The Last of the Vikings

Dangerous storms, treacherous waters and friends who sometimes turn out to be enemies. The life of the Norwegian fishermen was never easy. If you love 'The Vikings' series on Netflix, you will love this book!

Set against the harsh beauty of the Lofoten Islands, 'The Last of the Vikings' is a stirring depiction, both of man's perseverance and of the end of an era. Its action centres upon a single fishing season, when the Norwegian peasantry, descendants of the Vikings, make their annual voyage to the islands.

For the people at home, fishing was just as hard, but in a different way. The knowledge that your husband, son or father was away for months, risking his life, wore on those staying at home. The main character's wife is described as hating the sea - she never saw God in the sea. He just existed back at her childhood farm.

This is a tale of the poor and their ongoing struggle to live and provide for their families. Full of adventures and tales, though quite sad in places, this classic book makes for an interesting read and is one of those stories that should be read at least once in a lifetime! Johan Bojer (born Johan Kristoffer Hansen) was a popular Norwegian novelist and dramatist. He grew up as a foster child in a poor family living in Rissa near Trondheim, Norway. He learned of the realities of poverty early in life. Bojer principally wrote about the lives of poor farmers and fishermen, both in his native Norway and among the Norwegian immigrants in the United States. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times and is best remembered for his novel 'The Emigrants', a major novel dealing with the motivations and trials of Norwegians that emigrated to the plains of North Dakota.