Episode 1b: Medieval Iceland - Conflict, Conversion, and Collapse

We return with the tale of Vöðu-Brand, another entertaining þáttr from the opening section of Ljósvetninga Saga. This is the story of a troublesome young man who is bored with life the farm in norther...

10 Mars 20251h 27min

While we don't make major progress through Ljósvetninga saga in this episode, we have a great time talking about two of the three þættir that fill a gap in the manuscript. Another gap in a manuscript?...

11 Feb 20251h 22min

It's time to begin our series on Ljósvetninga Saga! In this episode, we introduce the saga and work our way through the first four chapters. While Ljósvetninga Saga focuses on the career of Guðmundr i...

27 Jan 20251h 25min

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...

15 Jan 20251h 34min

Gleðileg jól frá Saga Thing! Long before Charles Dickens penned his beloved A Christmas Carol, a well-known and infamous Icelander seems to have had a similar idea. While less wholesome and optimistic...

23 Dec 202437min

Hwæt a Movie returns with Beowulf: Prince of the Geats! Given how hard this one is to find, we’d be surprised if any of you have seen it. Released in March 2007, shortly after SYFY's Grendel and ahead...

7 Dec 20242h 17min

Saga Thing returns once again to the tales of Icelanders from the sagas of Norwegian kings with a surprise double feature of tales involving Halldór Snorrason, the son of Snorri goði and longtime comp...

14 Nov 20241h 23min

Hwæt a Movie returns with the Beowulf film you didn’t know you needed to see: SYFY’s Grendel. Released at the start of 2007, ahead of Beowulf: Prince of the Geats and Robert Zemeckis’s Beowulf, Grende...

23 Okt 20242h 8min