Saga Thing

Episode 37a - The Saga of Havard of Isafjord (chapters 1-5)

Saga Thing returns with a brand-new episode for a brand new saga from late medieval Iceland. In this episode, we dip our toes into the first five chapters of Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, The Saga of Havard of Isafjord. It’s a story of good guys vs. bad guys in this surprisingly fun but little-known classic.
The heroes of this episode are Olaf and his parents, Havard and Bjargey. The villains are Thorbjorn and his despicable nephew Vak. Needless to say, things don’t go very well for Olaf and his family when they come up against Thorbjorn’s ruthless brand of authoritarianism.
We’d also like to welcome our new guest illustrator, William Bilson. In his first illustration for Havard’s Saga, we see Thorbjorn gently guiding the local lawspeaker to the right decision when he’s asked to settle a dispute over a whale carcass. You can check out more of William’s work at www.instagram.com/willjah_art.thing
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-actionLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfrontLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Saga Short 11 - The Tale of Bolli Bollason

With Laxdaela Saga behind us, we turn to the Tale of Bolli Bollason to bring the journey to a proper end. In this fun little story, Bolli Bollason finds himself swept into more than one conflict up in northern Iceland. Does he have the social and political (and warrior) savvy to go there and back again without a scratch? Listen and find out!
Warning: Andy goes a bit crazy with the maps and topography in this one.
Music Credits:
Intro: from “Death Awaits” by Billy Malmstrom
Outro: From “Óðinn” by Krauka

Episode 36o - Laxdaela Saga (Judgments)

After a very close inspection and lengthy investigation, we are finally ready to put Laxdaela Saga on trial. As it's been over a year since we started, John and I take our time reviewing the candidates for our usual Saga Thing categories:
Best Bloodshed
Body Count
Nicknames
Notable Witticisms
Outlawry
Thingmen
Final Ratings
Our thanks to all of you out there who have listened, commented, and engaged with us as we worked our way through this massive and entertaining saga. We're especially grateful to all of you who've been interacting over on our Official Unofficial Saga Thing Discord page. If you're not involved over there, at least sign up and lurk. It's pretty interesting stuff.
A very special thanks to Jacob for sticking with us through a whole year of illustrating for Saga Thing. It was a monumental effort and a pleasure to see his art evolve across the saga. Many thanks, Jacob! Check out more of his work on Instagram where he's @skarphedin_illustrator.
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-actionLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfrontLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 36n - Laxdaela Saga (chapters 72-78)

We began our journey through Laxdaela Saga in April of 2022. A year and many many episodes later, we finally come to the end. Please join us as we discuss the final few chapters of the saga. It may be a little difficult to find the narrative thread if you're expecting to follow Bolli or Gudrun through these last pages of the text. They're certainly there, but the saga's ending is designed to wrap up the story of Gudrun's husbands and to look forward toward the genealogical connections to future generations.
Of course, Bolli and Gudrun get their moments in this conclusion, including Gudrun's brief but riddling confession of who she loved most.
We wrap it all up with a lengthy summons of Gudrun and a detailed discussion of her character, something we've been waiting for a long time to do. I argued that we should devote a whole episode to Gudrun, but John reminded me that we've spent half a year commenting on her. Think of our summons as an invitation for further discussion, which you can do on our various social media platforms:
The Unofficial Official Saga Thing Discord
SagaThingPod on Twitter
Sagathingpodcast on Facebook and Instagram
We appreciate your patience as we worked through this amazing saga across the last year. We'll be back soon with the Bolli Bollason's Tale and the Judgments.
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-actionLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Review Music - "The Royal Vagabond Medley" by Jocker's Dance Orchestra
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfrontLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
 
 

Saga Brief 24 - Slavery in the Viking Age (Live Presentation at the University of Connecticut)

We were recently invited to speak at the University of Connecticut's Annual Medieval Studies/ECE Outreach Seminar on a variety of subjects related to the Viking Age. We prepared and recorded our morning presentation on Slavery in the Viking Age as a Saga Brief so that everyone in our listening audience could enjoy. It's a subject Andy's been thinking about a lot as we've been working our way through Laxdaela Saga, which is why he took the lead on this topic. Later in the day, John presented on Viking Age board games, focusing on Nine Men's Morris and Hneftafl. We then led a conversation on the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his Sons among other topics. Sadly, these afternoon sessions were workshops and thus not recorded.
We hope you enjoy this little attempt at a live Saga Brief. The audio is not pristine, but it is pretty decent for a live recording. The questions from Q&A are a bit difficult to hear and had to be edited slightly. Apologies for the poor quality there. We'll use two mics next time.
For those interested in learning more, here is a list of valuable research on the subject Andy used to prepare the Saga Brief:
Brink, Stefan. "Slavery in the Viking Age." In The Viking World, edited by Stefan Brink and Neil Price, 246-257. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Brink, Stefan. Thraldom: The Viking Age Slave Trade. Uppsala: Swedish Science Press, 2018.
Byock, Jesse L. Viking Age Iceland. London: Penguin Books, 2001.
Gelsinger, Paul. Icelandic Enterprise: Commerce and Economy in the Middle Ages. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1981.
Gustin, Ingrid, and Sven Kalmring (eds.). Viking Age Trade: Silver, Slaves and Gotland. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2013.
Heebøll-Holm, Thomas. "Piratical Slave-Raiding: A New Perspective on Viking Age Maritime Violence." In Viking-Age Trade: Silver, Slaves and Gotland, edited by Ingrid Gustin and Sven Kalmring, 219-240. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2013.
Jarman, Cat. River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2021.
Jochens, Jenny. Women in Old Norse Society. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.
Jones, Gwyn. A History of the Vikings. Revised edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Karras, Ruth Mazo. Slavery and Society in Medieval Scandinavia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988.
Karras, Ruth Mazo. "Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age." Scandinavian Studies 79, no. 4 (2007): 403-422.
Naumann, Elise, Maja Krzewińska, Anders Götherström, and Gunilla Eriksson. "Slaves as Burial Gifts in Viking Age Norway? Evidence from Stable Isotope and Ancient DNA Analyses." Journal of Archaeological Science 41, (2014): 533-540.
Price, Neil. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings. London: Allen Lane, 2020.
Raffield, Ben. "The Slave Markets of the Viking World." History Today 66, no. 4 (2016): 12-19.
 
Music Credits
Opening song – Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur
Outro – Ólafur Liljurós

Episode 36m - Laxdaela Saga (chapters 65-71)

In this episode, Guðrún Ósvífsdóttir teaches Helgi Harðbeinsson all about loopholes in betrothal oaths. And if Helgi was feeling bad after getting let down by Guðrún, he feels that much worse when he sees his fylgja walking the opposite direction as he approaches the Althing. This episode also features a mysterious talking black cloak, Guðrún's fourth wedding, and more machinations by Snorri goði.
We top it all off with a quick Saga Brief on the history of the famous sword known as Skofnung and an argument about how saga authors came up with the idiosyncratic rules for wielding Skofnung successfully.
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-actionLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Review Music - "The Royal Vagabond Medley" by Jocker's Dance Orchestra
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfrontLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 36l - Laxdaela Saga (chapters 59-64)

While 12 years may have passed since the slaying of Bolli, not a day passed that Gudrun wasn't thinking of getting her revenge on the Olafssons and their companions. Now that her two sons, Thorleik and Bolli, are old enough to avenge their father, Gudrun arranges a secret meeting with Snorri godi to lay out a cunning plan. Unfortunately for Gudrun, Snorri doesn't share her enthusiasm for attacking the Olafssons, or most of the other Bolli-slayers for that matter. There is one man, however, whose death could satisfy the demands of Gudrun's revenge and the honor of young Thorleik and Bolli.
In this episode, we trace the evolution and flawless execution of Snorri and Gudrun's cunning plan, witness the oaths sworn at Gudrun's fourth betrothal, meet a strange man calling himself Killer-Hrapp, and discuss his apparent reference to Reynard in most English translations of Laxdaela Saga.
Step into the conversation on our social media:
SagaThingPod on Twitter
Sagathingpodcast on Facebook and Instagram
and
The unofficial official Saga Thing Discord
The above illustration of Bolli Bollason and Helgi Hardbeinsson was composed by Jacob Foust (aka @skarphedin_illustrator), our special guest illustrator for Laxdaela Saga. 
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-actionLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Review Music - "The Royal Vagabond Medley" by Jocker's Dance Orchestra
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfrontLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 36k - Laxdaela Saga (chapters 52-58)

In this episode, Bolli finds out what happens when you kill your foster brother. We discuss Thorgerd Egilsdottir's lust for vengeance, how the avengers assemble, and Gudrun's handling of yet another loss. This episode also features some special guest appearances by some familiar faces from Saga Thing past and the first appearance of Bolli Bollason.
When all is finished, we summons Bolli before the court and review the evidence to assess his character. Step into the conversation on our social media:
SagaThingPod on Twitter
Sagathingpodcast on Facebook and Instagram
and
The unofficial official Saga Thing Discord
The illustration above was composed by Jacob Foust (aka @skarphedin_illustrator), our special guest illustrator for Laxdaela Saga. 
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-actionLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Review Music - "The Royal Vagabond Medley" by Jocker's Dance Orchestra
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfrontLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 36j - Laxdaela Saga (chapters 47-51)

In this thrilling episode, Kjartan asserts his presence in the district (and gets a taste of revenge) by humiliating Bolli, Gudrun, and the Osvifssons. I'd love to tell you more in this teaser about how he goes about that, but I don't want to spoil the fun. And even as Kjartan pushes back against his rivals at Laugar, Gudrun pushes back harder. All of this sets up one of the saga's most exciting and moving climaxes as Bolli and Kjartan finally come to blows.
Because this is the saga's first major climax, we take our time setting it up. And when it's all finished, there's a special summons at the end where we consider the good and bad of Kjartan's character. Find us on social media and let us know how you feel about Kjartan (sagathingpod on Twitter, sagathingpodcast on Instagram/Facebook, or on our unofficial official Discord page).
Jacob Foust (aka @skarphedin_illustrator) composed the above illustration of Bolli and Kjartan sharing a quiet moment. It's quite touching, especially when you know the story. If you don't know the story, then listen to the episode. What are you waiting for?
Music Credits
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-actionLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Review Music - "The Royal Vagabond Medley" by Jocker's Dance Orchestra
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfrontLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Holiday Special - The Tale of Frosti Snjokarlinn

Happy Holidays to all you amazing Saga Thing listeners out there! Over the past couple years we've put out a Holiday Special on or around Christmas Eve. It started with The Saga of Gudmund the Grunch. And then last year we gave you the little known origins of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas in "A Visit From Glam." 
This year we managed to find a fun short story to share with you about a man called Frosti Jónsson, known affectionately to all in medieval Iceland as Frosti snjókarlinn. If you're familiar with the Rankin/Bass Frosty the Snowman special, you'll probably recognize some of the names and events of this long forgotten origin of the Frosti legend.
We hope you enjoy.
 
Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod (now with sleigh bells)Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-actionLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro Music - "Frosty the Snowman" by Gene Autry