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The Bondwomen: A Saga of the Northmen in Lakeland
200 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1991
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About the author
William Gershom Collingwood
92 books2 followersWilliam Gershom Collingwood was an English author, artist, antiquary and professor of Fine Arts at University College, Reading.
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March 2, 2021
The Bondwomen was originally published as "The Bondwoman" in 1896 by the famed antiquarian W.G. Collingwood. Collingwood has since been overshadowed by his best friend John Ruskin, the famous art critic, but Collingwood himself was a man of great achievement studying extensively Icelandic literature and the archaeology of the Lake District.
The Bondwomen is the spiritual sequel of the novel "Thorstein of the Mere" which was intended to instruct a young boy in what life was like in 10th Century Cumberland when Norse settlers arrived from Ireland and the Isle of Man.
Unlike "Thorstein" which mainly concerns the Norse settlers Collingwood concentrates on the story of an English Slave girl; Deorwyn who is bought to be a bondwoman for a 2nd-3rd generation Hiberno-Norse landowner in the heart of the Langdales. The story is told in third person but in Deorwyns point of view so the political events including the raids by the Scots are confused and grounded. It is a love-song to the Lake District describing the scenery gorgeously. The characters are written very much like those in the Icelandic Sagas which Collingwood studied so well so are oft hard to relate to, but undoubtedly this was his intention to give you a snapshot of an alien time. A time when the Scandinavian settlers were slowly losing their identity and religion with just a few holding onto old ways. A time when human beings could be trafficked, sold and owned and how that lifestyle can be normalized in a society where it is ingrained.
For a modern reader it is unlike most historical fiction but certainly worth reading if you are interested in the viking age, how people in the past interpreted it and if you live in or like the Lake District.
The Bondwomen is the spiritual sequel of the novel "Thorstein of the Mere" which was intended to instruct a young boy in what life was like in 10th Century Cumberland when Norse settlers arrived from Ireland and the Isle of Man.
Unlike "Thorstein" which mainly concerns the Norse settlers Collingwood concentrates on the story of an English Slave girl; Deorwyn who is bought to be a bondwoman for a 2nd-3rd generation Hiberno-Norse landowner in the heart of the Langdales. The story is told in third person but in Deorwyns point of view so the political events including the raids by the Scots are confused and grounded. It is a love-song to the Lake District describing the scenery gorgeously. The characters are written very much like those in the Icelandic Sagas which Collingwood studied so well so are oft hard to relate to, but undoubtedly this was his intention to give you a snapshot of an alien time. A time when the Scandinavian settlers were slowly losing their identity and religion with just a few holding onto old ways. A time when human beings could be trafficked, sold and owned and how that lifestyle can be normalized in a society where it is ingrained.
For a modern reader it is unlike most historical fiction but certainly worth reading if you are interested in the viking age, how people in the past interpreted it and if you live in or like the Lake District.
Displaying 1 of 1 review