The Thrall's Tale

by Judith Lindbergh

Book Overview

The Thrall's Tale is a masterpiece of historical fiction that follows Katla, a slave, her daughter Bibrau, and their mistress Thorbjorg, a prophetess of the Norse god Odin, as they navigate the stormy... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670034649
• ISBN13: 9780670034642
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.7" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Intense and Intriguing

When I read "The Thrall's Tale" I was transported to a time and place unknown to me. The travel back in time was electrifying. The language takes a few pages to become your own and the descriptions are detailed, but necessary to place you into this barren and difficult land. The historical notes were helpful to understand background. I recommend this tale to all those who love historical fiction with a story placed in a mystical setting. The battle between paganism and Christianity was thought provoking. My reaction to the characters - intense. I was either intrigued or disgusted by them. When I finished the book, I wanted to know what happened to the characters next. I loved this book.

Pulitzer Prize Caliber Prose

I first became aware of this book from a blurb in Writer's Digest Magazine. By coincidence I'm writing a novel about the Welsh discovery of North America, an event of dubious historical accuracy, but one that supposedly occurred during the same time period as The Thrall's Tale. I had to put this at the top of my reading list. The prose is exceptional and reads like poetry. The quality of the writing is so superior that I would have kept reading even if the story had been dull which it is not. The tale is told in the first person from three points of view. Katla is a brutally raped slave (or thrall) woman. Thorbjorg is an old seeress who buys and mends Katla. Bibrau is the mute, evil daughter of Katla and spawn of the rape. Katla also has a love interest in Ossur a poor freeman who labors for years hoping he can eventually free and marry her. Meanwhile, Bibrau grows up hating her mother (and just about every other living human) and plotting ways to hurt her. This all culminates in a suspenseful ending. The setting will be of interest to anyone fascinated with vikings and especially their settlements in Greenland. I disagree with one reviewer who believes that Ms. Lindbergh was unfair to the Norse culture and biased in favor of Christianity. This is completely untrue. That reviewer admitted to skipping through the book and probably missed the passage where Katla--though a devout Christian--was outraged when the priests destroyed Throrbjorg's altar. According to that reviewer, rape was supposedly unknown or rare in Nordic cultures and Torvard's rape of Katla unlikely. This is a ridiculous assertion because rape has been common throughout human history no matter the culture. The historical accuracy gave the story a realistic feel though I think I did find one anachronism. Somewhere in the novel I believe there is a vague disparagement of a fat woman's appearance. It is a modern standard of beauty to consider an obese woman unnattractive. The dialogue is entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the insults traded back and forth during Torvard's wedding feast. Tis good stuff. If I was on a the Pulitzer Prize committee, I would nominate The Thrall's Tale. Mark Gelbart, author of Talk Radio, the book feared by radio talk show hosts www.mark-gelbart.com

An unknown pagan world richly revealed by three women

Probably one of the most original novels about the pagan dark ages and the coming of Christ into that world is Judith Lindbergh's new book The Thrall's Tale. It is the story of the Vikings who struck out to populate Greenland from Iceland more than a thousand years ago and is narrated by three women - the thrall Katla, the Seeress Thorbjorg, and Katla's daughter Bibrau. Not only is Ms. Lindbergh a nationally recognized scholar of the period, but her words ring with the ancient music of the Norse; they form a mythic voice which carries the reader into the story of these women through their lives in the bleak and fearfully beautiful land, the terrible icebergs, and the fearsome sea which can swallow up life in the overturn of a primitive ship. Very few historical novels have the depth of a world as does this one. "Einar owns me." Thus the book begins in the words of the first narrator, the beautiful Katla, whose mother was abducted from Ireland by the Vikings. But even Katla's kind master cannot save her from his son who rapes and mutilates the girl. Now pregnant, Katla is sent to live in the household of Thorbjorg, servant of the ancient god Odin. The bastard child Bibrau born of her mother's bitterness is an evil force who cannot feel kindness or pity. But all is not dark. Love finds Katla: a tender man named Ossur who was drawn to her before her mutilation and loves her still. The Thrall's Tale is a complex, rich novel. It marks the debut of a true scholar and rich storyteller.

A good read

Lyrically written and showing great care with research and historical detail, The Thrall's Tale is an engaging and challenging read. Much of the language is unfamiliar to modern times, but it isn't hard to figure out the words' meanings when put into context with the writing on the pages. The language adds to the authenticity of the story immensely. Set in 895 A.D. in Greenland, each chapter in the 450-page novel is written from the viewpoints of each of three protagonists, Katla, Thorbjorg and Bibrau. Katla, a beautiful slave, or thrall, is raped. The tenderhearted seeress, Thorbjorg, cares for Katla during her pregnancy and also cares for and raises Katla's daughter, Bibrau. Bibrau is born mute, and is hated by her mother and soon becomes to be seen by others as either an evil curse or a changeling. She quickly learns to twist the Norse wisdom and mysticism Thorbjorg teaches her to cause tragedy for all around. The novel covers the introduction of Christianity to a pagan shores, which adds yet another layer of intrigue and drama to the story. The introduction of Christianity brings some hope of a better future for Katla, who has always worn, but hidden her mother's rosary. Katla's life has not all been painful and difficult, however, she has the love of Ossur, a man who treats her with gentleness, and now the promise of a God who forgives trespasses and tells of hope. This isn't a book you will sit down and finish in one reading. There is much to follow, the language is one most are not used to, and the detailed history, heritage and mythology of the Vikings can be a little difficult to follow, although these elements are what add depth and drama to the story. Author Judith Lindbergh worked on The Thrall's Tale for ten years and her previous work, including a project in connection with the Smithsonian's exhibition of Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, allowed her to add great detail and many facts to the novel. There are maps in the front of the book of the Austerbygd or East Settlement of Greenland, A.D. 1000. This brings the location of all that is happening to life. Historical Notes in the back of the book tell the meanings of the history, mythology and the-story-behind-the-story of The Thrall's Tale. The characters are strong, and real. Katla touched my heart, Birbau mystified me and several of the characters repulsed me (they were supposed to). The scenes are filled with sensorial details, making me very glad I live in this day and age, but these smells, textures, sights and sounds place the reader right in the scene with the characters. If you enjoy history, are of Scandinavian descent, you will have a special interest in this novel. Or, if you just want to read an enthralling book, The Thrall's Tale is definitely for you. Marilyn Dalrymple

"I warn- the future can't be bought or begged or stole!"

The Thrall's Tale is eerily atmospheric, submerged in the 9th century, where pagan gods have not yet clashed with Christian and a great outpouring of the Norse sail from Iceland to Greenland in hopes of a more fertile and sustaining environment. Tragedy both great and small is enacted against the canvas of history and the intimacy of a seer's hearth, as three women, Thorbjorg the Seeress, Katla the thrall and Katla's daughter, the voiceless Bibrau, engage in a battle for daily survival in a world of rapidly diminishing options. Theirs is a harsh existence; at the mercy of nature's bounty or lack of, the women worn by drudgery, Thorbjorg casts runes and offers homage to a ravenous Odin, the one-eyed pagan god. Katla is a slave, a thrall, her beauty of little use in this harsh landscape, save to spark a small passion for a freeman that can never be: "No woman who is a thrall should dare to dream." Even her limited future is brutally altered by a sudden violence that leaves her stunned and despairing. Given into Thorbjorg's care, Katla remains separate, still a slave, but afforded succor as she labors a child into life. She sees her daughter, Bibrau, as evil and hateful, a tool of the dark side sent to torment her broken spirit. Bibrau feels her mother's disdain, soothed by the care of their mistress, but in her rage, the child grows bold, barely tempered by Thorbjorg, who gradually intuits her mistake in teaching the girl too much too quickly: "Each day she slips further from me, bewitched with her own beguilings, led by a bare, misguiding hand." Yet Bibrau learns, a dark hatred growing in her heart and a burning need to know the secrets that feed her power and her mischief; Katla can find no place in her heart for Bibrau: "Oh, this daughter- born out of my body, yet not of me or any of my mother- this child is a blood-let beast, just as her sire!" The plague twins descend upon Thorbjorg's dwelling, a wide swath of death in their wake. Bibrau cares for the sick, delighting in the illness of two new Christian slaves, weaving her spells in the guise of solace, revenge sweet as is the silent torture of her mother, now deprived of her Christian friends. With naught but intuition, desperate for comfort, Katla clings to a few remembered phrases from her mother's holy lexicon: "Kyrie Eleison... Sancte Domine", a string of rosary beads clutched out of sight in her pocket. In Katla's entreaties of the white Christ, the seer senses the coming clash of religions. Beset by frightening visions, Thorbjorg offers gruesome sacrifices to Odin in hopes of deterring the future, "a newborn pig, a half-formed goat, a full-grown pregnant ewe". All are blighted by ignorance, superstition bred through fear. Meanwhile, Bibrau watches and learns, feeding on malevolence, drawing strength from vile incantations meant to cause mischief, or better, tragedy for Katla: "Love for her? Nay! What is love but simply useful?" Lindbergh has crafted a masterful novel, civilization c