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
Saga Brief 20 - On Bard's Saga, Medieval Literature, and Dungeons and Dragons with Will Biel
Episode 31c - The Saga of Bard the God of Snowfell (Chapters 17-22)
Episode 31b - The Saga of Bard the God of Snowfell (Chapters 12-16)
1 Million Downloads (A Celebratory Chat with John and Andy)
Episode 31a - The Saga of Bard the God of Snowfell (chapters 1-11)
Saga Brief 19 - Sailing in the Viking Age Interview with Dana Dalicsak
Episode 30d - The Saga of Hord and the Holm-Dwellers (Judgments)
Episode 30c - The Saga of Hord and the Holm-Dwellers (chapters 29-41)
Episode 30b - The Saga of Hord and the Holm-Dwellers (chapters 16-28)
Saga Brief 18 - Women of the Viking World Interview with Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir
Episode 30a - The Saga of Hord and the Island-Dwellers (Chapters 1-15)
Saga Short 7 - The Tale of the Volsi
Saga Short 6 - The Tale of Thidrandi and Thorhall
Saga Short 5 - The Tale of Thorarin Nefjolsson
Saga Short 4 - The Tale of Thorstein Shiver
Saga Brief 17 - Vinland and the Vikings in the New World (Live at the Scandinavian Cultural Center in West Newton, MA)
Episode 29p - Egil's Saga (Judgments)
Episode 29o - Egil's Saga (Part 15)
Episode 29n - Egil's Saga (Part 14)
Episode 29m - Egil's Saga (Part 13)
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