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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 Mar 16, 2018
Friday Mar 16, 2018
Saga Thing returns with the wild adventures of Ref the Sly. Follow us as we track this wily character as he travels all throughout medieval Scandinavia leaving piles of wood shavings and bodies in his wake.
Picture: Taken from Grayson del Faro's recap of Ref the Sly on the Reykjavik Grapevine
Music Credits:
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Summary Music - "Industrial Cinematic" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Selections from music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Friday Mar 09, 2018
Friday Mar 09, 2018
John and Andy return from a short break to update listeners on all the stuff that's been happening, what we've got planned for the immediate future, and to kick off the Saga Thing listener promotion contest. Yes, that's right, we're asking our loyal listeners to help us promote the podcast by spreading the word through creative expression. Evan Quinlan got the ball rolling without even realizing we were planning this. You can see his handywork in the image above. He's the first entry into the contest and the current leader. Do you have what it takes to unseat him?
Winners of the contest will receive fabulous prizes! How exciting. Listen to the episode for more details.
Tuesday Jan 16, 2018
Tuesday Jan 16, 2018
Before we get back to the sagas of the Icelanders, we're pausing once again to provide you with some of the more interesting history and stories behind the History Channel's Vikings. We've got two lengthy Saga Briefs for you chock full of Vikings goodness ripped straight from the medieval sources that inform the show. We've already covered The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, his death poem, Rollo and the Vikings in Paris, and the mythology surrounding the blood-eagle. This time around we've got our eyes on the Ragnarssons. As you'll learn, there are a lot of them. So many, in fact, that we don't even get to your favorites in this episode. That's right, you'll have to wait until next time to hear all about Ivar the Boneless, Ubbe, Bjorn, and Hvitserk. But never fear, there's plenty here to keep you entertained. Learn all about the origins of Sigurd's Snake-in-the-Eye. Discover the daring deed of Rognvald Ragnarsson. Ooh and aah over Ulvi's brief moment in the sun. Hear all about Hastein Ragnarsson, one of Ragnar's greatest and most trusted sons. And then there's Eirik and Agnar, Fridleif, Radbard, Dunwat, and even a few daughters to consider. There's also a good bit in here about Lagertha. We hope you enjoy!
Credits:
Intro - VioDance cover of "If I Had A Heart" by Fever Ray with Hardanger Violin
Closing Music - Logan Kendell's folk cover of "If I Had A Heart" by Fever Ray. To purchase a copy of the song, visit Logan Kendell's bandcamp page. Be sure to check out his other music while you're there. I highly recommend his cover of Cruzados' "La Flor de Mal."
Friday Dec 01, 2017
Friday Dec 01, 2017
Dr. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson is a researcher in the department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University in Sweden. You might recognize her name as the lead author of the recent article, "A Female Viking Warrior Confirmed by Genomics," which identified the famous Birka warrior of grave Bj 581 as a woman. It's no surprise that this revelation attracted a lot of attention from both scholars and fans of the Viking Age. In this special Saga Brief, Andy sits down to talk with Dr. Hedenstierna-Jonson about medieval Birka, grave Bj 581, and the exciting implications of this revelation.
Music Credits:
Opening song - “Rúnatal” by An Danzza
Introduction - from Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur
Friday Nov 17, 2017
Friday Nov 17, 2017
In this Saga Brief, John and Andy visit Seminole State College to talk about Thor in all his incarnations, from the Proto-Germanic god of thunder to the hammer throwing stud of the Marvel Comic Universe. You can access the PowerPoint slides here: Thor Presentation.
Special thanks to Michael Mendoza for inviting us and organizing this event. We are also grateful to Aaron Hanlin and the Grindle Honors Insitute at Seminole State College for generously funding our travel. And thank you to the students of Seminole State for your kind attention and enthusiasm.
If you're interested in having Saga Thing come to your university, contact us at sagathingpodcast@gmail.com.