In this episode, we celebrate the life and accomplishments of the historical Rollo. Known to many as the envious brother of the incomparable Ragnar Loðbrok in the History Channel’s Vikings. While the historical Rollo may not have been Ragnar’s brother, Vikings gets a lot of things right. As an exile from his homeland, Rollo earned the nickname “the Walker” by wandering throughout northern Europe raiding and conquering everything in his path. Among his most significant conquests would come to be known as Normandy, a territory in northern France named for the Northmen led by Rollo in the late 9th or early 10th century. Fearing further Viking aggression, the French King Charles the Simple turned over the city of Rouen over to Rollo and his men. This simple act (get it?) provided the French with a buffer against future Viking attacks from the north. Or so they hoped. In this case, it worked out nicely. Rollo and his fellow Vikings quickly rebuilt the territories they had ravaged and assimilated into French culture. Rollo’s descendants would go on to play a very significant role in European history. As the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, Rollo’s blood flows through many veins of later European royalty.
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If you’re interested in learning more about that part of the story, we recommend the following episodes of Rex Factor, our very favorite podcast:
Rex Factor – William the Conqueror
Looking for more Vikings and Saga Thing cross-over? We’ve got a few episodes that might interest you:
The Saga of Ragnar Loðbrok and His Sons – where we review the medieval stories behind the Vikings hero.
The Blood Eagle – where we discuss the Viking practice of splitting a man open and its historical veracity.
The Krákumál – a detailed look at the famous death song of Ragnar
And if that’s not enough for you, then it’s time to hit the books. Here’s our select bibliography for the episode.
Saga Thing 
Great episode. What is the name of the song at the end? Thanks.
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Hi Adrian,
The closing song for our Saga Briefs is always the Icelandic Folk song “Ólafur Liljurós.” The version we use is from the Icelandic Folk Music CD. The Saga Brief intro, from “Tröllaslagur” is also on that CD. You can find the whole CD on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYbE2coMZPc There’s a good version of the closing song on YouTube with lyrics, if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwfI6nvCShI
Lastly, we’ve been using “Óðin’s Rune Song” by Rúnatal for the initial opening with clips of the show. Listen to that one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ3aNjz1ObU
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I think this brief easily wins the award for widest assortment of absurd voice impressions to date in Saga Thing. Loved the voices (especially the Monty Python tribute).
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Come for the knowledge, stay for the absurd voices.
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Awesome episode! What’s the song you used at 1:05:38 after the hilarous “No time! Back to Paris! 🙂
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Hi Alejandro, I’m not sure exactly, but most of the short music and audio clips for that episode were taken from Vikings. We don’t usually do that. This was a special occasion.
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Thanks! Found it! it is played in few occassions in the show: 1) when Lagertha and Bjorn leave Ragnar (S2E1); 2) when vikings are told Ragnar is dead in Paris (S3); 3) when Ragnar has a vision in S4E6.
Very emotive song!
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