Scandinavian Novels

One of the best and worst things about the internet is how easy it is to get sidetracked into doing something you shouldn't. Today, I was looking through Scandinavian Aggression, a website that I found on McSweeney's. And through that blog I ended up shopping for historical novels online.
Here's what caught my eye so far:
Crusader Gold by David Gibbins. This book is about that infamous menorah that was stolen by the Romans. I took a Roman history course a few years back so I know this is totally real. Apparently in the book someone is trying to track where it went. It sounds vaguely like The Da Vinci Code, but I'm hoping it'll be better than that.
Gunnar's Daughter by Sigrid Undset. This is apparently about a young woman who is raped and then forced to raise a baby alone. As a feminist, I'm curious as to what this book is like. If it's ultimately a feminist novel, I'll be pleased as punch. If not, well, then I'll have plenty to argue against it.
Meadowland by Tom Holt. This books manages to combine both the Byzantine Empire and Vikings, so I'm intrigued. How many Eastern Romans were aware of the discovery of the Americas?
The Redbeast: A Novel by Jo Nesbo. Since I enjoyed the last mystery novel that had neo-Nazis in it (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), I figured I should give this a try. And, as always, I'm interested in reading the likes of Henrik Mankell. I saw one of the film versions of Sidetracked and was very impressed, so I want to see how good the book is.
So, now I have another set of things to read, on top of the huge library of stuff I've already decided I needed to read.