Saga Thing

Saga Brief 11 - The Lesser Ragnarssons

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."  

Saga Brief 10 - "Female Viking Warrior" Interview with Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson

 

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

Outro – Ólafur Liljurós

 

 

Saga Brief 9 - Thor: The Intersection of Viking Mythology and Popular Culture (Live)

 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.

Music: 

Intro to Saga Brief - from Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur

Outro - Ólafur Liljurós

Episode 24b - Second Quarter Court Results

 

 The Second Quarter of our Saga Thing comes to a close with the results episode. In this special episode, John and Andy review your choices for Best Bloodshed, Nicknames, Notable Witticisms, Outlawry, Thingmen, and Final Ratings. Will Skarpheðin emerge as the poster boy for Saga Thing's Best Bloodshed and Notable Witticism categories?  What role might the Russians have played in the Thingmen voting? Does Njal's Saga maintain its position on the throne of saga literature? Or will another contender leave Njal's Saga in the dust on the way to the Fifth Court?  Along the way, we answer listener questions on a variety of fun topics.

References for Grettir and  discussion

Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir. "'How Do You Know if it is Love or Lust?' On Gender, Status, and Violence in Old Norse Literature." Interfaces 2 (2016): 189-209.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2017. Grettir's Saga discussion at 155-56.

Ljungqvist, Fredrik Charpentier. "Rape in the Icelandic Sagas: An Insight in the Perceptions about Sexual Assaults on Women in the Old Norse World." Journal of Family History 40, no. 4 (2015): 431-47.

Scudder, Bernard. Introduction to The Saga of Grettir the Strong, ix-xxxviii. New York: Penguin Classics, 2005.

Short, William R. "The Role of Women in Viking Society." Hurstwic. http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/women.htm (accessed October 10, 2017).

References for discussion of literacy in medieval Iceland:

Hermann, Pernille. "Literacy." In The Routledge Research Companion to the Medieval Icelandic Sagas, edited by Ármann Jakobsson, Sverrir Jakobsson, 34-47. New York: Routledge, 2017.

Quinn, Judy. "From Orality to Literacy in Medieval Iceland." In Old Icelandic Literature and Society, edited by Margaret Clunies Ross, 30-60. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Sigurðsson, Gísli. "Orality and Literacy in the Sagas of Icelanders." In A Companion to Old-Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, edited by Rory McTurk, 285-301. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005.

Music Credits:
Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” 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/

Saga Shorts 2 - The Tale of Thorstein Bull's-leg

For our second episode of Saga Shorts, we've chosen the brilliant "Tale of Thorstein Bull's-leg" (Þorsteins Þáttr uxafóts).  As one of the longer þættir, this one defies categorization. It tells the story of Thorstein Oddnyarson, a child abandoned at birth who grows up to be a hero in the court of King Olaf Tryggvason.  Along the way, he'll find his parents, do battle with the undead, raid the home of a troll family, experience a miracle, almost drown in vomit, and fight a pagan bull.  It's got everything you could want in a saga and more, all wrapped in a nice little Þáttr sized package.

For this episode, we used George Clark's translation, "The Tale of Thorstein Bull's-Leg," in The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, Vol. 4, ed. Vidar Hrinsson (Reykjavik: Leifur Eiriksson Publishing, 1997), 340-54.

We mention Elizabeth Ashman Rowe's "Þorsteins þáttr uxafóts, Helga þáttr Þórissonar, and the Conversion þættir," Scandinavian Studies 76, no. 4 (2004): 459-74.

Music Credits:

Intro: From “Death Awaits” by Billy Malmstrom

Outro: From “Óðinn” by Krauka