History Literature / TheLongShips

* TheSouthpaw: Orm is of the situational variety. After being a galley slave for years, and always rowing a port-side oar, he was "put right-handed to the oar and taken away left-handed". It is noted that he prefers to throw javelins with his right hand throughout his life, but uses his left for anything else. It is also remarked that this makes fighting more difficult both for him and whoever he's facing, since neither man can position his shield quite properly.

** Toke inverts the trope, refusing to convert because of love. His "wife" is Muslim and spent many years as a prisoner/slave among Christians. She hates Christianity with a passion. Toke outright says that as much as he likes Orm and Father Willibald, he is not prepared to go against his wife in this.

Was adapted into a series of four ComicBook-albums, between 1999-2004, by Charlie Christensen of ComicBook/ArneAnka fame. A [[Film/TheLongShips movie adaptation]] was made in 1963, [[AdaptationDecay which more or less had nothing to do with the source material except the name.]] It has also been performed as a RadioDrama in the 90's.

Was adapted into a series of four ComicBook-albums, between 1999-2004, by Charlie Christensen of ComicBook/ArneAnka fame. A movie adaptation was made by Hollywood in 1963, [[AdaptationDecay which more or less had nothing to do with the source material except the name.]] It has also been performed as a RadioDrama in the 90's.

* ValuesDissonance: Olof Summerbird's Norse values clashed hard with the DecadentCourt of Byzantium. Above all, he considers the Byzantine belief that it is less evil to mutilate than kill proof that all Christians are irredeemably evil and should be killed on sight (though he considers both Orm and Father Willibald honourable and "as good men as if they had never been in contact with Christianity").

* TakeThat: Bengtsson detested the Nazis, which is probably the reason he included the sympathetic Jewish silversmith Salaman in the story.

* LongLostRelative: Are to Orm, and Orm to Åsa.

Was adapted into a series of four ComicBook-albums, between 1999-2004, by Charlie Christensen of ComicBook/ArneAnka fame. A movie adaptation was made by Hollywood in 1963, [[AdaptationDecay which more or less had nothing to do with the source material except the name.]] A new movie as well a a TV-series have been in the planning stages since the 80's and in DevelopmentHell since 2011.

* BadAss: Everyone. No exception. Special mention goes to Olof Summerbird, who caught a javelin in flight and killed its owner with it.
** Orm is regarded as one at a higher and higher degree throughout the book soon after Krok and his men are captured. Peaks when he [[spoiler: kills two berserks with a broom handle]].

* CatchAndReturn: One of the more plausible examples. Olof Summerbird manages to catch a thrown spear and throw it back. This freaks out both his friends and enemies. When queried, he claims it's just something he learned and can't unlearn. He also says he doesn't tell people about it after one of his cousins was severely wounded trying to repeat the trick. This is another ShoutOut to the Norse sagas, where really {{Badass}} characters sometimes do this.

* SituationalSouthpaw: Orm. After being a galley slave for years, and always rowing a port-side oar, he was "put right-handed to the oar and taken away left-handed". It is noted that he prefers to throw javelins with his right hand, but uses his left for anything else. It is also remarked that this makes fighting more difficult both for him and whoever he's facing, since neither man can position his shield quite properly.

* TheSouthpaw: Orm. It is remarked that this makes fighting more difficult both for him and whoever he's facing, since neither man can position his shield quite properly.

* RedHeadedHero: Orm.

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* GalleySlave: A couple of years of this is the reason why Orm is left-handed.

* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Or rather Swedish. Averted, since while Bengtsson wrote in the style of the sagas, he consciously used the formal academic grammar and spelling of the early 20th century that he had assimilated and become a master of. Ironically, the impact of the book was so big that most Swedish authors that set out to write historical fiction emulates him. Even if they know that it's anachronistic, and especially if they try to avoid it.

* ArmorIsUseless: Lampshaded and subverted. During the duel with Sigtrygg, Orm is injured and credits his Spanish mail shirt with his survival. Chapter two also gives us this:

** Played straight in the comics. Only one single man, is ever seen wearing a shirt of mail.
* BadAss: Everyone. No exception. Special mention to Olof Summerbird who caught a javelin in flight and killed its owner with it.

* TheCasanova: Subverted by Rainald. He tries to live in celibacy, but he can't keep hands hands off women, and vice versa...

* CoolShip: Averted. The ships are barely mentioned, in spite of the title (which is the English translation only; the original Swedish is simply ''Röde Orm'')
* DecapitatedArmy: Styrbjörn's death at Uppsala. Justified since the whole point of the campaign was to make Styrbjörn king, and with him dead there wasn't much point in continuing.

* GirlInABox: Toke smuggles a girl on a longship in a large chest.

* ProudMerchantRace: The Gotlanders are (or at least present themselves as) honest merchants who won their fortune without resorting to the piracy and grand scale blackmail of their fellow Norsemen.
* PropheticNames: Inverted, characters are given names due to events or characteristics. Examples are Red Orm (Red hair and fiery temper) Olof Summerbird (colourful clothing), Kolbjörn Burnt-in-his-house (should be self-explanatory), Grinulf (GlasgowGrin), Harald Bluetooth (oversized blue eyeteeth) ...

* {{Seer}}: Åsa and Sone the Sharp-sighted, neither of whom conform to any of the usual Seer-tropes.

* TakeThat: Bengtsson detested the Nazis, which is probably the reason he included the sympatetic Jewish silversmith Salaman in the story.

** Played straight in the comics. Only one man is ever seen wearing a shirt of mail.