The Sea Road

This vivid historical saga of Viking exploration follows the adventures of an intrepid 11th century woman who voyages to North America.

11th century Iceland is a world where the old Norse gods are still invoked, even as Christianity gains favor, where the spirits of the dead roam the vast northern icefields, tormenting the living, and Viking explorers plunder foreign shores. Strong and self-reliant, Gundrid Thorbjarnardóttir lives at the remote edge of the known world, in a starkly beautiful landscape where the sea is the only connection to the shores beyond.


With her husband Karlssefni, Gundrid traverses the sea from Iceland to Greenland, Norway, and even Rome. But it is the accidental discovery of North America, a place the Vikings call Vinland, that leads Gundrid to ponder the world and her place in it. Gudrid's narrative describes a multi-layered voyage into the unknown, all recounted with astonishing immediacy and rich atmospheric detail.

"The audacious female traveler Gudrid of Iceland is the original explorer's explorer…Elphinstone has written a fine tribute to a woman whose tale is as warm and inviting as a hot spring on a clear winter day.' The Times, UK