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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 Nov 24, 2025
Monday Nov 24, 2025
We’re thrilled to kick off our first episode of Víga-Glúms saga, the last of the sagas of Eyjafjörð. Víga-Glúms saga is one of the great character-driven Íslendingasögur, often drawing comparisons to Egils saga. Now, whether that’s because it also happens to be a biographical saga or because it’s of a similar quality will have to be sorted out on the podcast across the overview and judgments. But we’re excited to start this new saga either way, and this first episode sets the stage beautifully for the arrival of the man who comes to be known as Killer-Glum.
Like so many sagas, Víga-Glúms saga opens not with the hero himself but with the adventures of the generations that came before him. These early chapters give us a sense of the family dynamics, the local tensions, and threads of fate that Glum will inherit and inevitably wrestle with as his saga develops.
Cast of Characters:
I’m going to try and include a cast of major characters in the show notes for each episode to help listeners keep track of things. In this first episode, we get to know Glum’s formidable ancestors, including:
- Helgi the Lean, Glúm’s great-grandfather and the most prominent settler in Eyjafjörð
- Ingjald Helgason, Glúm’s grumpy grandfather
- Eyjólf, Glúm’s mild-mannered but calculating father
Of course, this wouldn’t be Saga Thing without a few memorable supporting characters to make things interesting. This episode introduces some pretty interesting Norwegians:
- Hreiðar, a Norwegian merchant with a heart of gold
- Ívar, a Viking with a heart of red (also Hreiðar’s brother)
- A berserk with a notably low sense of self-worth, whose attempts at intimidation don’t quite land the way he hopes
- Vigfús, a powerful Norwegian hersir with a lovely daughter named Ástrið
And then, there are the Icelanders who will make Glúm’s life more interesting, and challenging:
- Þorkell the Tall, father-in-law of Glúm’s recently deceased brother
- Sigmund, son of Þorkell the Tall, and wannabe goði
Víga-Glúms saga is definitely a fun one that we’ve been saving for a while. We hope you enjoy this first episode!
Texts Discussed in This Episode
- Andersson, Theodore M. “Creating Personalities: The Saga Age Icelanders.” In The Growth of the Medieval Icelandic Sagas (1180–1280), 60–85. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006.
- Johnston, George, trans. Viga-Glum’s Saga. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.
- McKinnell, John, trans. Viga-Glums Saga: With the Tales of Ögmund Bash and Thorvald Chatterbox. The New Saga Library / UNESCO Collection of Representative Works, Icelandic Series. Edinburgh: Canongate/UNESCO, 1987.
- North, Richard. “Sighvatr Sturluson and the Authorship of Víga-Glúms saga.” In Analecta Septentrionalia, edited by Wilhelm Heizmann, Klaus Böldl, and Heinrich Beck, 256–80. Berlin and New York: De Gruyter, 2009.
- Turville-Petre, Gabriel, ed. Viga-Glúms Saga. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960.
Listen and let us know what you think:
Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord
Recent Interview Links
As promised, here are the links to our recent interviews:
Relevant or Irrelevant - "Podcasts and Teaching" (KALA broadcast portion)
Relevant or Irrelevant - "Podcasts and Teaching" (KALA podcast portion)
Vikingology - "It's a Saga Thing"
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/
Friday Oct 31, 2025
Friday Oct 31, 2025
A little Halloween treat for all you Saga Thing fans. You'll want to listen with headphones to get the full effect on these two spooky tales.
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
Outro Music - "Mythic Force" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Monday Oct 20, 2025
Monday Oct 20, 2025
Hwæt a Movie is back! This time we dive deep into the uncanny valley epic Beowulf from 2007. Released at the height of Robert Zemeckis's motion-capture mania, this version of our favorite Old English classic promised to bring the poem to life like never before. It was slated to be an event like no other, at least for John and Andy.
In this star-studded and CG-saturated film, Ray Winstone voices a Beowulf who looks suspiciously like an action figure and swaggers like he just killed nine nicors. He's accompanied by the ageless Wiglaf, played by Brendan Gleeson. The great Anthony Hopkins plays a jovial but somewhat mad King Hrothgar, Robin Wright plays the deeply troubled Queen Wealhtheow, and John Malkovich does his best John Malkovich as Unferth.
But if we're honest, this is the Grendel family's movie from start to finish. Crispin Glover turns in a unforgettable performance as a Grendel who swells with anger and shrinks with vulnerability. Grendel's mother is a gold-dipped, shape-shifting femme fatale with stiletto feet. She's also very much Angelina Jolie. And then there's Grendel's little half-brother dragon. That's right, the dragon is part of the family!
Is this adaptation a clever deconstruction of heroism and myth-making? Or just an excuse to get Beowulf naked on an animated dragon? Zemeckis, Gaiman, and Avary take some bold liberties with the source material in this one, and we’re here to guide you through it all from the perspective of two curmudgeonly middle-aged medievalists.
As always, this episode of Hwæt a Movie includes a thorough summary and discussion of the film, a brief Q&A, and our final ratings: how well the film handles Beowulf, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother, plus our ever-important scores for faithfulness to the source and overall entertainment value.
Beowulf (2007) was a wild ride to discuss, and we hope you enjoy it half as much as Beowulf enjoys shouting his own name. Or at least as much as Zemeckis likes cleverly blocking Beowulf's bare bits from view with conveniently placed objects.
Once you’ve listened, let us know your thoughts. Is this the definitive Beowulf for the 21st century? Or just a fever dream in a damp cave?
And do you forgive us for being grumpy when it comes to Beowulf movies?
Reach out on social media and join the discussion:
Or join others like you on Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord
All music taken from the film for this episode is written and produced by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri.
Tuesday Oct 07, 2025
Tuesday Oct 07, 2025
In this episode, we finally sit down with Dr. Yoav Tirosh, one of the leading voices in Old Norse–Icelandic studies and an all-around fascinating person to talk to. Yoav has written extensively on topics ranging from Ljósvetninga Saga and saga authorship to storytelling, cultural memory, and disability studies. He’s also the creative force behind the webcomic Viking Comics, a seasoned Icelandic tour guide, and a delightful companion for wandering around Kraków. Or was it Prague???
Yoav recently completed a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at Aarhus University and now works as a researcher at the Center for Disability Studies at the University of Iceland. You can pick up a copy of his latest book, How Genre Governs Creation in the Medieval Icelandic Sagas. It’s very affordable.
We talk with him about his current work, his interdisciplinary approach to medieval texts, and what motivates him as a scholar.
But our main focus, naturally, is Ljósvetninga Saga—a text that Yoav knows better than just about anyone around (one might even get the feeling that he's obsessed with it after listening to this interview). Having written both his MA thesis and PhD dissertation on the saga, Yoav walks us through its manuscript history, important differences between the A and C versions, and the ongoing debates around whether the saga represents a cohesive narrative or a collection of shorter tales. He also scolds us for our many failings in the
Along the way, we discuss Guðmundr inn ríki (Guðmund the Powerful) and the saga’s broader commentary on leadership, power, and corruption in Icelandic society. Yoav shares his thoughts on generational memory, cultural context, and what the saga reveals about the anxieties of its age.
After suffering the stings and barbs of his wrath, we invite Yoav to offer his own judgments and to give us his final rating for Ljósvetninga Saga. There’s also something in there about David Lynch and saga structure, John loses power and disappears for a bit, and we learn about a fortuitous encounter between Yoav and his nemesis in an Icelandic bathroom.
Join us for a wide-ranging and deeply engaging conversation that feels a lot like the grad school conversations that inspired Saga Thing.
Have fun with this interview and then let us know what you think on our social media:
Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord
Music Credits:
Introduction – from Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur
Outro – Ólafur Liljurós
Tuesday Sep 16, 2025
Tuesday Sep 16, 2025
After nearly a year of working our way through Ljósvetninga Saga, it is finally time to bring it to the Saga Thing and pass judgments. As always, we'll pass out awards for Best Bloodshed, Nicknames, and Notable Witticisms. We'll send one (or more?) scoundrel in Outlawry. And we'll also discuss the Body Count, pick Thingmen, and offer our Final Ratings.
Does Ljósvetninga Saga have what it takes to stand up there with the giants like Njáls saga and Egils saga? Or will it stumble down to the middle of the pack?
And who will we pick for thingmen from this saga where the line between good guys and bad isn't always so clear?
There's only one way to find out!
Listen and let us know what you think:
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/