Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow

Rolf, son of Hiarandi the Unlucky, is a character who exemplifies the effect of Christ's teachings upon the Icelandic people during their heroic age. The book is set in Iceland in the days when Christianity has come to the island though the old customs still linger. Hiarandi, at the urging of his wife, does an unprecedented thing: he lights a signal fire on a dangerous point of his land, thereby challenging the accepted custom which places lucrative salvage at higher value than the saving of life. However, the life that is saved that night causes his own death and the unjust outlawing of his son Rolf. Rolf's response to this injustice creates a suspenseful, thought-provoking tale difficult to put down.

Iceland, 1,000 A.D.
RL4.7
Of read-aloud interest ages 9-up

Allen French was born on November 28, 1870, in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1894 and for several years, beginning in 1908, taught English at his alma mater. His first interest, however, was history, and his contributions to historical writing are many and varied. Of special interest to readers of his Story of Grettir the Strong are his books Rolf and the Viking Bow, and Heroes of Iceland, an adaptation of Njal's Saga. Also of particular interest to young readers are his Sir Marrok: A Tale of the Days of King Arthur, The Red Keep: A Story of Burgundy in the Year 1165, and The Lost Baron: A Story of England in the Year 1200. The latter two books are illustrated by N. C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth.