Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Episode 16d - Grettir's Saga (Part 4)
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Episode 16d - Grettir's Saga (Part 4)
In the thrilling conclusion to Grettir’s Saga, we follow the slender armed Thorstein Dromund on
his quest to avenge his brother. Thorstein’s
adventures carry him from the shores of Norway to the bustling city of
Constantinople, where the exiled King Harald Hardrada leads a rag tag bunch of
Scandinavians called the Varangian Guard.
And if you thought the Grettir’s Saga author would pass up the chance to
throw in another giant of saga literature, you were sorely mistaken. Sadly, Harald is only featured in a
cameo. The real story of the Grettir’s
Saga epilogue is the love affair of Thorstein and Spes. Often referred to as the Spésar þáttr (The Tale of Spes “Hope”), the epilogue contrasts the
epic ethos of the saga world with the more playful spirit of the continental
romances. If you have ever encountered
the famous story of Tristan and Isolde, where the two lovers consistently
outwit Isolde’s bumbling husband, King Mark, you’ll feel right at home in the Spésar þáttr. Join us as we review this deceptively simple epilogue
and discuss its potential value for understanding the rest of Grettir’s Saga.
Along the way, we make reference to a few items of
interest. First among these are the blog
sites featuring Drangey Island. There
are some pretty impressive pictures on these blogs and stories about Drangey:
1. http://stuckiniceland.com/north/the-outlaws-paradise/
2. http://fooface.blogspot.com/2006/07/epic-climb.html
And if you want to take our advice and visit Drangey for
yourself, tours are available here: http://www.drangey.net/
Interested in the Brother Robert's 13th century Saga of Tristram and Isond?
Or perhaps you'd like to start with Béroul’s The Romance of Tristan:
And finally, we make reference to one of our favorite scholarly articles on Grettir's Saga, Kathryn Hume's "The Thematic Design of Grettis Saga" from The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 73.4 (1974): 469-86. It's quite fascinating and worth a read. Free to everyone with access to JSTOR.
View all episodes
By Saga Thing
4.9
397397 ratings
In the thrilling conclusion to Grettir’s Saga, we follow the slender armed Thorstein Dromund on
his quest to avenge his brother. Thorstein’s
adventures carry him from the shores of Norway to the bustling city of
Constantinople, where the exiled King Harald Hardrada leads a rag tag bunch of
Scandinavians called the Varangian Guard.
And if you thought the Grettir’s Saga author would pass up the chance to
throw in another giant of saga literature, you were sorely mistaken. Sadly, Harald is only featured in a
cameo. The real story of the Grettir’s
Saga epilogue is the love affair of Thorstein and Spes. Often referred to as the Spésar þáttr (The Tale of Spes “Hope”), the epilogue contrasts the
epic ethos of the saga world with the more playful spirit of the continental
romances. If you have ever encountered
the famous story of Tristan and Isolde, where the two lovers consistently
outwit Isolde’s bumbling husband, King Mark, you’ll feel right at home in the Spésar þáttr. Join us as we review this deceptively simple epilogue
and discuss its potential value for understanding the rest of Grettir’s Saga.
Along the way, we make reference to a few items of
interest. First among these are the blog
sites featuring Drangey Island. There
are some pretty impressive pictures on these blogs and stories about Drangey:
1. http://stuckiniceland.com/north/the-outlaws-paradise/
2. http://fooface.blogspot.com/2006/07/epic-climb.html
And if you want to take our advice and visit Drangey for
yourself, tours are available here: http://www.drangey.net/
Interested in the Brother Robert's 13th century Saga of Tristram and Isond?
Or perhaps you'd like to start with Béroul’s The Romance of Tristan:
And finally, we make reference to one of our favorite scholarly articles on Grettir's Saga, Kathryn Hume's "The Thematic Design of Grettis Saga" from The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 73.4 (1974): 469-86. It's quite fascinating and worth a read. Free to everyone with access to JSTOR.
More shows like Saga Thing
View all
Rex Factor
925 Listeners
In Our Time: History
1,896 Listeners
The History of English Podcast
6,354 Listeners
The History of Egypt Podcast
1,851 Listeners
The History of China
1,082 Listeners
Emperors of Rome
1,538 Listeners
Myths and Legends
23,363 Listeners
When in Rome
281 Listeners
Literature and History
1,361 Listeners
The Medieval Podcast
298 Listeners
The Ancients
2,979 Listeners
History of the Germans
427 Listeners
Gone Medieval
1,745 Listeners
Anglo-Saxon England
207 Listeners
Pirates: Totalus Rankium
58 Listeners