Saga Thing

Episode 19c - The Saga of the People of Reykjadal and Killer-Skuta (Judgments)

In this fun-filled episode, John and Andy offer their
judgments on The Saga of the People of
Reykjadal and Killer-Skuta.  Listen
and learn how a leather thong can really improve your spear-throwing
distance.  It’s true.  You’ll also learn about the wonders of hearth
bread with butter and be introduced to the BCDM, our newest method for
calculating a saga’s body count.  It’s an
action packed episode with plenty of laughs and some good discussion of history
and literature.  Those of you who prefer
a steady flow of action and laughs will have to forgive us for our scholarly
tangents, but those with a genuine interest in saga literature will get what
they came here for.
For those interested in the ankyle, we recommend the
following:
“Throwing
the Greek Dory: How Effective is the Attached Ankyle at Increasing the Distance
of the Throw”
There are a number of videos featuring the use of the
ankyle/amentum.  We’ve selected the
following two as the most reasonable illustrations of the tool.
Ankyle for distance
Slo-mo ankyle
As promised, I’m
including the recipe for hearth bread that John mentions in Notable Witticism:
Thorgeir
Butter-Ring’s Bread
Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat or rye flour
2 cups white or all-purpose flour
3/4 cup steel-cut or rolled oats
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups water
 Items Needed
Baking Stone
Large Bowl
Wooden Spoon
Oven (I mean, go ahead and hearth-bake the bread if you
want to be a stickler for accuracy).
 Instructions
Mix together both kinds of flour, the oats, the salt, and
the baking soda in a large bowl.
Gradually add water while stirring with a wooden spoon
until it is stiff and difficult to stir further. NOTE: do not use an automatic
mixer for this step. Seriously, how many 10th century Icelanders do you think
had a KitchenAid?
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough (you may
want to wet or flour your hands for this step). Stop when dough is malleable
and thoroughly integrated.
Form the dough into a round or oval shape on a baking
stone and place it in the oven. NOTE: The oven is still cold at this point.
Now set the oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit (190 Celsius),
and bake for 55-70 minutes (depending on elevation and oven).
Take the bread out of the oven when it looks, you know,
bready (I’m not a cook. Also, it’s unlikely that actual 10th century
Icelanders, who cooked their bread in fire ashes or on a hearth-stone, were
overly fussy about exact timing. Eyeball it). Let it cool on a rack.
Eat the bread while it’s warm. And of course, Thorgeir
Butter-Ring recommends using plenty of butter, but I found cheese, honey, or
apple slices works fine too.
 
 

Episode 19b - The Saga of the People of Reykjadal and Killer-Skuta (Part 2)

Come to Mývatn, where the scenery stuns, the flies bite, and swords sting! In this episode, we welcome Killer-Skúta back to Iceland.  Not bound by the conditions of the settlement established by Áskel on his deathbed, Skúta is free to wreak vengeance upon those who dishonored his family.  He’ll also have to contend with the various families in the region who don’t take so kindly to his handling of their kin folk. And that’s the story, more or less.  Killer-Skúta certainly earns his nickname in this one.  Along the way, you’ll also learn the worst way to die in Mývatn.  It's really unpleasant.  Enjoy!

Episode 19a - The Saga of the People of Reykjadal and Killer-Skuta (Part 1)

In this episode, we travel to the northern districts of Thingey and Eyjafjord where the Askel the goði spends most of his time working out settlements to save the skin of his nephews.  You won't meet a more saintly Icelander than the wise Askel goði, but you might question his loyalty to Vemund Fjorleifarson.  But, as Vemund's uncle, poor Askel is caught between a rock and a hard place.  Will his support of Vemund cost Askel the ultimate price in the end, or will he make an honest man of his wayward nephew?  Find out as Saga Thing takes on the first half of The Saga of the People of Reykjadal and Killer-Skuta.
Note: In the introduction, we mention the excellent blog The Saga-Steads of Iceland.  You can visit Emily Lethbridge's post on Reykjadal here.

Episode 18c - The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong (Judgments)

It's time to put The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong on trial.  Join us as we review the saga's more violent moments, count up the dead, and shed some light on a few nicknames.  Who will be outlawed? Who will be chosen as thingman?  Will Andy and John agree on the quality of the saga? You'll learn all this and more in the Final Judgments.

Episode 18b - The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong (Part 2)

Join us for the thrilling conclusion of The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong.  In the first part of this episode, we discuss Finnbogi's evolving relationship with the Norwegian Earl Haakon, his trip to Constantinople, and his pursuit of Alf's daughter Ragnhild.  Yes, Finnbogi's got his eye on the daughter of the man he killed on the way to Haakon's court.  The second part of this episode takes us back to Iceland, where Finnbogi finds that fame isn't all its cracked up to be.  With rivals emerging everywhere he goes, Finnbogi is forced to move from district to district in search of peace.  That turns out to be a real challenge after he crosses a powerful lunatic like Jokul Ingimundarson, who you might remember from the second part of our episode on Vatnsdæla saga.  There are many many feuds and fights in this part of the story.  We do our best to cover the ones that really matter.  We hope you enjoy this final part of our summary of The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong.  It was a lot of fun for us, which is why this episode ended up so long.
Incidentally, since Finnbogi does make his way down to Constantinople and we often find ourselves in Byzantium, our listeners might be interested in The History of Byzantium podcast.  He hasn't covered Emperor John yet, but he's getting closer to the period of the Varangian Guard.  We're looking forward to that.  In the meantime, check out his special episode on the city of Constantinople.  It covers the founding of the city, it's geographical significance, and the daily life of its people.  Great stuff!

Saga Brief 5: The Story of Rollo the Viking

In this episode, we celebrate the
life and accomplishments of the historical Rollo.  Known to many as the envious brother of the
incomparable Ragnar Loðbrok in the History Channel’s Vikings.  While the historical Rollo may not have been
Ragnar’s brother, Vikings gets a lot of things right.  As an exile from his homeland, Rollo earned
the nickname “the Walker” by wandering throughout northern Europe raiding and
conquering everything in his path.  Among
his most significant conquests would come to be known as Normandy, a territory
in northern France named for the Northmen led by Rollo in the late 9th or early
10th century.  Fearing further Viking
aggression, the French King Charles the Simple turned over the city of Rouen over
to Rollo and his men.  This simple act
(get it?) provided the French with a buffer against future Viking attacks from
the north.  Or so they hoped.  In this case, it worked out nicely.  Rollo and his fellow Vikings quickly rebuilt
the territories they had ravaged and assimilated into French culture.  Rollo’s descendants would go on to play a
very significant role in European history. 
As the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, Rollo’s
blood flows through many veins of later European royalty.
 If you’re interested in learning
more about that part of the story, we recommend the following episodes of Rex
Factor, our very favorite podcast:
 http://rexfactor.podbean.com/e/17-william-the-conqueror/
 http://rexfactor.podbean.com/e/18-william-rufus/Looking for more Vikings and Saga Thing cross-over?  We've got a few episodes that might interest you:The Saga of Ragnar Loðbrok and His Sons - where we review the medieval stories behind the Vikings hero.The Blood Eagle - where we discuss the Viking practice of splitting a man open and its historical veracity.The Krákumál - a detailed look at the famous death song of Ragnar

Episode 18a - The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong (Part 1)

The
Saga of Finnbogi the Strong tells the tale of a farmer’s son who overcomes an ignoble
birth and rises to become one of Iceland's greatest men, or so the saga author
would have you believe.  This obscure and rarely discussed 14th
century saga is thought to have been written in response to Vatnsdæla Saga, where Finnbogi comes off
rather poorly.  In his own saga, Finnbogi
proves to be an upright and noble figure who almost always does the right
thing.  With superhuman strength, he’s
capable of dispatching an angry bull with his bare hands, snapping the spine of
an angry Norwegian bear, and coming out ahead in a seemingly endless feud with Vatnsdæla Saga’s brutish Jokul
Ingimundarsson.   Finnbogi’s
Saga deserves more attention than it has gotten in the past.  And
that's why you come to Saga Thing.    References:John Kennedy, Review of Bachman/Erlingsson Translation of The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong, in Scandinavian Studies 64 (1992), 149.Phillip Pulsiano and Kirsten Wolf, Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia (1993), 194.Paul Schach, Icelandic Sagas (Boston, 1980), 155-56.Music for the brief summary: "Nerves" by Kevin MacLeod (incopetech.com).  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 17b - The Saga of the Greenlanders (Judgments)

The Saga of the Greenlanders might be the shortest saga John and Andy have tackled, but that doesn't mean they don't have a lot to say about it.  In this episode, your stalwart hosts run through the usual categories and discuss the motivations behind Freydis' attack on Helgi and Finnbogi, debate the quality of Thorfinn Karlsefni's character, review some competing theories on Norse settlements in the North America, and share some recent scholarship that challenges our understanding of the conditions the Vikings dealt with in Greenland. There's a fair amount of nonsense as well.  Join us as we conclude our trip through the Vinland sagas. 

Saga Brief 4: The Vinland Sagas (Interview with Loretta Decker)

In this episode, John interviews Loretta Decker of L'Anse aux Meadows.  They discuss the archaeology of the site, the challenges of reconstructing Viking turf houses, and the value of the Vinland sagas for filling in the gaps.

Episode 17a - The Saga of the Greenlanders

Once again, the New World beckons.  In this episode, we travel with the children of Eirik the Red to Vinland.  Yes, every single one of Eirik's children make their own expedition to North America in search of fame and fortune.  This saga covers each of them.  Leif Eiriksson is the first of his siblings to make the trip, but he's not the first Viking to spot land in the New World.  According to this saga, that honor goes to Bjarni Herjolfsson (if you call it an honor, since he's later made fun of for not disembarking and checking things out).  Where's that spirit of adventure, Bjarni? That said, Bjarni may be wiser than we think, given how the journey turns out for most of the Viking explorers of Vinland.  Find out what happens when the Vikings meet the skraelings in the New World as Saga Thing takes on The Saga of the Greenlanders.If all of this sounds familiar, that's because we already traveled to Vinland and discovered America way back in episode 4 when Saga Thing covered The Saga of Eirik the Red.  You'd be wise to refresh your memory by listening to that one again, since The Saga of the Greenlanders is best enjoyed as a companion to The Saga of Eirik the Red.  You may also be interested in our supplementary post from that episode about Norsemen in the New World.   This episode also features Andy's most ridiculous brief summary.  He apologizes in advance.  He was no doubt tired and pressed for time.