Vinland by George Mackay Brown
Posted in Reading Reviewed, Scottish Fiction, Scottish Literature at 12:00 on 7 June 2023
John Murray, 1992, 238 p.
The book’s title is a misnomer as only the first section, in which young Ranald Sigmundson stows away on Leif Erikson’s ship, is actually set in any way at all in that fertile countryside. Even that sojourn is fleeting since one of the Norsemen, Wolf, reacts violently in an encounter with the indigenous skraelings as a result of which good relations are never restored. Brown takes this chance to put into Leif Erikson’s mouth a speech about how the arrival of Europeans will spell doom for the natives.
The novel is the tale of Ranald’s life, taking in his prowess as a horseman winning a race in Greenland, the brief stop in Vinland, a trip to Norway where he meets King Olaf (proud of his self-appointed status as the bringer of Christianity to Orkney,) returning to Orkney before a trip to Ireland as part of Earl Sigurd’s campaign against Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf (a disaster for the Orcadians but also for Boru personally,) settling in his farm at Breckness. The final, valedictory, section is titled Tir-nan-og.
Much of the intrigue of the book is taken up with the internal duels of the sons of Earl Sigurd to rule in Orkney. A matter complicated by the fact that the supreme ruler is the King of Norway and he too wants his slice. Three of Sigurd’s sons hold the islands more or less equally, but one, Thorfinn, also has lands in Caithness and Sutherland for which he pays homage to the King of Scots. Feudal land inheritance was a nasty business.
If in the end he is neglectful of his wife Ragna, since he becomes ever more reclusive as the cares of the world wear on him, Ranald lives out his life as a good man. Brown has given us here a picture of life in the Viking world just this side of the cusp of Christianity. In human relations not much has changed since.
Pedant’s corner:- “the dice was loaded against him” (‘dice’ is the plural [of die], ‘the dice were’,) “laying less eggs” (fewer eggs.)
Tags: George Mackay Brown, Leif Erikson, Orkney, Vinland