Episode 37c – The Saga of Havard of Isafjord (chapters 11-18)

What do you do after a successful killing spree? Kill some more! At least that seems to be Havard of Isafjord’s motto. There’s a certain logic to it as one killing begets another. But Thorbjorn has a lot of brothers and there’s only so much killing Havard can do before he needs to find a sweet spot to hide out. Perhaps that nice fella from the Althing who offered his help will provide the protection Havard needs?

This episode moves quick. We meet some new characters, see some familiar faces, and get a shocking surprise involving two young boys who stand up to a local bully. We also spend some time talking Old Norse poetry. All in all, a good time.

One more episode of Havard’s saga to go before we take it to the Saga Thing!

Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Review Music – “The Royal Vagabond Medley” by Jocker’s Dance Orchestra

Poetry Music – – “Fornheim” by Danheim

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Hwæt a Movie! – Episode 1 – Beowulf (1999)

As part of our 10th Anniversary extravaganza, we are launching what could become a new podcast: Hwæt a Movie! It’s a movie review podcast focusing on films with a medieval (or medieval adjacent) setting.

To get this little experiment off on the right foot, we are starting with a series on Beowulf movies. There are a lot of them and they aren’t necessarily good representations of the poem. But that doesn’t matter.

Join us as we discuss, review, and rate 1999’s Beowulf, starring Christopher Lambert, Rhona Mitra, and Mac from Night Court!

Music Credits

Intro Music – Beowulf

Performed by Jonathan David Sloate (as Jonathan Sloate)

Written by Jonathan David Sloate (as Jonathan Sloate)

Published by Sorcerer’s Apprentice Publishing Company

Written by Jonathan David Sloate (as Jonathan Sloate)

Published by Sorcerer’s Apprentice Publishing Company

Segment and Outro Music – Guilty (Juno Reactor Mix)

Performed by Gravity Kills

Written by Gravity Kills

Published by TVT Music, Inc.

Gravity Kills appears courtesy of TVT Records

1997 TVT Records

Special Episodes – 10th Anniversary of Saga Thing

Join us as we celebrate our 10th Anniversary!

In Part I, we do some reminiscing and listener interaction. We explore the possibility of using AI to write our episodes. And we share a lot of laughs. There’s even a hilarious surprise guest appearance here by Graham and Ali from Rex Factor.

In Part II, we’re joined by our good friends Rob and Jamie from Totalus Rankium for another thrilling edition of How Well Do You Know Your Co-Host! This was originally intended to be part of a single anniversary episode, but we had so much fun hanging with Rob and Jamie that we had to break it off into its own special episode.

As we say more than once in this episode, thank you for listening. Whether you’ve been listening for 10 years or 10 days, we appreciate you and we’re honored that you are sharing this journey with us.

We hope you enjoy!

Skál!

Episode 37b – The Saga of Havard of Isafjord (chapters 6-11)

[Quick Note: This episode appears to be over 8 hours long. It’s a cruel joke by the podbean upload. The actual length is just over 90 minutes. It will end where it’s supposed to.]

We’re back with another installment of Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, The Saga of Havard of Isafjord. This one is quickly becoming a new Saga Thing favorite. In this episode, Havard lays around, Bjargey gets busy, Thorbjorn takes a nasty fall, and Vak meets one of the more surprisingly stupid but realistic demises we’ve seen on this podcast. Along the way, Havard cracks the door open to let a new God into his heart, but only if said new God can provide him with the bloody revenge he’s been praying for.

We also dig into the runesack and discuss the wonders of whale rib rollers and what exactly Thorbjorn is doing with Sigrid and the other young women he takes into his household.

If you’d like to send us a message, a question, a comment, or compliment for our 10^th Anniversary Special, you’ve got lots of options:

Sagathingpodcast on Facebook

Sagathingpodcast on Instagram

Sagathingpod on X (Twitter)

Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord

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/

First and Second Verse Music – “Despair and Triumph” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Third and Fourth Verse Music – “Valravn” by Danheim

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode 37a – The Saga of Havard of Isafjord (chapters 1-5)

Saga Thing returns with a brand-new episode for a brand new saga from late medieval Iceland. In this episode, we dip our toes into the first five chapters of Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, The Saga of Havard of Isafjord. It’s a story of good guys vs. bad guys in this surprisingly fun but little-known classic.

The heroes of this episode are Olaf and his parents, Havard and Bjargey. The villains are Thorbjorn and his despicable nephew Vak. Needless to say, things don’t go very well for Olaf and his family when they come up against Thorbjorn’s ruthless brand of authoritarianism.

We’d also like to welcome our new guest illustrator, William Bilson. In his first illustration for Havard’s Saga, we see Thorbjorn gently guiding the local lawspeaker to the right decision when he’s asked to settle a dispute over a whale carcass. You can check out more of William’s work at www.instagram.com/willjah_art.thing

Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Saga Short 11 – The Tale of Bolli Bollason

With Laxdaela Saga behind us, we turn to the Tale of Bolli Bollason to bring the journey to a proper end. In this fun little story, Bolli Bollason finds himself swept into more than one conflict up in northern Iceland. Does he have the social and political (and warrior) savvy to go there and back again without a scratch? Listen and find out!

Warning: Andy goes a bit crazy with the maps and topography in this one.

Music Credits:

Intro: from “Death Awaits” by Billy Malmstrom

Outro: From “Óðinn” by Krauka

Episode 36o – Laxdaela Saga (Judgments)

After a very close inspection and lengthy investigation, we are finally ready to put Laxdaela Saga on trial. As it’s been over a year since we started, John and I take our time reviewing the candidates for our usual Saga Thing categories:

• Best Bloodshed
• Body Count
• Nicknames
• Notable Witticisms
• Outlawry
• Thingmen
• Final Ratings

Our thanks to all of you out there who have listened, commented, and engaged with us as we worked our way through this massive and entertaining saga. We’re especially grateful to all of you who’ve been interacting over on our Official Unofficial Saga Thing Discord page. If you’re not involved over there, at least sign up and lurk. It’s pretty interesting stuff.

A very special thanks to Jacob for sticking with us through a whole year of illustrating for Saga Thing. It was a monumental effort and a pleasure to see his art evolve across the saga. Many thanks, Jacob! Check out more of his work on Instagram where he’s @skarphedin_illustrator.

Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 36n – Laxdaela Saga (chapters 72-78)

We began our journey through Laxdaela Saga in April of 2022. A year and many many episodes later, we finally come to the end. Please join us as we discuss the final few chapters of the saga. It may be a little difficult to find the narrative thread if you’re expecting to follow Bolli or Gudrun through these last pages of the text. They’re certainly there, but the saga’s ending is designed to wrap up the story of Gudrun’s husbands and to look forward toward the genealogical connections to future generations.

Of course, Bolli and Gudrun get their moments in this conclusion, including Gudrun’s brief but riddling confession of who she loved most.

We wrap it all up with a lengthy summons of Gudrun and a detailed discussion of her character, something we’ve been waiting for a long time to do. I argued that we should devote a whole episode to Gudrun, but John reminded me that we’ve spent half a year commenting on her. Think of our summons as an invitation for further discussion, which you can do on our various social media platforms:

The Unofficial Official Saga Thing Discord

SagaThingPod on Twitter

Sagathingpodcast on Facebook and Instagram

We appreciate your patience as we worked through this amazing saga across the last year. We’ll be back soon with the Bolli Bollason’s Tale and the Judgments.

Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Review Music – “The Royal Vagabond Medley” by Jocker’s Dance Orchestra

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 36m – Laxdaela Saga (chapters 65-71)

In this episode, Guðrún Ósvífsdóttir teaches Helgi Harðbeinsson all about loopholes in betrothal oaths. And if Helgi was feeling bad after getting let down by Guðrún, he feels that much worse when he sees his fylgja walking the opposite direction as he approaches the Althing. This episode also features a mysterious talking black cloak, Guðrún’s fourth wedding, and more machinations by Snorri goði.

We top it all off with a quick Saga Brief on the history of the famous sword known as Skofnung and an argument about how saga authors came up with the idiosyncratic rules for wielding Skofnung successfully.

Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Review Music – “The Royal Vagabond Medley” by Jocker’s Dance Orchestra

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 23l – Laxdaela Saga (chapters 59-64)

While 12 years may have passed since the slaying of Bolli, not a day passed that Gudrun wasn’t thinking of getting her revenge on the Olafssons and their companions. Now that her two sons, Thorleik and Bolli, are old enough to avenge their father, Gudrun arranges a secret meeting with Snorri godi to lay out a cunning plan. Unfortunately for Gudrun, Snorri doesn’t share her enthusiasm for attacking the Olafssons, or most of the other Bolli-slayers for that matter. There is one man, however, whose death could satisfy the demands of Gudrun’s revenge and the honor of young Thorleik and Bolli.

In this episode, we trace the evolution and flawless execution of Snorri and Gudrun’s cunning plan, witness the oaths sworn at Gudrun’s fourth betrothal, meet a strange man calling himself Killer-Hrapp, and discuss his apparent reference to Reynard in most English translations of Laxdaela Saga.

Step into the conversation on our social media:

SagaThingPod on Twitter

Sagathingpodcast on Facebook and Instagram

and

The unofficial official Saga Thing Discord

The above illustration of Bolli Bollason and Helgi Hardbeinsson was composed by Jacob Foust (aka @skarphedin_illustrator), our special guest illustrator for Laxdaela Saga. 

Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Review Music – “The Royal Vagabond Medley” by Jocker’s Dance Orchestra

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license