Saga Thing

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.

Episode 16e - Grettir's Saga (Judgments)

At long last, it is time to put Grettir's Saga on trial.  Does the fight atop a whale carcass have enough appeal to win Best Bloodshed?  Will Grettir's Saga break the Body Count record currently held by Eyrbyggja Saga?  Will Andy and John outlaw Grettir or take him on as thingman?  Does Andy finally decide whether Grettir's Saga is better or worse than Gisli's Saga?  And will John ever stop talking about Nicknames?  This saga is full of memorable moments, witticisms, and wonders, which is why this judgment section ended up being so long.  But don't worry, there's plenty to laugh about and plenty to learn here.  We hope you enjoy this conclusion to Grettir's Saga as much as we enjoyed making it.  The journey's been long, but well worth the time spent.  We'll get to the Saga Brief about Grettir and Beowulf sometime soon.  For now, we need a break from this saga.  It's on to the Saga of the Greenlanders next and then Finnbogi the Mighty.  Until then!

Episode 16d - Grettir's Saga (Part 4)

In the thrilling conclusion to Grettir’s Saga, we follow the slender armed Thorstein Dromund on
his quest to avenge his brother.  Thorstein’s
adventures carry him from the shores of Norway to the bustling city of
Constantinople, where the exiled King Harald Hardrada leads a rag tag bunch of
Scandinavians called the Varangian Guard. 
And if you thought the Grettir’s Saga author would pass up the chance to
throw in another giant of saga literature, you were sorely mistaken.  Sadly, Harald is only featured in a
cameo.  The real story of the Grettir’s
Saga epilogue is the love affair of Thorstein and Spes.  Often referred to as the Spésar þáttr (The Tale of Spes “Hope”), the epilogue contrasts the
epic ethos of the saga world with the more playful spirit of the continental
romances.  If you have ever encountered
the famous story of Tristan and Isolde, where the two lovers consistently
outwit Isolde’s bumbling husband, King Mark, you’ll feel right at home in the Spésar þáttr.  Join us as we review this deceptively simple epilogue
and discuss its potential value for understanding the rest of Grettir’s Saga.
Along the way, we make reference to a few items of
interest.  First among these are the blog
sites featuring Drangey Island.  There
are some pretty impressive pictures on these blogs and stories about Drangey:
1.      http://stuckiniceland.com/north/the-outlaws-paradise/
2.      http://fooface.blogspot.com/2006/07/epic-climb.html
And if you want to take our advice and visit Drangey for
yourself, tours are available here: http://www.drangey.net/
Interested in the Brother Robert's 13th century Saga of Tristram and Isond?Or perhaps you'd like to start with Béroul’s The Romance of Tristan:And finally, we make reference to one of our favorite scholarly articles on Grettir's Saga, Kathryn Hume's "The Thematic Design of Grettis Saga" from The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 73.4 (1974): 469-86.  It's quite fascinating and worth a read.  Free to everyone with access to JSTOR.

Episode 16c - Grettir's Saga (Part 3)

The Saga of Grettir the Strong continues.  In this episode, Grettir arrives home in Iceland only to discover that his father has passed away, his brother has been slain by Thorbjorn Oxen-might, and that he himself has been outlawed for the accidental burning of Thorir of Gard's sons in Norway.  That's a lot to take in all at once.  As an outlaw, Grettir is forced to lurk in the wilds, hide in caves, and rely on the kindness of others for food.  Since Grettir's not terribly kind himself, he usually just steals what he needs.  Join us as we discuss the last of Grettir's adventures, including amazing feats of strength, battles with a troll-hag and a giant, and a rocky encounter with a witch.  Will Grettir get stumped by the witch's black magic? Will he go out in a blaze of glory? And will he ever recover from the embarrassment of his exposed manhood?  Find out in this episode of Saga Thing.

Episode 16b - Grettir's Saga (Part 2)

In this episode we follow Grettir through three of his most famous battles against an undead Kar the Old, a giant Norwegian bear, and Iceland's most famous draugr, Glam.  We also catch Grettir stumbling in a clumsy fight for fire that will eventually seal his fate as an outlaw forever.  This one runs a little longer than the average episode of Saga Thing, but with so much excellent material to cover, we just couldn't resist.

Episode 15b - The First Quarter Court Results

The results are in and your votes have been tallied.  Listen to the Quarter Court Results show to find out how your favorite candidates did.  John and Andy also take time to answer your questions about podcasting, sagas, and which character they each resemble most.  We'll provide links to some of the websites and other podcasts we mention on our own webpage www.sagathingpodcast.wordpress.com As always, thanks for listening!

Episode 16a - Grettir's Saga (Part 1)

In this epic multi-part episode, we tell the story of Iceland’s most famous and
longest surviving outlaw, Grettir Asmundarson. 
Join us as we trace his life, from its tempestuous beginning to its
tragic end.  Before we delve into his
amazing exploits as an adult, we must look back to his origins. In traditional
saga fashion, we begin with his great grandfather, Onund Treefoot.  We follow
Onund’s efforts to resist the increasing power of King Harald Fairhair and his struggles
to come to terms with the loss of his property and his leg.  Forced to redefine his own identity and to
make a new life in foreign lands, he emerges as the truest hero in the saga,
renowned as “the bravest and most agile of all the one-legged men in
Iceland.”  From Onund, we wend our way
through battles over whale corpses, murder, and legal cases in the genealogy until
we arrive at Grettir himself.  We’ll look
briefly at Grettir’s inglorious youth, his troubled relationship with his
father, Asmund, and the events leading up to his first outlawry.  Will Grettir learn to control his temper and
put his strength to good use? Or will he flout the norms of society and
continue to make his own way more difficult? 
Find out as Saga Thing takes on Grettir’s
Saga (chapters 1-20).This handy genealogy will help you keep some of the names straight in your minds