Thorkill of Iceland: Viking Hero Tales

by Isabel Wyatt

Retells the tale of Thorkill of Iceland who was sent by King Gorm of Denmark on a mission to the land of Giants.

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Isabel Mary Wyatt was an English children's author, and a well-known collector and re-teller of stories for children. She spent many years teaching young children and was co-director of studies at Hawkwood College in Gloucestershire until her retirement in 1965. Some of her best-known books include The Seven-Year-Old Wonder Book, Legends of King Arthur, Magical Wonder Tales and The Kingdom of Beautiful Colours.

Reviews

[Su · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished the first story, Thorkill of Iceland, with my class. Really liked it once you get going. A bit poetic, plenty of opportunities to stop and discuss meaning and look up words in the dictionary. Hilarious re-enactments if you can persuade your audience to do them. Highly recommend this book as it is a good challenge for the quickest and the average reader.

[McGee Catlett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this with my class (4th grade), and while I thought it was perfectly serviceable (if a bit dry), my kids were endlessly bored. They literally cheered when I said we were going to move on to another book a bit before we finished. It’s unfortunately the wrong kind of repetitive, and the poetry, while competently written, is rather bland. The action is largely uninteresting, the different locations are at once hard to understand and also boring. There was a questionable description of “black giants with crooked beak noses”, which I had to skip. As a book ostensibly for kids, it’s unfortunately not engaging in the slightest.