Reviews

Reviewed by Michele E. Davis

Hunsinger creates a scintillating, adventurous tale that happened over one thousand years ago when the Vikings (or Norsemen) settled Greenland during a warm front, and then settled parts of Canada and the upper Midwest of the United States. They were here before Columbus set sail from Spain. They interacted with numerous indigenous Indian tribes and were also a very violent bunch of men. The Dark Ages was a period were there was a lot of constant fighting and warfare, and no one could live peacefully. The Norsk brought that attitude with them to North America.

This book, Axe of Iron centers on the Norse leader Halfdan Ingolfsson and the more than 300 settlers who made the journey from Greenland to, what is believed to be North America, during a 400-year period. Pedantic details of their lives are left out and we get an interesting historical perspective of what might have happened. Everything is fictionalized conjecture since the Norse had no documents, ruins or artifacts that are deemed certifiably authentic. Author Hunsinger creates an amazing world of new colonization in North America and dealing with its indigenous people.

Ingolfsson is a born leader and he knows that getting along with the Indians is imperative. Killing halts, trading continues and inter-breeding occurs because of the lack of women.

Gossip, about sex and other issues, is a constant rhythmic diversion of conversation in the book, and gossip, "...regardless of the topic, served to relive the tedium of daily work."

An interesting take on an earlier colonization of North America in approximately the year 997.

Armchair Interviews says: A must read for historical aficionados.

Reviewer: Lucille P. Robinson

Halfdan Ingolfsson and the shipmates accompanying him left Greenland with their minds filled with the stories told by other Northmen Northmen who had been successful in helping to build two settlements on the eastern coast of North America long before Columbus was born. Halfdan understood the hardships of carving a living space out of virgin territory. He knew about the fights with the area's inhabitants known as Skraelings (thought to have been Indians). As a result, Halfdan wants to go to a different place, hoping to make contact with different Skraelings and try to live peaceably amongst them.

With five ships in the fleet, all loaded with women, children, the crews, tools, and domestic animals the people will need, Halfdan sets sail to the west of Greenland. Five days after setting sail, they arrive at a beach where they spend several days building up their stores of food. Here they meet and trade with the Indians called Tornit.

As the flotilla sets sail once again, they head west and then south, following the coastline and traveling several days before visiting another beach where they meet the Thalmiut. The next morning Halfdan takes a few women and part of the fighting men to visit the Thalmiut village where they trade items and learn many new things. While Halfdan is gone, the settlers face the first real battle in the new land. Other Indians from another tribe start the battle, but they are no match for the Northmen. After Halfdan's return from his trading adventure, and the taking of a prisoner, they set sail south still following the coastline. With the help of the captured Indian, the Northmen find a wonderful spot just off a fjord, with high ground, plenty of trees and food for hunting. Here they decide to make their village. "Here" is present day Hudson Bay, at the southern beach.

The story ends with a premonition of a future battle with the Naskapi Indians. Look for its sequel Axe of Iron: Confrontation. The student of history and the reader who loves historical romances and accounts of explorations of new lands will love this book. Good descriptions, although a little slow reading at first, gives the reader a fair idea of the Northmen's way of life, their tools, their dreams and their labors. The thrill of facing the unknown and the courage of these pioneer men and women make this book a good read. I recommend this book to them and to those who have been attracted to the stories of the Vikings of old.