Thorstein of the Mere: A Saga of the Northmen in Lakeland (Classic Reprint)

Collingwood’s tale of Northmen in Lakeland is an epic, sweeping saga and a window on Viking history and culture in the tenth century. Collingwood was an artist, but also a keen historian and archeologist, and one of the foremost authorities on the Vikings, not only in Lakeland and the North of Britain, but also Iceland, where he travelled to explore ancient sites.His book also reveals a keen interest in language and particularly place names, how they may have originated and what the original meaning of the name was.The main character is Thorstein, a young and intrepid Viking, keen to explore and see the world. As a young lad he sets off up the River Crake, eventually coming to Coniston and seeing Peel Island. The sight captivates him, and years later he returns a fugitive, living an idyllic life there, boating, fishing and hunting with his young family.This is where the young Arthur Ransome met and befriended Collingwood, who shared Ransome’s love of the outdoor life and they spent much time together, and particularly with Collingwood’s daughters, both to whom he proposed. The Collingwood girls ended up marrying other men, and there children became the inspiration for Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons books.Collingwood’s writing is reminiscent of Tolkien’s, in his love of language, which adds a depth to his work. He also writes very poetically, with an archaic prose, similar to his contemporary William Morris and his works of fantasy (The Wood beyond the World for example). Morris’s works were the first fantasy books, fusing the supernatural with myth and folklore. Collingwood never brought the supernatural into play, only a few dreams and prophesies.Some of the book is set around Thurlmere, and an ancient fortress there. This was maybe Collingwoods way of remembering the lakes that were there before the valley was flooded in the 1870s to make today’s Thurlmere: a water supply for Manchester. Colllingwood would have remembered the valley before the flooding and probably, like many locals, opposed it.Collingwood also portrayed the struggle between Christianity and paganism very well, never becoming sentimental (like Ballantyne’s The Coral Island, where at times he writes with missionary zeal). Collingwood’s portrayal with strictly historical, and little personal conviction seems to be in play – rather he wanted to show the religious struggle as a background to the story.Collingwood was a painter, friends with Ruskin, and produced many watercolours of the lake district. He loved the Crake Valley and Coniston Water, and his imagination must have been fired by the shapes of the mountains, the remoteness and beauty of the landscape, and with his enormous historical knowledge, he forged a myth for the land. Maybe this is why the Lake District is such a beloved landscape, because writers have filled it with stories and myths, whether Collingwoods, set a thousand years ago, or Arthur Ransome’s, from the twentieth century.

superb, i love it

Fascinating. Every lover of 'Swallows and Amazons' should read it.

Well printed except for some pages where he scanning was done on pages that didn't lay flat, so the text not readable. Maps appalling almost black and unreadable. Well bound.Apart from that a great story, beautifully written.