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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
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
After 5 action packed years, it's time to meet once again at the Saga Thing Quarter Court. In this episode, we review the judgment winners and a few interesting facts about our journey through the last 10 sagas. Now it's time for you to rank the sagas and vote.
Visit our polls here and make your choices as you listen or after you've heard it all.
The polls are open until March 15th (The Ides of March!)
Pick your favorite moment of Best Bloodshed, the best Nickname, and the memorable Notable Witticism. You can also vote on which of our Outlawry candidates is worse than all the others. Most important, you get to choose which group of Thingmen you find most impressive according to whatever categories you think best. John's got a lot of impressive bruisers this time around, led by none other than Egil Skallagrimsson, and Andy's stocked his hall with the most loyal and capable men, women, trolls, and dogs he could find. Finally, you have the opportunity to share your opinions of our Final Ratings by ranking the top 3 sagas of the Third Quarter (or you can rank all 10). Among the sagas you'll have to choose from are:
The Saga of Ref the Sly (Króka-Refs saga) - March 2018
The Saga of the People of Kjalarnes (Kjalnesinga saga) - June-July 2018
The Saga of the People of Floi (Flóamanna saga) - September-December 2018
The "Saga" of Ale-Hood (Ölkofra saga/þáttr) - January 2019
The Saga of Egil Skallagrimsson (Egils saga Skallagrímssonar) - February 2019-March 2020
The Saga of Hord and the Holm-Dwellers (Harðar saga ok Hólmverja) - May-August 2020
The Saga of Bard the God of Snowfell (Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss) - September-November 2020
The Saga of Thord Menace (Þórðar saga hreðu) - January-April 2021
The Saga of the Sworn Brothers (Fóstbrœðra saga) - June-November 2021
The Saga of Gunnar the Fool of Keldugnup (Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls) - January-February 2022
It's been a lot of fun working our way through the first 30 Sagas of Icelanders. We've only got 10 left! And since we're starting with Laxdæla saga, it could be another 5-10 years before we call the Fourth and final Quarter Court. Whatever happens, we know we'll have a great time doing it. We're glad you're sharing this journey with us!
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Monday Feb 21, 2022
Monday Feb 21, 2022
In this long overdue Saga Brief, we discuss drinking in the Viking Age and the Sagas of Icelanders. This first part looks at what they were drinking and how it was perceived culturally. In the second part, coming soon, we'll look into the culture of drinking as we explore where and how they drank.
Here is a short bibliography of the texts and studies referred to, either directly or indirectly, in this episode:
Etting, Vivian. The Story of the Drinking Horn: Drinking Culture in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages. Publications of the National Museum of Denmark v.21, 2013.
Dineley, Graham, and Merryn Dineley. “Where Were the Viking Brew Houses?” EXARC 2013/2 (2013). https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10117
Hallgerður Gisladottir, 'The Use of Whey in Icelandic Households', in Milk and Milk Products from Medieval to Modern Times: Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Ethnological Food Research, Ireland. J992, ed. Patricia Lysaght (Canongate Academic, 1994), pp. 123-29.
Mark, Joshua J. “Norse Alcohol and the Mead of Poetry.” World History Encyclopedia. Published January 7, 2019. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1307/norse-alcohol--the-mead-of-poetry/ .
Riseley, Charles. Ceremonial Drinking in the Viking Age. MA Thesis. University of Oslo, 2014.
Rodriguez, Jesús Fernando Guerrero. Old Norse Drinking Culture. PhD Dissertation. University of York, 2007.
Rood, Joshua. Drinking with Óðinn: Alcohol and Religion in Heathen Scandinavia. Háskoli Íslands, 2014.
Vuorisalo, Timo, et al. “High Lactose Tolerance in North Europeans: A Result of Migration, not In Situ Milk Consumption." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 55:2 (2012), 163-174.
Winroth, Anders. The Age of the Vikings. Princeton UP, 2016.
Music Credits
Opening song – Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur
Poetry music - Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro – Ólafur Liljurós
Sunday Feb 13, 2022
Sunday Feb 13, 2022
It's time to put The Saga of Gunnar of Keldugnup on trial! And as much fun as it is to say Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls, it's not one of medieval Iceland's better literary artifacts. We finally get to say what we've been thinking in our Final Ratings. But that's not all! Listen in and find out who wins Best Bloodshed, Notable Witticisms, and a hotly contested Nicknames. Speaking of hotly contested, you won't want to miss a rare Saga Thing argument that develops over who is most deserving of Outlawry. Never fear, it all ends happily when John and Andy both get the thingmen they were hoping for.
Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the Body Count. This time around we get some help from a listener in rounding out the body count. We also wrestle once again with the blámaðr and the all important question of whether trolls should be included in the body count.
This is the last saga before our third quarter court. It's been a long time coming.
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Monday Jan 31, 2022
When last we left you, Gunnar had just killed a troll woman and a seemingly intelligent bear in an unknown frozen land (check out Jacob's great illustration of this and more of his work on his Instagram page). The troll woman’s sister seemed kind enough and even warned Gunnar that there were more trolls about. In this episode, we find out how Gunnar does against a family of trolls and what kind of impression he makes on Fala’s father. From there, we’ll follow Gunnar to the court of Hákon Sigurðarson, the Jarl of Lade (Hlaðir). We’ve met Hákon before in the Saga of Finnbogi the Mighty. Things go pretty much the same for Gunnar the Fool of Keldugnup as they did for Finnbogi. Whether he survives the encounter or not, this saga’s coming to a close pretty quickly. Listen and find out if Gunnar can impress the jarl with his wrestling skills or if he succumbs to the jarl’s ill-temper. This is a strange but fun one.
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
In this episode, we dive way down deep into the bag of Sagas of Icelanders to pull out a story that is rarely discussed or even read by experts much less casual fans of medieval Icelandic literature. That doesn't mean it's a bad saga, even if it's a little rough around the narrative edges. This one's got a lot of the fan favorites, including wrestling, surprise killings, a secret love affair, storms at sea, trolls, and a bear who understands Old Norse! Join us as we begin our journey through The Saga of Gunnar the Fool of Keldugnup (Gunnars saga Keldugnúpsfífls).
As you can see from the illustration by Jacob Foust (aka skarphedin_illustrator), Gunnar is a real charmer!
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license