Saga Short 14 - The Second Tale of Halldor Snorrason

In this episode, we review the second Tale of Halldor Snorrason (Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar inn síðari) from the 13th-century Morkinskinna (moldy or rotten skin/parchment). If you enjoyed the first of Halldor's tales, we think you'll like this one even more. Last time, Halldor pushed his relationship with King Harald Hardrada to the brink but in this episode he may just push things over the edge. One thing's for sure, these BFFs are heading for a nasty breakup.

Along the way, we talk about a place called Kaupangr and delve into the naming history of Trondheim. If you're curious about the appearance of Kaupangr/kaupangr in AM 66 fol. that we discuss in the first section, you are welcome to have a look for yourself:

Take a moment to explore AM 66 fol., also known as Hulda (Hidden Manuscript). Why AM 66? Because there's a lacuna that cuts off the beginning of Halldor's tale in the Morkinskinna. Manuscripts be like that sometimes.

We also talk about an interesting little detail in the story concerning King Harald's efforts to introduce a coin-based economy into 11th-century Norway. The tale tells of Haraldsslátta (Harald's coins) and Halldor Snorrason's less than enthusiastic reception of these coins as a form of payment. Here are a few samples of the coins in question:

As if that weren't enough, we also get to talk about drinking horns and the feasting obligations, adding to our previous Saga Briefs on Drinking in the Viking Age - What They Drank and How They Drank.

This tale is full of fascinating little details about the culture that we don't often get in the more sparsely told sagas of Icelanders. We stop throughout the episode to appreciate some of these, so be warned that this episode has a fair amount of digressions. We just couldn't help ourselves.

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Music Credits

Intro Music - from “Death Awaits” by Billy Malmstrom

Poetry Music - "Morgana Rides " Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro Music - From “Óðinn” by Krauka