The image above is a sketch found in the 14th century Möðruvallabók (AM 132 fol. 61v). It reads: Hér berjast þeir Egill Skallagrímsson og Ljótur inn bleiki. [Here Egil Skallagrimson and Ljot the Pale fight.]
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This is our action packed dueling episode! Egil suits up for battle against a pale-skinned Swedish berserker hell bent on destroying the family of Arinbjorn’s sister. Then he tackles Atli the Short, whose magical invulnerability to weapons forces Egil to get creative in battle. And if the duels weren’t enough, Egil and Arinbjorn go on a series of Viking raids in Saxony and Frisia.
In this episode, we welcome Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri Haraldsson (aka
King Haakon the Good) to the throne of Norway. And with the deposed
Eirik trying to find a new life for himself in Northumbria, you’d think
there wouldn’t be time to mess around with ol’ Egil Skallagrimsson
anymore. But Gunnhild holds a grudge. Cursing Egil to a restless life
until he crosses paths with her once more, Gunnhild makes sure that
she’ll get the chance to avenge her son’s death. Of course, she’ll have
to accomplish this vengeance through her husband, Eirik, and things
don’t always go as planned when Gunnhild puts Egil’s head in Eirik’s
hands. Find out what happens when Egil meets Eirik and Gunnhild in York.
You’ve probably noticed that our latest episodes have been lacking
the brilliant illustrations of our pal Matt Smith. That’s because Matt’s
a success. He’s got plenty of paid work to do with real deadlines.
We’re excited to see all the stuff he’s been working on and look forward
to his eventual return to Saga Thing illustration. In the meantime,
we’d love to see more illustrations of the saga scenes and characters we
encounter here at Saga Thing. If you feel inspired to illustrate
something you’ve heard on the podcast, please send it to us through
social media or our email address. Use the hashtag #SagaThingArt when
posting on social media. If we get enough, I’ll put together a special
gallery on our website organized by saga. Any scene or character from
any saga we’ve covered is fair game.
Finally, for those of you looking for a deeper dive into what we’re talking about, check out our updated bibliography page here.
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