The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman

The story of Gudrid the Far Traveler is amazing in its ability to engage an otherwise indifferent reader. One may not feel particularly attracted to Viking lore, to accounts of archaeological digs, or to Icelandic or New World history, but upon hitting the first page of The Far Traveler, there is a seduction waiting. It doesn't take more than a few pages to get hooked. The author, Nancy Marie Brown, is a marvelous storyteller for this particular form of nonfiction. She's done her research - both in the pages of old tomes as well as in the field - and she is able to convey very ancient history with a fresh, contemporary feel. To top that off, Ms. Brown has an amazing sense of humor and her serious but accessible account of Gudrid and her show more travels is punctuated by tongue-in-cheek remarks that make the reader feel as though they are actually with Ms. Brown in person, hearing her relate the story with more than a few mischievious asides. What strikes one the most is why we have not heard more of Gudrid throughout history. After all, most of us know about Leif Ericksson and of Erick the Red. Why has Gudrid been kept hidden? We owe a debt to Ms. Brown for introducing us to such a fascinating character from history.

This is the kind of book that one starts with no particular expectation but finishes with astonishment. At the end, the reader has had a crash course in Viking history, Icelandic history, a bit about the history of Greenland, has learned about the discovery of Vinland, how to look for and excavate Viking long houses, and has gained familiarity with the famous Sagas. If all that seems too much for one book, look at it this way: Brown gives the reader options. After reading The Far Traveler, some may want to do further exploration into Viking history, others may want to read the Sagas in their full, original state. Still others may want to book a trip to Iceland, now a suddenly more interesting destination because of this book. The Far Traveler is full of surprises, a delight to read, and a labor of love on the part of its author who was determined to introduce the world to Gudrid. show less

This book is why I only use 5 stars for an absolutely splendiforous book. This is one of them. Ms. Brown does not try to write a historical fiction novel or a speculative "who she must have been" book. Instead, she takes ways to research a life and puts them all together: Icelandic sagas, Viking history, archeology, and needlework. And creates a rich book that explains how Gudrid, a Viking wife, mother, and daughter, made a voyage across the Northern Atlantic ocean in about the year 1000, gave birth to a son, and made it back to Iceland 3 years later.

Along the way, we learn about Viking ship building techniques, how the forests yielded the particular tree with the particular V-shape to it to serve as the ship's ribs. Several trees, in show more fact. And a tree with a straight trunk, about 36' high, to serve as the mast. And how the nails were cut off once they were embedded, instead of bent down.

Then there is navigation through the Northern Atlantic, perhaps when the sun barely sets, without astrolabes, through the thick fog and possibly in pitching seas. Much of the archeological evidence about Vikings is from a prosperous farm, inhabited between 1000 and 1400, called "Farm Beneath the Sand" that was discovered in Greenland in 1991. It was later claimed by the Greenland tides 6 years later.

The map that accompanies this book is a brilliant viewpoint of an Icelandic voyage to Vinland, "Wine Land" which could be anywhere along the Eastern US coast. And Ms. Brown provides quotes and papers for all the researchers who claim what they think was *the* place where Vikings settled because, well, grapes. But the best evidence comes from northern Newfoundland in L'Anse aux Meadows where a sharpening stone and other Viking relics from the proper timeframe were found.

And the needlework! Thank the Goddesses of Threads that Ms. Brown put as much research into thread and cloth as she did into all the other discoveries and explanations! For the general public to know the painstaking way to take a shorn fleece, wash it, card it, then using a drop spindle to create thread. And the different whorls (disks) that are used to create the different thicknesses (or weights) of thread in drop spinning lends credence to the excavated homesteads where these whorls are found. They pinpoint the room, usually to the side of the Viking longhouse, where the women sat and spun, And wove. While I don't have a complete visual of a Viking loom, it is not a treadle loom. It's a walking loom. An estimate in the book is that a "hardworking weaver walked 23 miles every day."

What makes this book work on so many levels is the story-telling, the lyricism, of the words on the page. It is carefully crafted to give the history of a woman who lived a thousand years ago, who went on a dangerous voyage, and came home to create a prosperous farm, Glaumbauer, in northern Iceland that was excavated and researched in the early 2000's. show less

Last year I read [The Sea Road] by Margaret Elphinstone, a historical fiction novel about a woman named Gudrid who is said to have been among the group who were the first Europeans to create a settlement in the New World in the 900s. I heard about this nonfiction book about the same woman, and knew I had to read it.

This is a very readable and interesting book. The author blends evidence from archaeological digs in Iceland, Greenland, and the U.S. with literary evidence from the Sagas to try to create a picture of Gudrid's life. Considering she's trying to reconstruct a life that occurred over a thousand years ago, she does a remarkable job. Brown blends accounts of the technology behind creating an archaeological record with show more information about life at the time, especially for women. She talks about how houses were set up and constructed and details how wool was used to create fabric. It was all very interesting.

Of course, in the end, it's pretty tough to recreate Gudrid's life in a convincing way relying on science. It was just so long ago. But in combination with the historical fiction I read, I feel I have a picture of what life might have been like back then, and I enjoy the speculation about this time period. show less

should be subtitled Saga Archeology - well written, and in some spots even insightful, but a lot of what I would consider pure speculation, and which the author would probably admit is unavoidable in a book like this. Worth the read.

Gudrid, featured in two Icelandic sagas, spent years in Greenland, Vineland, and Iceland and traveled the Pilgrims' road from Norway to Rome. She spent her last years as a nun on what had been her last husband's farm.
This book relates the somewhat different versions of her life that have been included in the sagas and speculates on what might have been excluded as well. Archaeology at sites where she is placed in the sagas is discussed and what the findings have to say about the plants and animals and the arts and activities that would have made up her daily life.
It's lively and entertaining, and the author's self-intrusions are more enlightening than not, but it is not illustrated. It needs maps. It requires diagrams. It begs for show more photos. So many descriptions, but not one pic. show less

Solid book. Sometimes it was so dense with useful and interesting information that my brain would overload and I'd lose the thread of the story. I found it really helpful to have my computer nearby so I could look up images of the artifacts and videos of some of the activities, especially spinning and weaving - her descriptions are good but I just could not visualize wtf she was talking about when things got whorly and wefty.

I simply have no interest in the period, despite most likely having Vikings in my ancestry. I like the writing style well enough, and the information is clearly well-researched, and important. But I couldn't get into it, and will let it go back to the library.

Jan. 2024