Those pesky Hildiridarsons are up to their same old tricks in this episode, causing further tension between King Harald Fairhair and the rapidly rising Thorolf Kveldulfsson. When King Harald learns that Thorolf has a large cargo ship laden with expensive English goods returning to Norway, he dispatches his most-trusted henchmen, Sigtrygg Travel-quick and Hallvard Travel-hard, to intercept and seize the ship. With that betrayal things reach a breaking point between the two men. Will Thorolf make the right moves and restore his lord's faith in him, or will he light the match that brings about his own destruction?

Along the way, we talk about the theme of kingship in the saga, the logic (or lack thereof) behind Thorolf's choices, the value of understanding Scandinavian geography, some interesting nicknames, and the effects of a berserker rage. Somewhere in there we manage to toss in some references to old movies, Thundercats, and "Yakety Sax." Join us for the fun.

If you'd like to better appreciate the action and landscape of the sagas, we highly recommend Dr. Emily Lethbridge's fantastic Icelandic Saga Map. It allows you to get a sense of distance, landscape, and place.

Because we talk about berserks briefly in this episode, you might want to learn more about the subject. While we have talked a lot about berserks over the years, we've never devoted an episode to them. But you're in luck. For more on berserks, check out Noah Tetzner's interview with Roderick Dale on The History of Vikings Podcast.

A special thanks to Danheim, a Nordic folk/Viking inspired music project, for letting us use his music in this and future episodes. Check the credits below for links to the songs. If you're interested in hearing more from Danheim, visit his webpage or Youtube channel.

As always, thanks to Matt Smith, our Saga Thing illustrator for providing us with the above image of the Travel Brothers.

Music Credits:

Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Summary Music - "Rainy Day Blues" by Joseph C. Smith Orchestra

Preview Music - "Holmgang" by Danheim, from the album Mannveigr

Poetry Music - "Syrgja" by Danheim, from the album Fridr

Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Selections from music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/