Viking Tales: Olaf’s Farm

Viking Tales: Olaf’s Farm

Brisbane, Denmark, dragon ship, fiction, Jennie Hall, illustration, literature, Norway, Odin, QLD, Queensland, The Queenslander, ship, Thor, Valhalla, Viking, vikings

An illustrated story on page 48? Of the Brisbane newspaper, The Queenslander, published on 23 November, 1907. The story by Jennie Hall is about a young Viking from Denmark named Olaf who, as the youngest son, has to ‘go a-Viking’ (raiding) in order to accumulate wealth. He builds a ship with a dragon prow and leads a crew to Norway where they successfully raid along the coast. After forcing themselves upon a local farming household the Danes end up having a pleasant evening with the farmer and his family and reward them richly with gifts the following morning. The crew are then defeated in a naval battle by the fleet of king Halfdan and all die except Olaf who becomes a ‘thrall’ (servant) of Halfdan. The characters also invoke aspects Norse mythology, including Valhalla and the gods Odin and Thor. The story was taken from ‘Prairie Farmer’ and includes an illustration of the armed Vikings bursting into the farmhouse.

Hall, Jennie

National Library of Australia

The Queenslander

November 23 1907

No Copyright

Newspaper Article

English

Newspaper Article; PDF