We begin the new year with a saga that has been compared to the works of Shakespeare himself. Not necessarily in a favorable light, but definitely compared. As we hinted in our 10th Anniversary episode, we're jumping into the sagas of Eyjafjörður in Northern Iceland (including Svarfdæla saga, Valla-Ljóts saga, Víga-Glúms saga, and Ljósvetninga saga).
Up first is Svarfdæla saga, a surprisingly compelling (but sometimes frustrating) narrative that Jónas Kristjánsson described as "one of the greatest oddities among the sagas of Icelanders" in his book Eddas and Sagas (244). And if that doesn't sell you on it, then how about this fine quote from Fredrik Heinemann from his paper "Svarfdæla saga: The Norwegians and the Swedes," the saga efficiently characterizes minor and major figures with the deft brush strokes of saga writing at its best" (237). We think you'll agree after listening to this episode covering the first six chapters of the saga.
In this episode, we meet two brothers called Thorolf and Thorstein. One is a typical saga golden boy, the other is a kolbítr. But if you know your saga tropes, you know that big things are in store for that lazy coal-eater.
Along the way, we talk about other brothers we've met in the sagas, the sudden appearance of a castle in the narrative, and one of the more unbelievable candidates for Best Bloodshed we've seen in a while. We also get back to the listener runesack to address a question from our Discord page about Viking weddings.
There's all that and more in our first episode of 2024. It's good to be back!
If you're interested in doing your own word usage research, check out The Dictionary of Old Norse Prose.
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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/
Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Episode 29m - Egil's Saga (Part 13)
Episode 29l - Egil's Saga (Part 12)
Episode 29k - Egil's Saga (Part 11)
Episode 29j - Egil's Saga (Part 10)
Episode 29i - Egil's Saga (Part 9)
Saga Brief 16 - The Battle of Brunanburh (with Rex Factor)
Episode 29h - Egil's Saga (Part 8)
Episode 29g - Egil's Saga (Part 7)
Episode 29f - Egil's Saga (Part 6)
Episode 29e - Egil's Saga (part 5)
Episode 29d - Egil's Saga (Part 4)
Episode 29c - Egil's Saga (Part 3)
Episode 29b - Egil's Saga (Part 2)
Episode 29a - Egil's Saga (Part 1)
Episode 28 - The Saga of Ale-Hood
Episode 27d - Floamanna Saga (Judgments)
Saga Brief 15 - Ivar the Boneless
Episode 27c - Floamanna Saga (Part 3)
Episode 27b - Floamanna Saga (Part 2)
Episode 27a - Floamanna Saga (Part 1)
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