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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
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Join us as we celebrate our 10th Anniversary with some reminiscing, listener interaction, ridiculous bits, and a lot of laughs. There might even be a hilarious surprise guest appearance here as well. And if that's not enough for you, we've got two more bonus episodes to sate your appetite.
As we say more than once in this episode, thank you for listening. Whether you've been listening for 10 years or 10 days, we appreciate you and we're honored that you are sharing this journey with us.
Skál!
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
[Quick Note: This episode appears to be over 8 hours long. It's a cruel joke by the podbean upload. The actual length is just over 90 minutes. It will end where it's supposed to.]
We’re back with another installment of Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, The Saga of Havard of Isafjord. This one is quickly becoming a new Saga Thing favorite. In this episode, Havard lays around, Bjargey gets busy, Thorbjorn takes a nasty fall, and Vak meets one of the more surprisingly stupid but realistic demises we’ve seen on this podcast. Along the way, Havard cracks the door open to let a new God into his heart, but only if said new God can provide him with the bloody revenge he's been praying for.
We also dig into the runesack and discuss the wonders of whale rib rollers and what exactly Thorbjorn is doing with Sigrid and the other young women he takes into his household.
Thanks to Will Bilson for the beautiful painting of Havard and Bjargey's touching goodbye as Havard leaves to seek vengeance against Thorbjorn. You can find more of Will's work at https://www.instagram.com/willjah_art.thing
If you’d like to send us a message, a question, a comment, or compliment for our 10th Anniversary Special, you’ve got lots of options:
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/
First and Second Verse Music - "Despair and Triumph" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Third and Fourth Verse Music - “Valravn” by Danheim
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Sunday Jul 30, 2023
Sunday Jul 30, 2023
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 MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Sunday Jul 02, 2023
Sunday Jul 02, 2023
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
Monday Jun 05, 2023
Monday Jun 05, 2023
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 MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license