Point of View

The Long Ships is told through a third person omniscient narrator. Despite most of the novel being written in narration, the narrator tends to describe the characters’ actions in a simple and straightforward manner, without much emphasis on the characters’ thoughts or emotions. Through employing a detached tone and letting the characters’ actions speak for themselves, the narrator permits the reader to make their own judgements regarding characters’ motivations. This narration style remains consistent throughout the novel. The only exception to this occurs when one of the characters is telling a story. For instance, the third chapter in Part Three is told entirely from Are’s point of view. The opening lines read, “I am the poorest of men, for my eyes have been taken from me, and my tongue and my right hand, and my son, whom the Emperor’s treasurer killed. But I...