Episode 29b – Egil’s Saga (Part 2)

Our journey through Egil’s Saga continues with chapters 7-15. This time, we’re following the meteoric rise of Thorolf Kveldulfsson. Against his father’s better judgment, Thorolf makes his way to the court of King Harald soon-to-be Fairhair. It’s no surprise to anyone when Thorolf distinguishes himself and becomes Harald’s most trusted and successful follower. But like Icarus, Harald flies too close to the sun. With all his success, he’s managed to gather extensive landholdings, abundant wealth, and a lot of followers. Before long, rivals at court are working to undermine him and sully his good name with King Harald. Who are these rivals? What cause do they have to hate this paragon of Norwegian virtue? And will King Harald fall under their spell? There’s only one way to find out!

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This episode includes the famous and decisive Battle of Hafrsfjord, where King Harald vanquishes his enemies and unites Norway (at least a significant portion of it) under a single crown (or so legendary history would have us believe). The battle places Thorolf, Olvir Hump, Eyvind Lamb, and their new fried Bard Brynjolfsson at the prow of King Harald’s ship. We’ve covered this battle before, but never from this perspective. Perhaps you’ll encounter a familiar face on the enemy side if you pay attention.

Sverd i Fjell monument in Stavanger, Norway

If you’d like to dive into the scholarship used to prepare this and other Egil’s Saga episodes, visit the growing bibliography page.

Thanks again to Matt Smith for another original illustration. If you enjoy Matt’s work for Saga Thing, you’ll want to keep up with his latest doodles, drawings, and projects on Twitter.

Music Credits:

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Summary Music – “April Showers” by Eddie Elkins’ Orchestra

Preview Music – “Black Vortex” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Selections from music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 29a – Egil’s Saga (Part 1)

A few months ago we once again put the fate of Saga Thing in your hands. You had the option to choose our next saga, selecting between two of Iceland’s greatest literary monuments and The Saga of the Foster-Brothers. The will of the people was made manifest and we got to work. You’ve been waiting patiently. Join us now for the first of many episodes on our listener selected saga of 2019, Egil’s Saga.

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In this episode, we cover chapters 1-6. Here the dramatic tension revolves around King Harald Tangle-Hair’s rise to power as he seeks to become sole ruler of Norway. One by one, the best men of Norway fall like dominoes before him, dying in battle, fleeing to new lands, and even burying themselves in mounds to avoid submitting to King Harald. Some embrace the seemingly inevitable and join the swelling ranks of King Harald’s supporters. 

You won’t run into Egil Skallagrimsson in this episode. This one is all about setting up the world into which he will be born. But you will meet Egil’s grandfather, Kvelduf, his father, Grim, and his uncle, Thorolf. You’ll also meet Kari of Berle, Kveldulf’s best friend, and his sons Eyvind Lamb and Olvir Hump. How will these men respond to calls to either join Harald or risk their lives fighting against him? There’s only one way to find out (assuming you can’t read the saga yourself for some reason). 

Please feel free to submit any questions or comments you’d like us to address from this episode. We’ll set aside some time at the end of each episode going forward to tackle those. You can send them to us via email, twitter, or facebook.

When you’re finished, be sure to check out our Select Bibliography for Egil’s Saga on our blog site. There you’ll find citations for all the articles and books we mention throughout our journey through Egil’s Saga. We’ll be adding to it as we go.

As always, a special thanks to our Saga Thing illustrator, Matt Smith for the portraits of Kveldulf and his sons.  We look forward to seeing what he does with the rest of Egil’s Saga. If you like the work Matt’s been doing for us, check out his latest project Metal Quest, a collaboration with Tom Pappalardo. You can keep up with Matt’s latest doodles, drawings, and progress on Twitter.

Music Credits:

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Preview Music – A blend of “Procession of the King” and “Mountain Emperor” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Selections from music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/