All I Want For Christmas Is A Viking

Erik did not want to do the Christmas run. But, since it was either listen to Santa whining about the cold, or delivering the gifts _ what choice did he have? He put on the red suit and drove not-so-merrily off into the night. Being mistaken for a thief and hit over the head with a crystal candlestick during the last delivery of the night did nothing to improve his mood. He may have been Santa Claus�s son, but he was also an immortal Viking warrior. To be laid out cold _ by a woman, no less! _ was simply not acceptable. Getting his revenge would be fun, more so since she was a lawyer and willing to do pretty well anything to avoid being sued by the Claus family. And Erik had all sorts of interesting ideas about just what the green-eyed minx could do for him€

How does a small college in a rural Alberta city of just over 12,000 people become host to the finest hockey players in the world? Now a part of the University of Alberta, Camrose Lutheran College was challenged to compete against larger city colleges. Through persistence in following a vision, the school and the community embraced the potential of the Viking Cup in 1980, opening their doors to the world of hockey through this unique international exchange program. Outside, the Cold War was raging but barriers seemed to melt as the love of hockey played on. By the time the Cup had its last hurrah in 2006, the NHL had drafted more than 400 players from its ranks. The Viking Cup, memoirs and stories of the program’s founder, is a joyful account of an important chapter of Canada’s hockey history.

At the end of World War II, twenty-year-old Vera is brutally raped by an unknown assailant. From that rape is born a boy named Fred, a misfit who later becomes a talented boxer. Vera’s young son, Barnum, forms a special but bizarre relationship with his half brother, fraught with rivalry and dependence as well as love. “I should have been your father,” Fred tells Barnum, “instead of the fool who says he is.” It is Barnum, who is now a screenwriter with a fondness for lies and alcohol, who narrates his family’s saga. As he shares his family’s history, he chronicles generations of independent women and absent and flawed men whom he calls the Night Men. Among them is his father, Arnold, who bequeaths to Barnum his circus name, his excessively small stature, and a con man’s belief in the power of illusion. Filled with a galaxy of finely etched characters, this prize-winning novel is a tour de force and a literary masterpiece richly deserving of the accolades it has received.

Let’s say you’re the coach of the Minnesota Vikings, deciding which players should start in a Super Bowl matchup against the toughest team in the AFC. But instead of choosing from the current roster, you have every player in the team’s 60-year history in your locker room. Who starts at quarterback: scrambling Fran Tarkenton, gunslinger Daunte Culpepper, or deadly accurate Kirk Cousins? At defensive end, do you play fearsome Carl Eller, fan favorite Jared Allen, sack specialist Chris Doleman, or stalwart Jim Marshall? Combining career stats, common sense, and a host of intangibles, veteran sportswriter Chris Tomasson imagines an embarrassment of riches and sets the all-time All-Star Vikings lineup for the ages.

A witty and concise look at the beginnings of English history, when the nation consolidated after clashes between the Saxons and invading Vikings. In 871, three of England's four kingdoms were overrun by Vikings, the ruthless, all-conquering Scandinavian raiders who terrorized early medieval Europe. With the Norsemen murdering one king with arrows and torturing another to death by ripping out his lungs, the prospects that faced the kingdom of Wessex were bleak. Worse still, the Saxons were now led by a young man barely out of his teens who was more interested in God than fighting. Yet within a decade Alfred—the only English king known as the Great—had driven the Vikings out of half of England, and his children and grandchildren would unite the country a few years later. This period, popular with fans of television shows such as Vikings and The Last Kingdom, saw the creation of England as a nation-state, with Alfred laying down the first national law code, establishing an education system and building cities. Saxons vs. Vikings also covers the period before Alfred, including ancient Britain, the Roman occupation, and the Dark Ages, explaining important historical episodes such as Boudicca, King Arthur, and Beowulf. Perfect for newcomers to the subject, this is the second title in the new A Very, Very Short History of England series. If you’re trying to understand England and its history in the most informative and entertaining way possible, this is the place to start.

Two Christmas "Viking" love stories: 1. Bolthor's Bride. Bolthor the Skald has been a good friend and fellow warrior; always the bridesmaid, never the bride, so to speak. This gentle giant has never found a woman who loves him. Saxon widow Katherine, is a woman in need of a man to take care of her, and her four children, and about two hundred chickens, in the style none of her first three husbands could manage. 2. A Viking for Christmas. Bodyguard Erik Thorsson, a fiftieth generation Viking, meets Jessica Jones when she attempts to rob the local Piggly Jiggly dressed as Santa Claus. When the store refuses to honor her request for a refund, Jessica takes Erik (also dressed as Santa) as her hostage after accidentally shooting the Little Debbie cupcake display. For the first time in five years, Erik finds himself in love, but how to convince Jessica that he's not her Christmas curse, but instead a Christmas miracle.