title: West Oversea: A Norse Saga of Mystery, Adventure and Faith
author:  Lars Walker 
description: Lars Walker knows not only his Norse history, but Viking society, manners and technology as well, making the book a painless education in the ancient worlds ways of living and thinking.<br><br>Viking means literally pirate hiding up a creek, and we are so used to thinking of the Vikings as one-dimensional rape-and-pillage merchants we often forget their other aspects, as great traders and explorers, with certain highly-developed arts[All] that they scorned, as a term of insult, a straw deaththat is, dying on bed rather than in battle. A Viking under a great debt to another man tells him: You may ask anything of me. Anything at all, save my honour. That last qualification is of supreme importance.<br><br>It would be their descendants, the steel-clad ranks of Norman (Northman) and medieval chivalry who, in the following centuries, saved Europe by providing the backbone of the ranks of the Crusaders. Indeed, we may see here the crusaders valour and chivalry in embryo.<br><br>Lars Walker shows brilliance in taking us into the skulls and skins of those incredibly daring, but often cruel and treacherous, men and women of the ancient world, battling not only the elements and hostile natives, but all the manifold bogies of paganism with nothing but sinews, courage by the ship-load, a little dawning technological knowledge, and a partly understood Christianity, to which they clingor some of them dowith a childlike, touching faith, in a world where supernatural terrors are embodied all about them. As one would expect with seafarers of such a time and place, there are touches of theological discussion, but these never become heavy or boring.<br> <strong>Hal Colebatch</strong>, Perth Australia winner of the West Australian Premiera Literary Prize<br /><br /><em>West Oversea</em> is a gripping Viking saga. Lars Walker understands the unique Norse mindset at the time of the Vikings conversion to Christianity, and he tells a tale of seafaring adventure and exploration of new worlds that will keep you on the edge of your chair  and make you think.<br> <strong>Dr. John Eidsmoe</strong>, Colonel, Alabama State Defense Force
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  # The Norsemen in the West
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### R.M. Ballantyne
  
  
  This page formatted 2007 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com
  
  * [CHAPTER ONE. THE NORSEMEN IN THE WEST; OR AMERICA
  
  
  BEFORE COLUMBUS.
  
  
  * [CHAPTER TWO. STRONG EMOTIONS ARE SUCCEEDED BY
  
  
  SUPPER, AND FOLLOWED BY DISCUSSIONS ON DISCOVERY, WHICH END IN A WILD
  
  
  ALARM!
  
  
  * [CHAPTER THREE. DARK WAR-CLOUDS LOWER, BUT CLEAR
  
  
  AWAY WITHOUT A SHOWER—VOICES AND LEGS DO GOOD SERVICE.
  
  
  * [CHAPTER FOUR. IMPORTANT EVENTS TRANSPIRE, WHICH END
  
  
  IN A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY.
  
  
  * [CHAPTER FIVE. FREYDISSA SHOWS HER TEMPER AND A
  
  
  WHALE CHECKS IT—POETICAL AND OTHER TOUCHES.
  
  
  * [CHAPTER SIX. CHANGES IN WIND AND WEATHER PRODUCE
  
  
  CHANGES IN TEMPER AND FEELING—LAND DISCOVERED, AND FREYDISSA BECOMES
  
  
  INQUISITIVE.
  
  
  * [CHAPTER SEVEN. SONGS AND SAGAS—VINLAND AT LAST!](norw_split_8.html#1_0_8)
  
  
  
  
  
  * [CHAPTER EIGHT. A CHAPTER OF INCIDENTS AND
  
  
  EXPLORATION, IN WHICH A BEAR AND A WHALE PLAY PR