Oliver the northman, and his foster brother, Roland, are the heroes of this dramatic story, which is filled with stirring scenes and wartime adventures. The Danes, joining with the Franks in their cry of “Christ and the king,” repulse the Saracens; and Oliver, by his chivalrous daring, wins King Karl’s daughter, in spite of the beautiful and wicked Fastrada, who, by means of spells and poisons, succeeds in making herself a queen. It is a story true to those rough times in all details, and is an old time romance rather than an historical novel.
“The author has taken pains over his work, and should content readers who enjoy that kind of fare. The delineation of character is conventional. A defect ... is the tendency to force the heroic note too insistently.”
| + | Ath. 1905, 2: 75. Jl. 15. 280w. |
“All this portentous historical material, blended with much intrigue and passion, together with some of the gentler elements of romance, is skilfully brought into a tale of much action and dramatic vigor, couched in language that makes a fair pretense of archaism (of the conventional type, naturally), and brought to a satisfactory issue.” Wm. Morton Payne.
| + | Dial. 38: 390. Je. 1, ‘05. 250w. | |
| + | N. Y. Times. 10: 237. Ap. 8, ‘05. 260w. |
“This story is somewhat high-flown and super-romantic in style, but its intensity is not without dramatic force.”
| + — | Outlook. 79: 856. Ap. 1, ‘05. 50w. |
“He has covered dry bones with rosy flesh.”
| + | Reader. 5: 788. My. ‘05. 610w. |
Benson, Allan L. Socialism made plain. Social Democratic publishing company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.