Episode 17a – The Saga of the Greenlanders

Once again, the New World beckons.  In this episode, we travel with the children of Eirik the Red to Vinland.  Yes, every single one of Eirik’s children make their own expedition to North America in search of fame and fortune.  This saga covers each of them.  Leif Eiriksson is the first of his siblings to make the trip, but he’s not the first Viking to spot land in the New World.  According to this saga, that honor goes to Bjarni Herjolfsson (if you call it an honor, since he’s later made fun of for not disembarking and checking things out).  Where’s that spirit of adventure, Bjarni? That said, Bjarni may be wiser than we think, given how the journey turns out for most of the Viking explorers of Vinland.  Find out what happens when the Vikings meet the skraelings in the New World as Saga Thing takes on The Saga of the Greenlanders.

If all of this sounds familiar, that’s because we already traveled to Vinland and discovered America way back in episode 4 when Saga Thing covered The Saga of Eirik the Red.  You’d be wise to refresh your memory by listening to that one again, since The Saga of the Greenlanders is best enjoyed as a companion to The Saga of Eirik the Red.  You may also be interested in our supplementary post from that episode about Norsemen in the New World.

This episode also features Andy’s most ridiculous brief summary.  He apologizes in advance.  He was no doubt tired and pressed for time.

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Episode 16e – Grettir’s Saga (Judgments)

At long last, it is time to put Grettir’s Saga on trial.  Does the fight atop a whale carcass have enough appeal to win Best Bloodshed?  Will Grettir’s Saga break the Body Count record currently held by Eyrbyggja Saga?  Will Andy and John outlaw Grettir or take him on as thingman?  Does Andy finally decide whether Grettir’s Saga is better or worse than Gisli’s Saga?  And will John ever stop talking about Nicknames?  This saga is full of memorable moments, witticisms, and wonders, which is why this judgment section ended up being so long.  But don’t worry, there’s plenty to laugh about and plenty to learn here.

We hope you enjoy this conclusion to Grettir’s Saga as much as we enjoyed making it.  The journey’s been long, but well worth the time spent.  We’ll get to the Saga Brief about Grettir and Beowulf sometime soon.  For now, we need a break from this saga.  It’s on to the Saga of the Greenlanders next and then Finnbogi the Mighty.  Until then!

Listen Now:

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Episode 16d – The Saga of Grettir the Strong (Part 4)

In the thrilling conclusion to Grettir’s Saga, we follow the slender armed Thorstein Dromund on his quest to avenge his brother.  Thorstein’s adventures carry him from the shores of Norway to the bustling city of Constantinople, where the exiled King Harald Hardrada leads a rag tag bunch of Scandinavians called the Varangian Guard.  And if you thought the Grettir’s Saga author would pass up the chance to throw in another giant of saga literature, you were sorely mistaken.  Sadly, Harald is only featured in a cameo.  The real story of the Grettir’s Saga epilogue is the love affair of Thorstein and Spes.  Often referred to as the Spésar þáttr (The Tale of Spes “Hope”), the epilogue contrasts the epic ethos of the saga world with the more playful spirit of the continental romances.  If you have ever encountered the famous story of Tristan and Isolde, where the two lovers consistently outwit Isolde’s bumbling husband, King Mark, you’ll feel right at home in the Spésar þáttr.  Join us as we review this deceptively simple epilogue and discuss its potential value for understanding the rest of Grettir’s Saga.

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Along the way, we make reference to a few items of interest.  First among these are the blog sites featuring Drangey Island.  There are some pretty impressive pictures on these blogs and stories about Drangey:

1. http://stuckiniceland.com/north/the-outlaws-paradise/
2. http://fooface.blogspot.com/2006/07/epic-climb.html

And if you want to take our advice and visit Drangey for yourself, tours are available here: http://www.drangey.net/

Interested in the Brother Robert’s 13th century Saga of Tristram and Isond?  Click on the book and buy a copy:

Or perhaps you’d like to start with Béroul’s The Romance of Tristan:

And finally, we make reference to one of our favorite scholarly articles on Grettir’s Saga, Kathryn Hume’s “The Thematic Design of Grettis Saga” from The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 73.4 (1974): 469-86.  It’s quite fascinating and worth a read.  Free to everyone with access to JSTOR.

Episode 16c – Grettir’s Saga (Part 3)

 The Saga of Grettir the Strong continues.  In this episode, Grettir arrives home in Iceland only to discover that his father has passed away, his brother has been slain by Thorbjorn Oxen-might, and that he himself has been outlawed for the accidental burning of Thorir of Gard’s sons in Norway.  That’s a lot to take in all at once.  As an outlaw, Grettir is forced to lurk in the wilds, hide in caves, and rely on the kindness of others for food.  Since Grettir’s not terribly kind himself, he usually just steals what he needs.  Join us as we discuss the last of Grettir’s adventures, including amazing feats of strength, battles with a troll-hag and a giant, and a rocky encounter with a witch.  Will Grettir get stumped by the witch’s black magic? Will he go out in a blaze of glory? And will he ever recover from the embarrassment of his exposed manhood?  Find out in this episode of Saga Thing.

Drangey Island in Skagafjörður fjord, where Grettir and Illugi spent their final years.

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Episode 16b – Grettir’s Saga (Part 2)

In this episode we follow Grettir through three of his most famous battles against an undead Kar the Old, a giant Norwegian bear, and Iceland’s most famous draugr, Glam.  We also catch Grettir stumbling in a clumsy fight for fire that will eventually seal his fate as an outlaw forever.  This one runs a little longer than the average episode of Saga Thing, but with so much excellent material to cover, we just couldn’t resist.

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Episode 15b – First Quarter Court Results

The results are in and your votes have been tallied.  Listen to the Quarter Court Results show to find out how your favorite candidates did.  John and Andy also take time to answer your questions about podcasting, saga scholarship and other nonsense, like which character they each resemble most.  Along the way, they reference a few things you may be interested in checking out for yourself.  See the links below the episode player.

Quarter Court Poll Results Here

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Links:

“Aldrei er góð vísa of oft kveðin”

The Concordance to the Proverbs in the Old Icelandic Sagas by Richard Harris

John and Andy’s Podcast Recommendations (Images link to podcast webpages)

       

       

      

      

        

We didn’t mention it, but John and Andy both dabble in

Episode 16 – Grettir’s Saga (Part 1)

In this epic multi-part episode, we tell the story of Iceland’s most famous and longest surviving outlaw, Grettir Asmundarson.  Join us as we trace his life, from its tempestuous beginning to its tragic end.  Before we delve into his amazing exploits as an adult, we must look back to his origins. In traditional saga fashion, we begin with his great grandfather, Onund Treefoot.  We follow Onund’s efforts to resist the increasing power of King Harald Fairhair and his struggles to come to terms with the loss of his property and his leg.  Forced to redefine his own identity and to make a new life in foreign lands, he emerges as the truest hero in the saga, renowned as “the bravest and most agile of all the one-legged men in Iceland.”  From Onund, we wend our way through battles over whale corpses, murder, and legal cases in the genealogy until we arrive at Grettir himself.  We’ll look briefly at Grettir’s inglorious youth, his troubled relationship with his father, Asmund, and the events leading up to his first outlawry.  Will Grettir learn to control his temper and put his strength to good use? Or will he flout the norms of society and continue to make his own way more difficult?  Find out as Saga Thing takes on Grettir’s Saga (chapters 1-20).

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 This handy genealogy will help you keep some of the names straight in your minds

Saga Thing’s First Quarter Court

Join us as we gather at the Saga Thing law rock for a Quarter Court to review the judgments for the first 10 sagas of the podcast (Hrafnkel through Bjorn Champion of the Hitardal People). After reviewing the greatest hits from each category, we turn it over to you, our loyal thingmen, to judge the winners. Cast your vote for Best Bloodshed, Nicknames, Notable Witticisms, Outlawry, and Thingmen HERE between June 12th and July 19th. We’ll present the results at the end of July or beginning of August.

In that episode we will also make time to answer your questions about all the saga things you care to ask about and to share any comments you might have. Send comments and questions to our email sagathingpodcast@gmail.com or to our Twitter (sagathingpod) or Facebook (sagathingpodcast). We look forward to hearing from you!

The Quarter Court

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Quarter Court Results (Click Here for Episode Page)

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Episode 14c – The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (Judgments)

After a two part summary, it’s finally time to put Vatnsdæla Saga on trial.  As one of the longer sagas we’ve covered, there were plenty of candidates for each category.  In fact, with so many great characters available this is the toughest one yet for choosing a thingman.  And outlawry…don’t even get us started on the number of potential outlaws in this saga.  There’s plenty of bloodshed and a decent pile of bodies to keep everyone happy.  And, for the first time, more nicknames than we could possibly deal with in a reasonable amount of time.  John did his best to curb his enthusiasm and make nicknames manageable, but Andy still fell asleep near the end.  We’ve posted a severely edited version of the nicknames section in the episode available for download, but you can see the whole list of nicknames and hear the full original recording (more or less) by following this link: John’s Crazy Nicknames

Among the highlights of this episode, in our humble opinion, is the exploration of just how many large cats a person could reasonably take on in battle.

Andy also reminds John of a backroom deal he offered a while back that would have made the Thingman selection for Vatnsdæla Saga a whole lot easier.  This episode is packed with facts, fun, and a healthy dose of nonsense.  But enough babbling.  Here’s the link you’re looking for:

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Episode 14b – The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (Part 2)

Join us for the second half of the epic tale of the Vatnsdal chieftains and their family over six generations. In this episode, we clumsily attempt to trace the final three generations of this remarkable family.  We’ve crammed a lot into this episode and we barely scratch the surface.

We pick up the story with the seven children of Ingimund Thorsteinsson (led by the bickering brothers Thorstein and Jokul) as they seek revenge against their father’s killer and begin a career as luck-favored witch-killers. Along the way, they encounter a particularly impressive villain named Thorolf Sledgehammer and his clowder of ornery cats.  With the district safe from evil-doers, the saga shifts to the next generation.

This section begins with the sons of Thorstein Ingimundarson, Ingolf and some other guy.  Ingolf Thorsteinsson is the important one.  He’s the handsome Don Juan of Iceland who melts hearts and enrages menfolk across the north of Iceland. Ingolf may be a bit narcissistic, but he backs up his boasts with impressive feats of derring-do (see picture above, and note the rock strapped to his chest).

The final generation is represented by Thorkel Scratcher, who we discussed briefly in Hallfred’s Saga Troublesome-poet.  Despite his humble origins as an illegitimate son abandoned to the elements as an infant, Thorkel Scratcher rises to become one of the great figures of Iceland. But great men often have jealous enemies…

This episode is filled to bursting with berserkers, half-giants, demonic pumas, missionaries, witches, outlaws, legendary swords, legendary lovers, and the occasional bloodbath. How does one man with twenty enormous black cats keep the litterbox clean? What are the three tests of a chieftain hero? Can one man singlehandedly take out eighteen bandits if he has big enough stones? Is there room for two berserkers in a single family? And can a Norwegian companion ever survive a saga battle?

Listen in and find out!

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In honor of the many Norwegian companions who have fallen in the name of saga violence, we’ve created a special shirt in our Saga Thing store.  Get one for your own Norwegian companion.

     

And grab a coffee mug for yourself while you’re at it.  All that and more, available here: Saga Thing store.