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 31d - The Saga of Bard the God of Snowfell (Judgments)
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)
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