The Ice-Shirt: Volume One of Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes

The time is the tenth century A.D. The newcomers are a proud and bloody-minded people whose kings once changed themselves into wolves. The Norse have advanced as implacably as a glacier from Iceland to the wastes of Greenland ?and from there to the place they call ?Vinland the Good.? The natives are a bronze-skinned race who have not yet discovered iron and still see themselves as part of nature. As William T. Vollmann tells the converging stories of these two peoples?and of the Norsewomen Freydis and Gudrid, whose venomous rivalry brings frost into paradise?he creates a tour-de-force of ?speculative history,? a vivid amalgam of Icelandic saga, Inuit creation myth, and contemporary travel writing that yields a new an utterly original vision of our continent and its past. The time is the tenth century A.D. The newcomers are a proud and bloody-minded people whose kings once changed themselves into wolves. The Norse have advanced as implacably as a glacier from Iceland to the wastes of Greenland and from there to the place they call Vinland the Good. The natives are a bronze-skinned race who have not yet discovered iron and still see themselves as part of nature. As William T. Vollmann tells the converging stories of these two peoples and of the Norsewomen Freydis and Gudrid, whose venomous rivalry brings frost into paradise he creates a tour-de-force of speculative history, a vivid amalgam of Icelandic saga, Inuit creation myth, and contemporary travel writing that yields a new an utterly original vision of our continent and its past. --back cover The time is the tenth century A.D. The newcomers are a proud and bloody-minded people whose kings once changed themselves into wolves. The Norse have advanced as implacably as a glacier from Iceland to the wastes of Greenland 'and from there to the place they call 'Vinland the Good.? The natives are a bronze-skinned race who have not yet discovered iron and still see themselves as part of nature. As William T. Vollmann tells the converging stories of these two peoples-and of the Norsewomen Freydis and Gudrid, whose venomous rivalry brings frost into paradise-he creates a tour-de-force of 'speculative history, ' a vivid amalgam of Icelandic saga, Inuit creation myth, and contemporary travel writing that yields a new and utterly original vision of our continent and its past The Time Is The Tenth Century A.d. The Newcomers Are A Proud And Bloody-minded People Whose Kings Once Changed Themselves Into Wolves. The Norse Have Advanced As Implacably As A Glacier From Iceland To The Wastes Of Greenland And From There To The Place They Call Vinland The Good. The Natives Are A Bronze-skinned Race Who Have Not Yet Discovered Iron And Still See Themselves As Part Of Nature--publisher Description. By William T. Vollmann. The story of the demon Blue-Shirt (known in His native land as AMORTORTAK) is hinted at in a variety of codices, being revealed nowhere and everywhere, like cabalistic doctrine.