Viking fiction for the classroom
Have you considered historical fiction for genre study in English? You could place it alongside a study of the Vikings in history and there has never been a better time to do so. In the past this period attracted children’s historical fiction writers, notably Henry Treece. Several of his stories were set in the Viking period and they have a stark quality about them to match the sagas themselves.
Viking Dawn (1955), The Road to Miklagard (1957) and Viking’s Sunset (1960) tell the story of Harald Sigurdson. We first meet him as a 15 year old on a desperate journey to the Hebrides. Next as a fierce warrior we follow him via capture by pirates, Moorish slavery and service as a palace guard to Miklagard and wealth. Finally in old age he sails in search of vengeance to first Greenland and then Vinland.
Two later stories are Horned Helmet (1963), Beorn an Icelandic boy joins a Viking ship and learns to fight and kill, a tale of courage and brutality. The Last of the Vikings (1964), is the fictionalized life story of Harald Hardrada who died at that other battle in 1066, Stamford Bridge. While these may now feel a little dated there is a range of brilliant new titles from more modern authors to place alongside them which follow a similar range of themes of war, trade, farming and exploration.
In Bracelet of Bones (2011) by Kevin Crossley-Holland the heroine Solveig follows her father from the battlefield of Stiklestad in Norway via Novgorod and Kiev to Miklagard, the same route that Hardrada followed. Meanwhile in Slave Girl (2005) by Jackie French, Hekja, a Scottish child captured and enslaved by Viking raiders is taken to Greenland and then Vinland where she finally earns her freedom. In The Fated Sky (1996) by Henrietta Branford the heroine also sails west. Following the death of her father and brothers, and then her mother, Ran and the blind harper Toki take ship to Iceland. Here danger finally catches up with them.
In Feasting the Wolf (2007) the author Susan Price explores another theme common theme. In the Shetlands two boys, blood brothers Ottar and Ketil, dream of war and adventure. When a Viking ship visits they enlist together and find themselves part of Halfdan’s Great Army plundering the Saxons of Northumbria. Here they learn the brutal reality of war. And lastly in Francesca Simon’s new novel, The Sleeping Army (2011) with an interesting twist on the time slip novel, the heroine Freya is plunged back into Viking Asgard. To save the gods she has to navigate a world of giants, gods and wolves with the help of her companions, including Snot the berserker.
All share Treece’s stark quality and several capture the poetry of the sagas too. Altogether they offer a rich range of characters and contrasting descriptions of authentic Viking settings – aboard long ships and in their houses – for some detailed textual analysis as a prelude to children writing their own Viking fiction.
And for the teacher wanting some eCPD on the period then visit the Historical Association at http://www.history.org.uk/resources/primary_resource_4806_2.html
For more detail on these individual titles use the Historical periods drop down menu on the right of this screen.
