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
Episode 18c - The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong (Judgments)
Episode 18b - The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong (Part 2)
Saga Brief 5: The Story of Rollo the Viking
Episode 18a - The Saga of Finnbogi the Strong (Part 1)
Episode 17b - The Saga of the Greenlanders (Judgments)
Saga Brief 4: The Vinland Sagas (Interview with Loretta Decker)
Episode 17a - The Saga of the Greenlanders
Episode 16e - Grettir's Saga (Judgments)
Episode 16d - Grettir's Saga (Part 4)
Episode 16c - Grettir's Saga (Part 3)
Episode 16b - Grettir's Saga (Part 2)
Episode 15b - The First Quarter Court Results
Episode 16a - Grettir's Saga (Part 1)
Episode 15 - The First Quarter Court
Episode 14c - The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (Judgments)
Episode 14b - The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (Part 2)
Episode 14a - The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (Part 1)
Episode 13b - Viglund's Saga (Judgments)
Episode 13a - Viglund's Saga
Saga Brief 3: Krákumál
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