"Save us, Lord, from the fury of the Normans!"—a thousand years ago, that’s what all of Europe prayed for, except Ancient Rus’, where Vikings didn’t go on raids but hired themselves to powerful Russian princes. (Contrary to the notorious “Norman theory,” Scandinavian sagas testify to the backwardness and poverty of the Northwest of Europe compared to the richest and civilized Rus’—which astonished newcomers from the West with its planning, abundance, and almost universal literacy among city dwellers). One of those Viking mercenaries was the hero of this novel, Harald the Severe, nicknamed the Last Viking. The name of this great konung—sailor, conqueror, and skald—is known to every Scandinavian. His deeds entered legend. And his poems, addressed to his Russian bride, were translated by Batyushkov and A.K. Tolstoy. In his youth, Harald took part in the bloodiest battle in Norwegian history between Christians and pagans, and fled from the vengeance of berserkers back to Rus’, where he became a comrade of Yaroslav the Wise and fell in love with his daughter, Elizabeth. But to win the hand and heart of a Russian princess, the young mercenary will have to accomplish the impossible—set off for distant Tsargrad and obtain the secret of the all-consuming “Greek fire,” which the Byzantines keep under penalty of death… Read the first novel about the greatest of Vikings, based on real events—events in comparison with which Hollywood blockbusters and the best historical TV series pale!