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7th out of 40 books
—
43 voters
The Sea Road
A haunting, compelling historical novel, The Sea Road is a daring retelling of the 11th-century Viking exploration of the North Atlantic from the viewpoint of one extraordinary woman. Gudrid lives at the remote edge of the known world, in a starkly beautiful landscape where the sea is the only connection to the shores beyond. It is a world where the old Norse gods are stil...more
Paperback, 244 pages
Published
August 7th 2001
by Canongate UK
(first published September 1st 2000)
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This is a wonderful novel, based on the travels of Gudrid who was the furthest travelled woman in the Viking era. The reader feels really absorbed into the story and experiences the discomforts of the travel (sleeping in damp cloaks in the boats, living through hard winters with little food) and the beauty and harshness of the natural world:
We climbed up past the caves where the giants live, right to the glacier itself. Close to, the glacier isn't the smooth white cone you see from out at sea. I...more
We climbed up past the caves where the giants live, right to the glacier itself. Close to, the glacier isn't the smooth white cone you see from out at sea. I...more
It's not very often that we get to see from a woman's viewpoint in a work of historical fiction in this time period (early middle ages). Margaret Elpinstone's brilliantly researched book The Sea Road portrays the life of Gudrid Thorbjornsdottir, now a national hero of Iceland. She lived in the household of Erik the Red and married his son, but after his death she married Thorfinn Karlsefni, a great explorer in his own right. She went to Vinland after Leif Ericson discovered it, and lived what mu...more
It appears that I'm obsessed with historical fiction about Vikings. Sadly, 99 out of hundred books in this teensy genre are bodice-rippers, which don't interest me at all. This one is no bodice-ripper, and I liked it a lot. The Sea Road is based on the true story of a woman named Gudrid, who was born in Iceland, lived near Eric the Red and Leif Ericson in Greenland for a while, and traveled as far as Labrador (Markland) and Newfoundland (Vinland). She spent most of her married life in Iceland, b...more
Not only is this a wonderful book, it's a great example of what good historical fiction looks (and reads!) like. I would say that if you are a fan of Medieval European/Viking Age history, this book will be right up your alley. Bookend it with Donna Jo Napoli's Hush and you have yourself a nice little reading list that is the next best thing to time travel.
My only complaint with this book is that Ms. Elphinstone kept on calling the Icelandic Horses ponies. Anyone who has ever been to Iceland know...more
My only complaint with this book is that Ms. Elphinstone kept on calling the Icelandic Horses ponies. Anyone who has ever been to Iceland know...more
The Sea Road by Margaret Elphinstone - a retelling of events from the Icelandic sagas, that was recommended by several people on a holiday in Iceland.
I finished this book today, having read it in double-quick time as I found it very hard to put down. "The Sea Road" is the story of the travels of Gudrid, an 11th century Viking woman born in pagan Iceland. She went to live in Greenland before going on a voyage to Vinland, where she became the mother of the first European child to be born in Americ...more
I finished this book today, having read it in double-quick time as I found it very hard to put down. "The Sea Road" is the story of the travels of Gudrid, an 11th century Viking woman born in pagan Iceland. She went to live in Greenland before going on a voyage to Vinland, where she became the mother of the first European child to be born in Americ...more
This is a novel of Eric the Red and the adventurers who sailed from Iceland to the Green Land, told from the point of view of Gudrid. We've followed her childhood and she is now at an age when she could be married so the tension has increased. It is not lessened by Gudrid's father announcing that he is going to sail with Eirik Raudi (Eric the Red). Gudrid goes along and we follow her through two marriages and the birth of her son. She goes to Vinland and sees the conflict with the Skraelings, as...more
Love Love Love. This just might be my favorite 2011 read. I love Gudrid, I love her story, and I can not get over how much I enjoyed this book.
It's the story of the 11th centrury Islandic woman Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir(Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir) as transcribed by the fictive Icelandic monk Agnar, when they are both in Italy - she for her pilgrimage, he for church government. Gudrid tells Agnar of her childhood in Iceland, her early days of womanhood in Greenland, and her travels to the place we...more
It's the story of the 11th centrury Islandic woman Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir(Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir) as transcribed by the fictive Icelandic monk Agnar, when they are both in Italy - she for her pilgrimage, he for church government. Gudrid tells Agnar of her childhood in Iceland, her early days of womanhood in Greenland, and her travels to the place we...more
This book truly shows the origins of Historical Viking fiction by demonstrating how any good historical novel doesn't just focus on the events featured but on the people those events effect.
In this case it was the life and travels of a young Icelandic womam called Gudrid and the transformation and dramatic shift her life takes as she grows up in Iceland where Christianity still vyes with the beliefs of the Nordic Gods, to then set sail with her father in the hope of meeting up with an old friend...more
In this case it was the life and travels of a young Icelandic womam called Gudrid and the transformation and dramatic shift her life takes as she grows up in Iceland where Christianity still vyes with the beliefs of the Nordic Gods, to then set sail with her father in the hope of meeting up with an old friend...more
This book was a wonderful indulgence as I've been recovering from a cold this week. With the wind howling outside, The Sea Road took me to medieval Iceland, the first settlement of Greenland and beyond... to North America.
This fascinating historical novel is the story of Gudrid of Iceland, daughter-in-law to the explorer Erik the Red, as she accompanies her countrymen to the newly discovered land of Vinland.
Gudrid of Iceland was the furthest travelled woman in the world during the Viking Age......more
This fascinating historical novel is the story of Gudrid of Iceland, daughter-in-law to the explorer Erik the Red, as she accompanies her countrymen to the newly discovered land of Vinland.
Gudrid of Iceland was the furthest travelled woman in the world during the Viking Age......more
I almost put this book down after the first couple chapters b/c I found it kind of slow and rambling; however, I kept reading b/c my lovely mum had recommended this to me, and I trust her judgement :). I'm glad I kept reading, as the story really picked up once the narrator went to Greenland.
Historical fiction set in the time of Erik the Red, centers around the settlement of Greenland and the discovery of North America. Who doesn't like a story about Vikings??
Historical fiction set in the time of Erik the Red, centers around the settlement of Greenland and the discovery of North America. Who doesn't like a story about Vikings??
This one was a disappointment. The premise sounded so promising: a historical novel about the viking exploration of Newfoundland in about the year 1000 or so, told from the point of view of a woman who is the wife of the leader. The narrator was a little boring. It was written as if the main character, Gudrid, was telling her life story to a monk, and what we are reading is exactly as she told him and as he recorded it. Unfortunately, Gudrid does not tell her story in an exciting way. The dialog...more
This haunting book, set in Iceland, Greenland and Vinland, and on the sea that connects these lands, transports the reader a thousand years back through time. Back to when ordinary people didn't read or write or have access to mirrors. When people improvised to build seaworthy ships. It's a spiritual journey, too. Near the end of her life, Gudrid made a pilgrimage to Rome, where a cardinal decided he wanted an account of her life, presumably because she converted to Christianity while living amo...more
Gudrun has been brought from Iceland to report to the Pope on her visit to the Americas. This book takes the Vinland Saga and makes it come alive through the voice of the wife of Thorfinn Karlsefni who, according to the saga, led the Vikings to North America. Margaret Elphinstone creates a thoroughly believable story through her characters. A wonderful read.
I took a while to warm up to this book. I found the style distracting - Gudrid as an old woman, telling her story to a monk, who is supposedly writing down everything she says (including her little asides about the weather in Italy, her questions about monk life, etc).
But there's no question about it, she had an amazing life, and this book does well to speculate on who Gudrid was and fill in the gaps as to what happened along the way.
I was compelled to read it in one day (finishing at 11.58!) so...more
But there's no question about it, she had an amazing life, and this book does well to speculate on who Gudrid was and fill in the gaps as to what happened along the way.
I was compelled to read it in one day (finishing at 11.58!) so...more
Historical fiction....1000's Iceland-Greenland....Icelandic woman tells of settling in Greenland and discovering 'Vinland' - N America.
I was hoping for more depth and immersion into the daily lives.
I was hoping for more depth and immersion into the daily lives.
Interesting reading but a bit long... Haven't finished it yet altough I was devouring it at the beginning...
I enjoyed the writing and the book in general, but it felt unfinished to me: the ending felt abrupt. Worthwhile, but won't merit a re-read.
Felt like this book was more 2 1/2 stars, but I decided to round up. Did Elphinstone just give up at the end??? I felt like she grew tired of her own story and just cut things off.
I adored this. I can imagine sitting and listening to Gudrid tell tales for days and weeks and years on end. I loved the way the fictive Agnar's fascinated, slightly scandalized demeanor came through by way of Gudrid's replies to his unrecorded questions and statements and looks. And the story. Oh, the story. Vikings. Adventurers at the ends of the known earth. Old religion and new. Hard winters and deadly journeys and glorious summers and each bit beautifully told.
Initially found it atmospheric and absorbing, but it gradually became something of a slog.
I'm glad I read it once, but it was disappointing after the author's fantastic Voyageurs.
I'm glad I read it once, but it was disappointing after the author's fantastic Voyageurs.
Hmm. I must admit, I never really warmed to this book. It was a set text for English Literature, and well I was forced to read it and that didn't make it any more enjoyable.
However, I have it still on my bookshelf at home, hopefully in a few years I will pick it up and have a different opinion.
However, I have it still on my bookshelf at home, hopefully in a few years I will pick it up and have a different opinion.
This book was in the Top 3 wislist of a fellow BC-member. I found this copy and will send it out to her soon.
May 18, 2013
Ute-christine Klehe
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Jonathon Dyer
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Dangermousie
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Perry
marked it as to-read
May 12, 2013
Neil Dautun
marked it as to-read
May 12, 2013
Nancy
marked it as to-read
May 11, 2013
Rachel
marked it as to-read
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Margaret Elphinstone (born 1948 in Kent, England) is a Scottish novelist.She studied at Queen's College in London and Durham University. She was until recently, Professor of Writing in the Department of English Studies at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, now retired. Her academic research areas are Scottish writers and the literature of Scotland's offshore islands.
She did extensive study...more
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