Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
The Long Ships
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
The Long Ships
Buy Now for £23.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Summary
Bengtsson's hero, Red Orm-canny - courageous and above all lucky - is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and made to take his place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured by the Moors in Spain, where he is initiated into the pleasures of the senses and fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland, where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies. Eventually, Orm contributes to the Viking defeat of the army of the king of England and returns home an off-the-cuff Christian and a very rich man, though back on his native turf new trials and tribulations will test his cunning and determination.
Packed with pitched battles and blood feuds, and told throughout with wit and high spirits, Bengtsson's book is a splendid adventure that features one of the most unexpectedly winning heroes in modern fiction.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Long Ships
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jonathan
- 19-07-19
Lucky Orm
Found the book a bit slow and boring to start but the enjoyment started, really enjoyed it because it was a little different to all he other Viking books I've listened to
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Louise Brewer
- 10-01-24
An epic adventure.
Written in the 1940s and translated from Swedish, the book reads as an epic adventure, but has the pace and plot of a modern best-seller.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Manchester Mama
- 19-11-19
The only book I have listened to more than once
Love the story. Love the humour. Narrator is superb. This should be a classic and read by as many people as possible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 08-11-20
Incredible translation
I am a native Swedish speaker and had read the original "Röde Orm" many years ago. I purchased this for my children to listen to because their swedish isn't that impressive but my own hopes were not that high. I was however very pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the story immensely. The translation is spot on and catches the tone of the story exactly. Kudos also to the narrator Micheal Page for bringing the story to life. It is a long story but it never felt slow and when it finally ended I almost wanted to start over again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- edward sidsaph
- 08-04-18
Amazing.A joy and a pleasure to listen to.
This book in my honest opinion is the father of all other Viking books whether it be The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell or Odinn's Child series by Tim Severin.This has everything Vikings,Gods,Saxons, and Muslims layered together to bring the 10/11th centuries back to life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- hair
- 10-02-18
This is fun
The cheerful bloodthirstiness is very beguiling and the the characters are unexpected for a heroic epic, the main character being a hypochondriac Viking. I gave up listening to the book called "The Vikings" which I'd got hoping to learn a bit of Norse history and so I was especially happy to get a feel of the Viking world from "The Long Boats", which was never dull .
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- dereck
- 08-08-21
There needs to be more stars for this book
Simply the best Viking sagas I have heard a must for anyone who’s interest has been spiked by the many great stories told about this era.
I cannot praise this story high enough because unlike this author I have not got the words.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-06-22
Red Orm
great story and I enjoyed as much the third time as the first. Well worth the read and the price.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rannulf
- 24-10-23
First class story
Just an amazing story set around the year 1000. Yes it's about Vikings.
But great characters well described with a number of adventures.
And some brilliant funny and memorable descriptions of events.
A lot happens over decades. 20 hours, I wish it was longer.
One of the very best stories I have come across.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nile_Etland
- 19-03-18
Marvellous story, pronunciations a bit strange
I found the way that some of the words were pronounced was quite distracting - for example in UK English plait is generally pronounced 'platt', and the reader pronounced portage in the French manner, with a soft 'g'. Confusing!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful