Overview

""Einar owns me."" So begins Judith Lindbergh's mesmerizing chronicle of three women navigating the treacherous waters of love, vengeance, faith, and deception in the first Viking Age settlements of tenth century Greenland. Taking its inspiration from Old Norse sagas, The Thrall's Tale tells the story of Katla--a ""thrall"" or slave and the daughter of an Irish Christian captured in a Viking raid--as she sets sail with her master, Einar, and his household from Iceland in A.D. 985. Heading across the stormy North Atlantic toward an unknown future in Greenland, Katla attracts the attention of two very different men, one who will scar her life forever and one who will redeem it. In Greenland, Katla is brutally raped by her master's son, then shunted off to the household of Thorbjorg, a much-maligned seeress and healer. In this unforgiving hinterland with the enigmatic prophetess and her outcast thralls, Katla gives birth to Bibrau. Even as an infant, the child is infused with the savagery of her conception. She is taciturn, reclusive, and suspected by many to be a changeling. But Thorbjorg, following a vision from her patron god, Odin, takes Bibrau as her apprentice and tutors her in the ancient pagan ways of healing and prophecy. When Christians arrive in Greenland, tensions flare as the community is torn between faiths, old and new. Katla embraces Christianity, the beloved secret teaching of her long-dead mother, while Thorbjorg senses her world slipping away. Meanwhile, Bibrau, twisted by bitterness and perversion, uses her growing power for good or evil at her whim, inflicting her will on her mother, Thorbjorg's household, and the vulnerable Greenland community. The Thrall's Tale is a masterpiece of historical fiction, re-released for the first time since its publication in 2006. Deeply researched, vividly imagined, and exquisitely written, this extraordinary tale is a chronicle of love, savagery, and revenge at a turning point in history when Christianity first penetrates the pagan Viking sphere.

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9780988533318

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Reviews

""Every once in a while, a writer creates a novel that opens our eyes to a lost world. Arthur Golden achieved this with Memoirs of a Geisha, and now Judith Lindbergh has performed a similar feat in her recreation of the risky, arduous Viking settlement in Greenland. Gripping and wholly original, in The Thrall's Tale Lindbergh places her prodigious research in the service of a story that transports through time and place, but always remains anchored in the unchanging territory of the human heart."" -Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Horse and March ""The Thrall's Tale is an epic of the first degree. Historical fiction at its best not only evokes and enlightens a time long-lost but engages the reader via a flesh-and-blood story. Lindbergh has done that and more. With a mother vs. daughter theme, murder, revenge, a heartbreaking love affair, and a heroine reminiscent of Celie from The Color Purple but singularly her author's own creation, The Thrall's Tale defines the genre.""-The Philadelphia Inquirer ""The Thrall's Tale is not only a wonderfully rich historical novel, it resonates strongly in our current age with its exploration of religion-driven cultures in collision. The voices of the story are pitch-perfectly convincing, and tenth-century Greenland is evoked with absorbing vividness. Judith Lindbergh is a greatly gifted novelist and she has created an enchanted and provocative reading experience.""-Robert Olen Butler, winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction""Lindbergh has done something bold. She has co-opted the archetypal 'male' tale-the story of a warrior-and made it feminine . . . A portrait of the whole human race in adolescence. On these desolate plains, surrounded by cruelty, humans somehow learned to embrace forgiveness.""-San Francisco Chronicle ""Lindbergh is a master storyteller, deftly weaving meticulously researched detail with unforgettable characters. This novel satisfies on every level-an escape to a faraway time when the Vikings settled in Greenland and the gods still walked the earth-and a gripping tale of magic, lust, deception, retribution, and love. . . . The plot unfolds with the suspense of a thriller, and you'll stay up all night to follow the many transformations of Katla's life. With The Thrall's Tale, Judith Lindbergh emerges as one of the finest historical novelists in recent years.""-Jonis Agee, author of The Weight of Dreams ""[An] epic debut . . . Well-researched and emotional evocations of characters in a time of religious and social upheaval are dramatic and entertaining.""-Publishers Weekly ""A deeply imaginative and moving tale of a young slave who fights for her life and freedom while voyaging to, and settling on, the south-western shores of Greenland.""-Gretel Ehrlich, author of This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland ""Thoroughly researched and beautifully executed. Highly recommended.""-Library Journal

Author Information

Judith Lindbergh's award-winning novel, Akmaral, about a nomad woman warrior on the ancient Central Asian steppes, was called ""crackling"" by Publishers Weekly and ""a gripping saga"" by #1 bestselling author Christina Baker Kline. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including in Newsweek, Zibby Magazine, Next Avenue, Writer's Digest, Edible Jersey, Literary Mama, Archaeology Magazine, Other Voices, and UP HERE: The North at the Center of the World published by University of Washington Press. She has spoken at and published with the Smithsonian Institution and provided expert commentary for The History Channel's documentaries. Judith received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is the Founder/Director of The Writers Circle, a creative writing center based in New Jersey.

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