A kingdom to win

The mid-tenth century youth of Norway's liberator king, Olav Trygvison, is told in a well documented, realistic novel set in eastern Europe. Olav, enslaved at the age of five when the usurper Harald Grayskin defeated his father's forces, is found ten years later by Sigurd, chief boyar to Vladimir, the Viking conqueror and colonizer of the lands around Kiev. Sigurd takes the boy to Vladimir's court where he is reunited with his mother. Following years see him through schooling, training for knighthood and in contact with the Byzantines who come to Vladimir for help against the upstart Bardas Phocas. A rivalry develops between Olav and Sviata, another young Viking, who is beset by a well described conflict in loyalties, and temporary tragedy comes to Olav when Zoe, a Byzantine princess whom he rescues on a mission, deceitfully refuses his love. But with the accomplished deeds, Olav is on the threshold of a successful return to his homeland. From Kirkus Review 1953.