The Viking Trilogy is a trilogy of juvenile historical novels by Henry Treece.
They are Viking's Dawn, The Road to Miklagard and Viking's Sunset. Treece wrote several juvenile historical novels, some set during the Viking Age, and this trilogy is regarded as among his best.[ Collectingbooksandmagazines.com]
The three novels describe the adventures of Harald Sigurdson, a Norwegian people Viking. He goes on three voyages, which between them are representative of the various voyages which were made by the Vikings, and which take place at different stages in his life.
Viking's Dawn
Harald is an adolescent who sails on a raid to Scotland. They come to grief on an island in the
Hebrides.
The Road to Miklagard
Harald is now a young man whose father has died. He has a complicated series of adventures which takes him to a giant's treasure cave in Ireland, then Jebel Tarik (
Gibraltar), then to
Miklagard (the
Old Norse name for
Constantinople) where he joins the famous
Varangian Guard. Eventually Harald returns home to Norway via the great ship-portage on the
Dnieper.
Viking's Sunset
Harald is now a mature man who enjoys a peaceful life of farming with his wife and sons. When his village is attacked, he forms a crew of soldiers and pursues the raiders. The chase leads him across the
Atlantic Ocean to the east coast of America. He and his crew encounter
Inuit and then Native Americans. Harald's final fight takes place among the native tribes. In a great battle, it is revealed that he is a
berserker. Significant scenes include the death of one of the raiders, Havlock Ingolfsson, whom Harald abandons to die on a
skerry, and Harald's death at the hands of Heome, the mad handless brother of heroic Wawasha. The brothers have similarities with
Loki and
Balder respectively. This novel has obvious parallels with the
Norse mythology Vinland saga.
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