really enjoyed it. This book primarily looks at account of Gudrid's life, multiple marriages and travels, as well as Icelandic archaeological information to talk about property ownership, women's role with goods and communal living. I have read a few books that generalize about women's roles in Viking society, but I felt this book really got the point across that without the women producing fine goods, the men would have nearly nothing to trade with.

Maybe it's an odd comment, but I really loved the chapters on land claiming (Chapter 5) and turf homes and entire houses dissembled and moved plank by plank to Iceland (Chapter 8).

I felt Gudrid's life was an excellent jumping off point for which the author talking about women's roles.
Nancy M. Brown does a wonderful job at bringing history to life through her very capable writing and story-telling ability. She also does a great job at keeping the cultural integrity in place regarding the landscapes and people that she is discussing. She doesn't take away from, or gloss over, their flaws nor does she neglect their accomplishments. Her other book "Song of the Vikings" is one that I have recommended to many people because of just how in-depth she is when writing about her subject matter. I highly recommend both this book, and 'Song of the Vikings' for anyone that is interested in heathenry, history, or learning more about the Viking Age and how their stories got their foundations.
Although there are a few interesting stories and facts in this book, it is not well organized overall, and the internal organization of the chapters was precarious. You might start out with an interesting tale of, say, Eric the Red, then suddenly find yourself reading a lesson on how to build a turf house in such detail that you forget completely about Eric the Red, the ostensible subject of that chapter. Then it might jump to some other off-topic subject before giving a passing nod to poor neglected Eric at the end. Apparently, neither the author nor her editor ever heard of transitions. Far too much space was devoted to the author's egocentric experience of being an amateur archaeologist, in detail ad nauseam. Overall, there was precious little information about Gudrid Thorbjornsdottir beyond "might have" or "would have" inferences, and a few contradictions hit one in the face. The author would have been better off taking herself out of the picture and presenting the book as a general "life of Icelandic women in 1000 AD." I've read dozens of works on the Viking period of history by respected sources. Given the egregiously misleading title, I found this book sometimes frustrating, often boring and, generally, disappointing.
I've been reading this book since the end of March, and I don't really know why I kept avoiding it all these months. I just felt that it was an interesting premise that somehow faltered. There was nothing wrong with the scholarship, or the writing, but it felt disjointed to me as if the author simply didn't know how to construct a narrative.

The story of Gudrid should have been riveting. This is a woman who traveled from her Scandinavian home to Greenland, Iceland, and the area of the Americas known to Vikings as "Vinland," for its wild grapes. In her old age, she made a pilgrimage to Rome and became a nun. But the book goes every which-way, bouncing from her life, to archeological information, to Erik the Red, and back again, never quite allowing the reader to come to know Gudrid on a level where we could feel engaged with her life and adventures. I recognize that there's scant information about her, but what there was could have been better used, in my opinion.

Still, if you're interested in Viking travels to the new world, this book does offer some insights, and that's not a bad thing.