The Greenlanders (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Jane Smiley
- First Published: 1988
- Type of Work: Historical novel
- Time of Work: The fourteenth century
- Setting: Greenland
- Principal Characters: Asgeir Gunnarsson, Helga Ingvadottir, Margret Asgeirsdottir, Gunnar Asgeirsson, Birgitta Lavransdottir, Gunnhild Gunnarsdottir, Helga Gunnarsdottir, Astrid Gunnarsdottir, Maria Gunnarsdottir, Johanna Gunnarsdottir, Kollgrim Gunnarsson
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
- Subjects: Culture, History, Family or family life, Natural disasters, Environment or environmental health, Fourteenth century, Greenland or Greenlanders
- Locales: Greenland
In The Greenlanders, Jane Smiley has written a fascinating historical novel set in fourteenth century Greenland, a richly detailed account of the mysterious decline and fall of an isolated Scandinavian culture. Smiley centers her story on the experiences of a single family, tracing their fortunes over three generations. The implicit questions raised by the fate of the Greenlanders seem pertinent to our own age. How does a culture become extinct? What happens when a society becomes too inflexible to adapt to changing conditions?
After Eric the Red discovered Greenland in...
[The entire page is 1876 words long]
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