Saga Brief 30 - From Sleipnir to Freyfaxi: The Culture of Horses in Medieval Iceland

In this special Saga Brief recorded live at the University of Central Oklahoma, we explore an often-overlooked pillar of Viking Age society: the horse.

(John wanted to call this presentation "A Horse for the Norse, with Sources (of course)," but Andy shot that down.)

While our discussion is grounded in saga narratives and archaeology, we offer a wide-ranging discussion of how horses helped shape the literature, culture, and history of medieval Iceland. Along the way, we cover the following categories:

• Everyday Use
• Status
• Masculinity
• Horse-Fighting
• Ritual Action and Religious Belief

Of course, any one of these could be a book-length study on its own. We’ve done our best here to provide a broad overview of the horse’s place in medieval Iceland and beyond. Naturally, that “beyond” allows us some wiggle room to talk a little about Anglo-Saxon England (and to maybe squeeze in a Beowulf reference or two).

As you’ll hear, horses are far more than livestock and convenient tools. They emerge across the literary, historical, and archaeological record as vital mediums for social, political, and spiritual identity. More than that, this talk explores a relationship between the human and horse that is deeply personal. We hope you enjoy!

A very special thanks to Reid Weber and the sponsors of this event:

• The Medieval Society at the University of Oklahoma
• University of Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts
• Scandinavian Club of Oklahoma
• Sons of Norway

The slides for this presentation, including a brief bibliography, are available as a .pdf in our show notes for this episode at sagathingpodcast.wordpress.com.

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Music Credits:

Introduction – from Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur

Outro – Ólafur Liljurós