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Discover what Vikings did when they were at home in this fun medieval history and literature podcast about the Icelandic sagas. Hosted by two medieval literature professors with beards.
Episodes
Monday Feb 10, 2025
Monday Feb 10, 2025
While we don't make major progress through Ljósvetninga saga in this episode, we have a great time talking about two of the three þættir that fill a gap in the manuscript. Another gap in a manuscript? Indeed. We open the episode with a very brief discussion of the A and C manuscripts to help explain what's going on there.
At the heart of this episode are two tales. The first is known as Sörla þáttr Brodd-Helgasonar, about a young man called Sörli and his quest to make Guðmund the Powerful's daughter his bride. Unfortunately for Sörli, Guðmund isn't too happy about the prospect of their marriage.
The second tale is Ofeig's þáttr, which tells of the trouble men in Reykjadal have with Guðmund the Powerful's visits. During a meeting of the rather interesting group of bændir known as the hreppr, Ofeig Jarngerdarson steps up with a cunning plan that just might work.
As if that weren't enough, we cap the episode by revisiting the discussion of bookprose vs freeprose theory as it relates to Ljósvetninga saga.
Listen and then share your thoughts on our social media:
Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Monday Jan 27, 2025
Monday Jan 27, 2025
It's time to begin our series on Ljósvetninga Saga! In this episode, we introduce the saga and work our way through the first four chapters.
While Ljósvetninga Saga focuses on the career of Guðmundr inn ríki (Gudmund the Powerful), he plays a small role in this episode. Instead, we focus on a conflict between Thorgeir Lawspeaker and his sons over the fate of an outlaw. This one is the apéritif served to get you in the mood for an expansive and rather interesting saga that puts the elite chieftains of medieval Iceland on trial.
Throughout this series, we'll be making reference to Law and Literature in Medieval Iceland by William Ian Miller and Theodore M. Andersson. It is the translation we're using and it's full of valuable footnotes and discussion.
Listen and then share your thoughts on our social media:
Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Wednesday Jan 15, 2025
Wednesday Jan 15, 2025
In this episode, we review the second Tale of Halldor Snorrason (Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar inn síðari) from the 13th-century Morkinskinna (moldy or rotten skin/parchment). If you enjoyed the first of Halldor's tales, we think you'll like this one even more. Last time, Halldor pushed his relationship with King Harald Hardrada to the brink but in this episode he may just push things over the edge. One thing's for sure, these BFFs are heading for a nasty breakup.
Along the way, we talk about a place called Kaupangr and delve into the naming history of Trondheim. If you're curious about the appearance of Kaupangr/kaupangr in AM 66 fol. that we discuss in the first section, you are welcome to have a look for yourself:
Take a moment to explore AM 66 fol., also known as Hulda (Hidden Manuscript). Why AM 66? Because there's a lacuna that cuts off the beginning of Halldor's tale in the Morkinskinna. Manuscripts be like that sometimes.
We also talk about an interesting little detail in the story concerning King Harald's efforts to introduce a coin-based economy into 11th-century Norway. The tale tells of Haraldsslátta (Harald's coins) and Halldor Snorrason's less than enthusiastic reception of these coins as a form of payment. Here are a few samples of the coins in question:
As if that weren't enough, we also get to talk about drinking horns and the feasting obligations, adding to our previous Saga Briefs on Drinking in the Viking Age - What They Drank and How They Drank.
This tale is full of fascinating little details about the culture that we don't often get in the more sparsely told sagas of Icelanders. We stop throughout the episode to appreciate some of these, so be warned that this episode has a fair amount of digressions. We just couldn't help ourselves.
Listen and then share your thoughts on our social media:
Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord
Music Credits
Intro Music - from “Death Awaits” by Billy Malmstrom
Poetry Music - "Morgana Rides " Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro Music - From “Óðinn” by Krauka
Monday Dec 23, 2024
Monday Dec 23, 2024
Gleðileg jól frá Saga Thing! Long before Charles Dickens penned his beloved A Christmas Carol, a well-known and infamous Icelander seems to have had a similar idea. While less wholesome and optimistic than the Dickens classic, there’s surely a lesson somewhere in this tale that we’re calling Egil’s Yuletide Carol.
Inspired by the 1930s radio dramatizations of A Christmas Carol starring Lionel Barrymore, we’ve tried our hand at producing a radioplay of our own here. Such an undertaking involves a lot of help from friends and family. Our thanks to all who contributed.
Cast (in order of appearance)
John Sexton: Narrator, Egil, Old Egil, and Servant Woman 2
Andy Pfrenger: Ketil Cratchet, Olaf Peacock, Thorolf Skallagrimsson, Skallagrim Kveldulfsson, Snorri Sturluson, and Other Voices
Wendy Pfrenger: Thorgerd Egilsdottir
Heather Nabbefeld: Thorgerd Brak
Sebastian Pfrenger: Grim Heggjason and Servant 2
Johnny Sexton: Very Young Egil
Carl Sexton: Young Egil
Gwen Pfrenger: Bera Yngvarsdottir (Egil’s Mother) and Other Kid
Joshua Eyler: Arinbjorn
With Rex Factor’s own Graham Duke guest starring as King Athelstan
Share your thoughts on this holiday special through our social media and let us know what you think the moral of the story might be.
Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord
Music Credits
Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod (now with sleigh bells)
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
Egil’s Yuletide Carol Theme Music – “Canon and Variation” by Twin Musicom
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Narrator’s Music – “Drømde mik en drøm i nat is” performed by Mare Balticum
Brunanburh Party Music – “Cantina Band” composed by John Williams and performed on hammered dulcimer by TheEadgyth and Kravik Lyre – Nordic Folk Music (instrumental) by A Tergo Lupi
Egil’s Poetry Music – “Einvaldi” by Herknungr
Saturday Dec 07, 2024
Saturday Dec 07, 2024
Hwæt a Movie returns with Beowulf: Prince of the Geats! Given how hard this one is to find, we’d be surprised if any of you have seen it.
Released in March 2007, shortly after SYFY's Grendel and ahead of Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf, this Scott Wegener-directed indie film dives into the epic tale with a unique take on the hero and his legendary battles. And while the film’s limited budget and production constraints might be apparent, its dedication to the original text shines through. Making the film more charming and admirable is the fact that the production team and actors all worked for free on this passion project. All proceeds from the sale of the DVDs for Beowulf: Prince of the Geats went to aid both the American and Norwegian Cancer Societies. Get a sense of the film by watching the trailer here.
The film stars both Jayshan Jackson and Damon Lynch III as the younger and older Beowulf. Wegener’s decision to depict Beowulf as the son of an adventuring African fisherman offers some interesting possibilities and an approach to the character that we haven’t seen yet. It’s also one of the few film adaptations to follow Beowulf home to Geatland after his time in Denmark.
As always, our episode includes an exhaustive summary of the film, a Q&A discussion, and our final ratings. How do these versions of Beowulf, Grendel, and Grendel’s Mother stack up against those we’ve seen before? And how does this quirky, low-budget film score on its fidelity to the source material and its overall entertainment value?
As the length of the episode might suggest, we’ve got a lot to say about this one. This was a delightful film to unpack, and we hope you enjoy hearing about it as much as we enjoyed discussing it.
If you’re interested in reading more about Wegener’s decision to cast black actors to play Beowulf and the responses it prompted, check out the following articles and discussions:
Clark, David. "Race/Ethnicity and the Other in Beowulf". In Beowulf in Contemporary Culture, edited by David Clark, 31-50. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019.
Nokes, Richard Scott. "Beowulf: Prince of the Geats, Nazis, and Odinists". Old English Newsletter. 41, no. 3 (2008): 26–32.
Listen to our overview, watch the trailer (or find the film if you can), and let us know what you think on our social media:
Or join others like you on Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord