Other editions of book The Story of Rolf and the Viking's Bow

Rolf, son of Hiarandi the Unlucky, is a character who exemplifies the effect of Christ's teachings upon the Icelandic people during their heroic age. The book is set in Iceland in the days when Christianity has come to the island though the old customs still linger. Hiarandi, at the urging of his wife, does an unprecedented thing: he lights a signal fire on a dangerous point of his land, thereby challenging the accepted custom which places lucrative salvage at higher value than the saving of life. However, the life that is saved that night causes his own death and the unjust outlawing of his son Rolf. Rolf's response to this injustice creates a suspenseful, thought-provoking tale difficult to put down.

Relates the thrilling exploits of Rolf in the land of the Vikings: how he becomes an outlaw, and a thrall, and at long last gains his freedom and avenges the unlawful slaying of his father. Through his trials Rolf is challenged to grow in manliness, developing courage, self-control, patriotism, and perseverance, and in the end rising above the feud that has consumed him for so long. The story, inspired by Icelandic sagas, serves as an excellent introduction to the prevailing values of the Viking era. Suitable for ages 11 and up.

The Icelanders were a wonderful people. To escape the tyranny of kings they settled a new land, and there built up the laws and customs in which we see the promise of modern civilization. Few early peoples had such a body of laws; few developed such manhood.No better pictures of a law-abiding, rural, and yet valiant race have ever been made than in the tales which the Icelanders had the skill to weave about their heroes, those men who, at home in their island, or so far abroad as Constantinople, made the name of Icelander respected.We read of these men and this people in stories which, somewhat too "old" for boys and girls, reveal the laws, customs, habits of a thousand years ago. The Njal's Saga, the Grettir's Saga, the Ere-Dwellers' Saga, and the Gisli's Saga are perhaps the greatest of those which have been translated. They are reinforced by such shorter pieces as Hen Thorir's Saga, and the Stories of the Banded Men, the Heath-Slayings, Hraffnkell Frey's Priest, and Howard the Halt. The spirit of those days is particularly well given in that wonderful fragment of Thorstein Staffsmitten which (not being part of any complete saga) has been drawn upon for the closing incidents of the present story. Many other such incidents are preserved, a reference to one of which (in a footnote to—I think—the Ere-Dwellers' Saga) gave the suggestion for the main plot of this book.At the same time, in contemporary writings, we may read of the life of other divisions of the Scandinavian race; the story nearest to this book is the Orkneyingers' Saga.The main interest of all these tales is the same: they tell of real men and women in real circumstances, and show them human in spite of the legends which have grown about them. The sagas reveal the characteristics of our branch of the Aryan race, especially the personal courage which is so superior to that of the Greek and Latin races, and which makes the Teutonic epics (whether the Niebelungen Lied, the Morte Darthur, or the Njala) much more inspiring than the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the Aeneid.The prominence of law in almost every one of the Icelandic sagas has been preserved in the following story; and the conditions of life, whether at home or abroad, have been described as closely as was possible within the limits of the simple narrative form which the sagas customarily employed.ALLEN FRENCH.

Rolf is the son of Hiarandi the Unlucky. Hiarandi, at the urging of his wife, does an unforgivable thing: he lights a signal fire on a dangerous point of his land, challenging the accepted custom that place lucrative salvage at a higher value than the saving of life. However, the life that is saved that night causes his own death and the unjust outlawing of his son Rolf. This tale exemplifies the effect of Christ's teachings upon the Icelandic people during their heroic age.

Rolf is the only son of Hiarandi the Unlucky. Most of his father's ill luck springs from the fact that he is compassionate and that his neighbor, Einar, covets his land and his spacious hall. The wicked Einar manages to get Hiarandi ensnared in legal difficulties and he is sentenced to spend a year within a bow-shot of his own hall. Not content, Einar sends his henchmen to trick Hiarandi into venturing beyond this perimeter where he will be fair game for slaughter. Hiarandi is killed, but in the process, young Rolf also kills one of Einar's henchmen. Now Rolf is made an outlaw and is forced to flee from Iceland until his sentence is complete. But Rolf will not be content until he can prove that his father was killed within a bowshot of his home--and thus make Einar subject to the law.

Rolf is the son of Hiarandi the Unlucky. Hiarandi, at the urging of his wife, does an unforgivable thing: he lights a signal fire on a dangerous point of his land, challenging the accepted custom that place lucrative salvage at a higher value than the saving of life. However, the life that is saved that night causes his own death and the unjust outlawing of his son Rolf. This tale exemplifies the effect of Christ's teachings upon the Icelandic people during their heroic age. The book is set in Iceland in the days when Christianity has come to the island though the old customs still linger.

Rolf is the son of Hiarandi the Unlucky. Hiarandi, at the urging of his wife, does an unforgivable thing: he lights a signal fire on a dangerous point of his land, challenging the accepted custom that place lucrative salvage at a higher value than the saving of life. However, the life that is saved that night causes his own death and the unjust outlawing of his son Rolf. This tale exemplifies the effect of Christ's teachings upon the Icelandic people during their heroic age. The book is set in Iceland in the days when Christianity has come to the island though the old customs still linger.

Relates the thrilling exploits of Rolf in the land of the Vikings: how he becomes an outlaw, and a thrall, and at long last gains his freedom and avenges the unlawful slaying of his father. Through his trials Rolf is challenged to grow in manliness, developing courage, self-control, patriotism, and perseverance, and in the end rising above the feud that has consumed him for so long. The story, inspired by Icelandic sagas, serves as an excellent introduction to the prevailing values of the Viking era. Suitable for ages 11 and up.

PREFACEFrom thirty to sixty years ago appeared the greater number of the English translations of the Icelandic sagas. Since then the reading of these heroic tales has so completely gone out of style that their names are rarely mentioned in schools or even colleges. What boy feels his blood stir at the mention of Grettir? How many lovers of good reading know that the most human of all epics lie untouched on the shelves of the public libraries? The wisdom of Njal, the chivalry of Gunnar, the villainy of Mord, the manhood of Kari, the savagery of Viga-Glum, the craft of Snorri, and the fine qualities of Biarni, of Biorn, of Skarphedinn, of Illugi, of Kolskegg, of Hrut, of Blundketil—all these are forgotten in the curious turn of taste which has made the stories of a wonderful people almost a lost literature.For the Icelanders were a wonderful people. To escape the tyranny of kings they settled a new land, and there built up the laws and customs in which we see the promise of modern civilization. Few early peoples had such a body of laws; few developed such manhood. No better pictures of a law-abiding, rural, and yet valiant race have ever been made than in the tales which the Icelanders had the skill to weave about their heroes, those men who, at home in their island, or so far abroad as Constantinople, made the name of Icelander respected.We read of these men and this people in stories which, somewhat too "old" for boys and girls, reveal the laws, customs, habits of a thousand years ago. The Njal's Saga, the Grettir's Saga, the Ere-Dwellers' Saga, and the Gisli's Saga are perhaps the greatest of those which have been translated. They are reinforced by such shorter pieces as Hen Thorir's Saga, and the Stories of the Banded Men, the Heath-Slayings, Hraffnkell Frey's Priest, and Howard the Halt. The spirit of those days is particularly well given in that wonderful fragment of Thorstein Staffsmitten which (not being part of any complete saga) has been drawn upon for the closing incidents of the present story. Many other such incidents are preserved, a reference to one of which (in a footnote to—I think—the Ere-Dwellers' Saga) gave the suggestion for the main plot of this book. At the same time, in contemporary writings, we may read of the life of other divisions of the Scandinavian race; the story nearest to this book is the Orkneyingers' Saga.The main interest of all these tales is the same: they tell of real men and women in real circumstances, and show them human in spite of the legends which have grown about them. The sagas reveal the characteristics of our branch of the Aryan race, especially the personal courage which is so superior to that of the Greek and Latin races, and which makes the Teutonic epics (whether the Niebelungen Lied, the Morte Darthur, or the Njala) much more inspiring than the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the Aeneid.The prominence of law in almost every one of the Icelandic sagas has been preserved in the following story; and the conditions of life, whether at home or abroad, have been described as closely as was possible within the limits of the simple narrative form which the sagas customarily employed.ALLEN FRENCH.Concord, Massachusetts,May, 1904.

Rolf is the son of Hiarandi the Unlucky. Hiarandi, at the urging of his wife, does an unforgivable thing: he lights a signal fire on a dangerous point of his land, challenging the accepted custom that place lucrative salvage at a higher value than the saving of life. However, the life that is saved that night causes his own death and the unjust outlawing of his son Rolf. This tale exemplifies the effect of Christ's teachings upon the Icelandic people during their heroic age. The book is set in Iceland in the days when Christianity has come to the island though the old customs still linger.

This story about Rolf, a youth and son of Hiarandi the Unlucky, who lives in early Christian Iceland during the days when the Icelandic society was transforming from the old Norse religion to Christianity.At the urging of his wife, Hiarandi does an unprecedented thing and lights a signal fire on a dangerous point of his land, challenging the accepted custom which places lucrative salvage at higher value than the saving of life. However, the life that is saved that night causes his own death and eventually, the unjust outlawing of his son Rolf.Rolf loses first his father, then his property, and finally his freedom to a scheming neighbour. Then he is outlawed from Iceland at the Althing (Council) and travels abroad, meeting with shipwreck, enslavement, Viking berserkers, and many other dangers and adventures.All the while, Rolf searches for a way to prove his father was killed unjustly and win back his own property and freedom. Even more difficult, Rolf must end the cycle of enmity, vengeance, and pride that hangs like a curse over his familyRolf's response to the injustice done to him creates a suspenseful, thought-provoking and page-turning tale which is difficult to put down.============KEYWORDS/TAGS: Rolf and the Viking’s Bow, Norse, Archery, , abroad, Althing, Asdis, ashore, atonement, baresarks, beacon, beserkers, blood, bow, Broadfirth, carline, chapmen, cliffs, cloak, Cragness, crags, Earl, Einar, evil, father, Fellstead, Flosi, Frodi, Gisli, gold, Grani, Grettir, Hallmund, Hallvard, Hawksness, heart, Helga, Hiarandi, home, Iceland, judges, Kari, Kiartan, kinsman, Kolbein, money, mound, neighbours, Ondott, Orkney, Outlaw, outlawry, Priest, Quarter, Rolf, Scots, sea, shepherd, shield, ship, shipmaster, shoot, smithy, smote, Snorri, son, storehouse, storm, strength, Sweyn, sword, Thorfinn, thrall, Thurid, Tongue, travel, Vemund, vengeance, viking, warship, weapons, whittle, winter, witnesses, wounds