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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
Friday Aug 23, 2024
Friday Aug 23, 2024
While we may have finished Svarfdaela Saga, we're not done with the most tumultuous valley of medieval Iceland just yet. In this episode, we pick up with the next generation. The lead actors in this little drama are Halli, the grandson of Karl the Red, and Ljot (aka Valla-Ljot), the son of Ljotolf the godi. And though the tensions between Karl and Ljotolf's families had cooled at the end of Svarfdaela Saga, it doesn't take Halli long to get things boiling once again.
This saga also features the return of Gudmund the Powerful (Guðmundr inn ríki Eyjólfsson), who we've seen pop in from time to time in other sagas as a power broker. He's going to be playing a big part in this saga and then again in Ljósvetninga saga. Now's as good a time as any to start forming an opinion on this guy.
We hope you enjoy this one!
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/
Sunday Aug 04, 2024
Sunday Aug 04, 2024
It's time for the third installment of our side project known as Hwaet a Movie! In this episode, we give the Saga Thing treatment to the 2005 Canadian-Icelandic film Beowulf and Grendel. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and watch it (even if our review might not cast it in the brightest light). The film stars Gerard Butler as Beowulf, Stellan Skarsgård as Hrothgar, and Sarah Polley as Selma the witch. Don't worry if one of those characters doesn't sound familiar. And while the film could be better in a number of ways, we do appreciate much of what they were attempting here.
As an added bonus, the film was shot in Iceland. That means that no matter what's happening at the front of a scene, there's always a beautiful backdrop for this interesting interpretation of the epic Old English poem about a monster-fighting Geat in Denmark.
Each Hwaet a Movie episode includes an exhaustive summary and discussion, a brief Q&A, and then our final ratings categories for the film's take on Beowulf, Grendel, and Grendel's mother. We conclude by rating the film for its faithfulness to the source material and then for its entertainment value.
This one takes a while to get through, but that's because this one offers a lot of grist for the mill.
We'll be back after Valla-Ljot's Saga with the next installment of Hwaet a Movie. And don't worry, we've only scratched the surface of Beowulf movies so far.
Friday Jul 19, 2024
Friday Jul 19, 2024
Though Svarfdaela Saga itself is behind us, the story of the inhabitants of the Tumultuous Valley continues. In this episode, we follow Thorleif Asgeirsson, one of Klaufi's killers and the brother of Yngvild.
As you'll discover, Thorleif has that independent spirit that Icelanders carry with them into the courts of Norwegian rulers. He's also got a talent for poetry, which serves him well both at home and abroad. But his real talent is magic, which he learned from his uncle and father. All of this combines for some interesting encounters with Jarl Hákon Sigurdsson.
This short story is both shocking and hilarious. It's got everything you could ask for, including a young man chasing his hopes and dreams, a robbery, some senseless violence, black magic, plenty of poetry, and even a golem-like construct with a vengeful heart. Oh, and it's pretty funny too. Needless to say, it's one of our favorite þættr.
Join us as we explore the Tale of Thorleif Earl's Poet!
Richard Cole's "French Connection, or Thorr versus the Golem."
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
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Join us for an in-depth interview with Dr. Rebecca Merkelbach, Assistant Professor of Old Norse-Icelandic Studies at the University of Tübingen, Germany. Her latest book, Story, World and Character in the Late Íslendingasögur: Rogue Sagas, offers a fresh perspective on the often overlooked "post-classical" sagas. We delve into the complex and fascinating nature of these sagas, exploring their social and artistic dimensions, as well as the rich tapestry of the "saga-verse."
Our discussion spans many of your favorite sagas featured on the podcast. And given that we just finished recording our series on Svarfdæla saga before this interview, there's plenty of talk about that saga in particular.
It was a great pleasure speaking to a fellow saga enthusiast, especially one so knowledgeable and passionate about Old Norse-Icelandic literature. Dr. Merkelbach's enthusiasm for the sagas comes through clearly in this interview, as does her remarkable ability to recall intricate details and character names from many different sagas. We think you'll find that she fits right in here at Saga Thing.
Pick up a copy of her book here: Story, World and Character in the Late Íslendingasögur: Rogue Sagas by Rebecca Merkelbach
Correction: This episode is Saga Brief 26, despite the label on the file saying 25.
Music Credits
Opening song – Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur
Outro – Ólafur Liljurós
Sunday Jun 23, 2024
Sunday Jun 23, 2024
After 7 exciting episodes (they were exciting, right?), we're finally ready to put Svarfdaela Saga on trial. As usual, we drag the text to the Saga Thing and review it through our judgment categories:
Best Bloodshed
Body Count
Nicknames
Notable Witticisms
Outlawry
Thingmen
Final Ratings
How does Svarfdaela Saga stack up against the 30+ other sagas we've reviewed so far? Do we judge it as harshly as the scholars who came before us? And how can the Big Lacuna not walk away with Best Bloodshed????
There's only one way to find out. 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/