Unabashedly Bookish

[#1]

OK, so as hero material, Vikings are a little rough around the edges, considering the way they jumped medieval all over anyone who got in their way. Ah, but there's the key: The Vikings rocked the Middle Ages -- as a rule, folks weren't all that nice to one another back then -- and the strapping Norse gods among fighting men who kicked Anglo-Saxon arse really never even considered taking names.  They were too busy chasing wenches - sometimes with raised weapons. But let's not put too fine a point on that, shall we? Because we're talking historical romance heroes, and digging 'em often requires a healthy suspension of disbelief. 

Yet, Vikings are much more heroic if we look at them from history's point of view, rather than the caricaturized one we've gotten from What's-in-Your-Wallet credit card ads.  Author Emily Bryan (who, as Diana Groe, writes gorgeous, highly sensual Viking romances such as "Maidensong  ," "Erinsong  " and "Silk Dreams  " ), says once we get to know them a little better, we'd love the Northmen a lot more.

"The Vikings have gotten a bad rap somewhere. They weren't blond knuckle-draggers," says Bryan. "They were adventurers who pushed the boundaries of the known world...gifted linguists who served Byzantine emperors as elite guard and even traveled overland to Baghdad. They sailed across the North Atlantic without a compass, for pity's sake! If that's not hero material, I'd like to know what is!"

It definitely is the stuff of dreams for many romance readers, and for a while, Viking romances rocked the genre. Readers adored the "manly" ways of the Viking hero; his overbearing bone-headedness gave him an even richer road to travel on the way to redemption, technically known in romance fiction as the "Get on your knees, you big jerk, and swear fealty to my superior feminine intellect and power" dénouement.  

OK, I just made that up. But it pretty much is at the heart of why contemporary readers might spin romance around personages from history who were pretty brutal, no matter how one looks at it. Yet Bryan says our vision of the Viking may be colored by history written not by the victors, but the conquered.

"In my research," Bryan states, "I found one English chronicler who decried the way ‘the Northmen seek to undermine the chastity of our English women through their foreign wiles.' The wily Northmen were wearing clean undergarments and combing their hair!"

And cleanliness goes a long way toward making an historical hero appealing, especially when some fans have trouble suspending disbelief when reading about less-hygienic time periods.  Bryan says their fastidiousness made Northmen desirable potential mates, and makes them attractive romance heroes.

"Northmen were taller, stronger, and they bathed at least once a week at a time when Christian Europe was bathing once a year whether they needed it or not. What's not to love?

Well, there's just about everything to love about romance Vikings when they're the guys who meet their soul mates across space and time in Sandra Hill's contemporary/historical time travels.  Hill offers gritty historical detail and "authentic" sensibilities in her Vikings, then pairs them with strong contemporary heroines who talk as much trash - and save the day just as often - as the pillaging hunks whose world the women turn upside down.  Check out Hill's hip, funny and sexy "Viking Heat  ," in which a Navy WEAL is tossed back to Viking days and hooks up with an honest-ta-Thor berserker. 

If you'd like to see more Viking romance, let your favorite authors and publishers know.  Knock down their doors if you have to; it's the Viking way.

How do you feel about Viking romances?  What are some of your faves?  What did you love/not love so much about the Viking romances of the past?  Would you like to see more Viking romances written?

Michelle Buonfiglio writes about romance fiction and pop culture daily at Romance: B(u)y the Book (RBTB).  Check out all of her UB columns here.

Message Edited by Michelle_Buonfiglio on 06-23-2009 02:23 PM

[#2]

I'm wracking my brains to see if I've read any Viking romance. I may have read one or two, but nothing lately. I'll have to check out the books you mentioned -- thanks for the recommendations!

[#3]

Ah, becke, once you go Viking...   I fear we'll have you turned on to yet another kind of historical.

[#4]

I've done some research and found a few more:

 The Viking's Heart by Jacqueline Navin

The Viking's Defiant Bride by Joanna Fulford

Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife by Michelle Styles

Taken by the Viking by Michelle Styles

Viking's Princess by Aja James

The Viking's Woman by Heather Graham

Viking Warrior by Connie Mason

Outcast by Kathryn Hockett

Immortal Warrior by Lisa Hendrix

Immortal Outlaw by Lisa Hendrix

Raeliksen by Renee Vincent 

Rats -- I haven't finished all the books I found during my dragon phase! 

[#5]

I love Diana's books.

They are always great reads.

CC

[#6]

Ah, I have read a few Viking romance novels but the names escape me. But my favorite historical romance is in the middle ages, no regency england, no Queen Victoria I like em raw, you know like those brawny Highlanders who are kilted unless they're painting their bare arses blue, same for Vikings and you're right Michelle what's not to love, no lice in their long tresses and any way cleanliness is next to Godliness so I've heard. So bring on the Eiriks the Biorns, the Ivars and the Leifs. Bring those sons of Odin my way.

[#7]

I am ALL ready for the Viking hero!  I think of Rutger Hauer in his Bladerunner days, of Dolph Lundgren (who was the quintessential He-Man).  When I teach exercise classes, we use my imaginary friends Sven and Bjorn to help us stretch.  I. Am. Sold.

And the bathing thing? Makes the difference for me! It makes my skin itch when the hero and heroine get groovy in exotic locales, far from an oasis or hot spring.  I like my loving really, really dirty--and really, really clean.

[#8]

I haven't read a Viking book in a while. I remember several that I read by Johanna Lindsey in the late '90s. I have Viking Warrior by Connie Mason in my TBR pile. I have had it sitting on the shelf for several months now.

I would love to see more Viking novels. I always liked the Viking men!! I am definitely going to have to check out Diana Groe/Emily Bryans Viking books!!

[#9]

The only Viking romance I remember reading is Diana Groe's Erinsong, and it's excellent.  I too would love more Viking novels. On my shelf,  I have a book of Norse sagas - wonderfully vivid stories which would make a great basis for some very exciting romances.

[#10]

I love Diana's Viking books! Since I've been in middle school, I've enjoyed reading about the Viking gods and goddesses. My mom was a history major while I was in school and one of her studied periods was the Byzantine era. Diana's heroes are romantic and fun to read about - and the heroines are great matches for them. if you haven't read her books, check them out. And I'm going to keep the list of the others mentioned to read any that I haven't read before.

[#11]

Wow. Look what I've been missing...even though there's definately something to be said about a blue arse, eh dhaupt, the Vikings seem so brawnily civilized. And they're my peeps (I've got all kinds of different peeps) really, Norwegian here, and my Dad told me we had Viking blood in us, I can feel it coursing through me.  I always thought it was why I liked to travel, or maybe that's the gypsy (Rom) blood in me...anyway, I'm finding a Viking romance.

[#12]

I always like to think of Vikings as medieval badboys who just needed the love of a good woman. The power of love to reform is a favorite theme in romance and it seems to have worked with the vikings. After all, they are the same guys who eventually gave us the Nobel Peace Prize!

[#13]

I always like to think of the Vikings as medieval badboys in need of the love of a good woman. The power of love to reform is a strong theme in romance and it seems to have worked for those Badboys of the North. After all, aren't these the same guys who gave us the Nobel Peace Prize? 

www.emilybryan.com

www.dianagroe.com

[#14]

I love Emily Bryan's romances...I will definitely have to read her Viking books as well!

[#15]

Duh! When I commented yesterday, I forgot to mention a Viking book by a friend of mine that will come out early next year. It's Dinah of Seneca by Corrina Lawson, and she has a totally fascinating take on the Viking thingy. It's an alternate history romance where the Roman Empire survives until the 9th Century and colonizes North America. (I love alternate history -- there are so many cool "what ifs.") Dinah is a former slave trained in espionage, caught in a war between the Romans and an alliance of Native Americans and immigrant Vikings. She has to reconcile her allegiance to Rome with a chance to create her own destiny with the Viking chief, Gerhard. Different, huh? And very cool. (And hot.)

[#16]

Yum, Vikings!! I so love them! Its like, a variety of these historical settings and heroes makes for a bunch of favorites!  I love how strong and manly and tough they are! Here's a few of my favorites!

All books by Helen Kirkman

Josie Litton's DREAM Trilogy

ON A HIGHLAND SHORE by Kathleen Givens

THE ROSE AND THE SHIELD, THE LILY AND THE SWORD etc by Sara Bennett

Heather Graham/Shanon Drake has many!

Catherine Coulter has many!

ENCHANTMENT by Betina Krahn

Margaret Moore has a big series of Viking from Harlequn Historicals

[#17]

By the way I have Diane Groe's and didn't know they were Vikings! I shall pull them out.

And I too didn't mention some up there that were already up that I love reading (like Sandra Hills!)

[#18]

lol, dhaupt; rough n raw is the way to go w/historical heroes, and that's why Vikings and medieval heroes of any kind rock for me, too.  I believe I'll never think of William Wallace the same again aftr reading  your comment...

There is a mystique, i'n't there, keri, to the Nordic male?  That cool perfection and culture that purportedly embraces sexual expression.  I had to laugh in Sandra Hill'snew novel, cause her Viking's know where the 'S' spot is, and apparently it's superior in all ways to the 'G'.  Whether it's "s' for Sven, I'll leave to your assessment.

ooo, hetherd, I've got that Connie Mason here, too!  I wonder if more women would dig Vikings as heroes if they didn't have the stereotype going... I've gotta checkout the Johanna Lindsey's, cause I really like her books.

[#19]

barbara, your book of sagas sounds wonderful.  Those are what I think of when I think Viking.  Well, that and the strapping blondes.  But the heroic romantic tales, like you said, would make for great romance fiction. sigh.  And your friends alt-historical sounds pretty intriguing!

hi, tessa! Thanks for sharing that great connection w/your mom.  doesn't that seem incongruous, the idea of Vikings and Byzantium?  To me anywayz.   I feel the same about Diana Groe novels and would love for folks to see how special they are.

amy, I think 'brawnily civilized' is a terrific way of describing the Vikings.

[#20]

I agree, Kathryne, and I really dig her latest, "Vexing the Viscount!"  The heroine's so smaht, and the hero, too, but he has such a hard time figuring out what to do with her.  I love when a self-posessed guy's knocked off kilter that way.

Thank you, caffey, for that wonderful, comprehensive list!  I didn't realize Betina Krahn had written a Viking, but it makes sense, since she's written so many medievals.  Can't wait to look for so many on your list.

[#21]

I've never read any Viking books but will definitely start. Historicals take you away from the everyday drama here in real life.

And the guys sound wonderfully hunky.

Dianne