The Far Traveler
2 journalers for this copy...
I picked this book up because it had been on my wishlist for a while, and because I am planning to go to Vikingscon this year, and fell down the research-rabbit-hole while planning costuming. I was not disappointed!
This is a solid intro, and slightly beyond, to late Viking-Era travel and research. It obviously intended for a casual reader, and those hoping for detailed historical nitty-gritty might be disappointed. I did really appreciate how open the author was about the uncertainty that we must accept when dealing with trying to sort out historical events based on very little (and often conflicting!) evidence. A great deal of the time, historians are trying to fill in large gaps with tiny scraps of fabric fragments, verbal histories from generations ago that were finally written down by someone from another culture with their own biases, engravings of gods, and other interesting, but certainly not infallible, sources. Even when I personally disagreed with a particular conclusion, I liked how nicely the author presented the available evidence.
Gudrid herself is a complicated semi-mythical figure, and I liked that the author embraced that fact. There is probably some truth and a lot of myth and lost information, all blended together to a point where we, the modern reader of the Sagas, cannot hope to know for sure what happened or why stories were changed. The author's willingness to accept that uncertainty and discuss options was refreshing. Too often I find these kind of historical narratives seem determined to "prove" a particular viewpoint of a figure, but I prefer this strategy of letting a reader decide what to believe.
This is a solid intro, and slightly beyond, to late Viking-Era travel and research. It obviously intended for a casual reader, and those hoping for detailed historical nitty-gritty might be disappointed. I did really appreciate how open the author was about the uncertainty that we must accept when dealing with trying to sort out historical events based on very little (and often conflicting!) evidence. A great deal of the time, historians are trying to fill in large gaps with tiny scraps of fabric fragments, verbal histories from generations ago that were finally written down by someone from another culture with their own biases, engravings of gods, and other interesting, but certainly not infallible, sources. Even when I personally disagreed with a particular conclusion, I liked how nicely the author presented the available evidence.
Gudrid herself is a complicated semi-mythical figure, and I liked that the author embraced that fact. There is probably some truth and a lot of myth and lost information, all blended together to a point where we, the modern reader of the Sagas, cannot hope to know for sure what happened or why stories were changed. The author's willingness to accept that uncertainty and discuss options was refreshing. Too often I find these kind of historical narratives seem determined to "prove" a particular viewpoint of a figure, but I prefer this strategy of letting a reader decide what to believe.
Sent out as part of the wishlist tag game. Sorry it took so long to get to you! Last week didn't go as expected, and I wasn't able send it as intended.
Arrived safe and sound, thank you!!