Vinland

• George Mackay Brown

Saga of the North Atlantic in the Viking age, when the ancient religion was beginning to be touched by Christianity and fate was first infused with grace Ronald Sigmundson was among those who discovered America, 500 years before Columbus. He stowed away as a boy on Leif Ericsson's ship, and never forgot the waters and forests of Vinland. After that he prospered in Iceland, Greenland, the royal court of Norway, and his native Orkney. A successful farmer with political influence, he fought at Clontarf, but never forgot the sea, and began to design a ship for a greater journey even than that to Vinland.