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 14 - Medieval Archery with Patricia Gonsalves and Stephen Fox
Saga Short 3 - The Tale of Jokul Buason
Episode 26c - The Saga of the People of Kjalarnes (Judgments)
Episode 26b - The Saga of the People of Kjalarnes (Part 2)
Episode 26a - The Saga of the People of Kjalarnes (Part 1)
Saga Brief 13 - The Repton Viking Burials: An Interview with Cat Jarman
Episode 25b - The Saga of Ref the Sly (Judgments)
Episode 25a - The Saga of Ref the Sly (Summary)
Saga Brief 12 - Catching Up with Saga Thing (Now With a Listener Contest!)
Saga Brief 11 - The Lesser Ragnarssons
Saga Brief 10 - "Female Viking Warrior" Interview with Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson
Saga Brief 9 - Thor: The Intersection of Viking Mythology and Popular Culture (Live)
Episode 24b - Second Quarter Court Results
Episode 24 - The Second Quarter Court
Episode 23c - The Saga of Droplaug's Sons (Judgments)
Episode 23b - The Saga of Droplaug's Sons (Part 2)
Episode 23a - The Saga of Droplaug's Sons
Episode 1 - Thattir Intro and The Tale of Thorstein Staff-Struck
Episode 22b - The Saga of the People of Vopnafjord
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