The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Episode 13 - An Apple a Day Keeps the Jǫtnar at Bay

   In this episode we dig into the kidnapping of Iðunn, a goddess whose magic apples keep the gods perpetually young. But this story is a lot less about the apples and a lot more about the goddesses. Join me as we focus in on both Iðunn and Skaði, a jǫtun who becomes a goddess by marriage, and the way Loki plays a prominent role in both of their stories. Sources: “Apple and Apple Tree” by Joseph S. Hopkins, 2020, from mimisbrunnr.info “De Gamle Eddadigte,” transl. by Finnur Jónsson, 1932 “Haustlǫng”, transl by Richard North, 2010 “Lokrur, Lóðurr and Late Evidence” by Haukur Þorgeirsson 2011 “The Poetic Edda: Volume II - Mythological Poems” by Ursula Dronke, 1997 “The Poetic Edda”, transl. by Carolyne Larrington, 2014 “The Prose Edda”, transl. by Anthony Faulkes, 1995 Contact: Write in: waelhraefn (at) gmail (dot) com Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/Nvw5hmkRsW Music: Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

   September 04, 2022·29min
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   Number 2: Episode 12 - The One Where Thor Wears a Dress

   In one of the most famous Norse myths of all time, Thor's hammer is stolen by the jǫtnar and the only way to get it back is to dress in drag. But this story is much more than a surface-level comedy. It turns Norse ideas about gender and societal expectations on their heads and teaches us a lot about the personalities of the gods. It also seems to prove the age-old adage that comedy is the one place where anything goes. Sources: “Negative Reciprocity” by Margaret Clunies Ross in “Prolonged Echoes” Volume I, 1994 “Níð, Ergi and Old Norse Moral Attitudes” by Folke Ström, 1974 “Paganism at Home: Pre-Christian Private Praxis and Household Religion in the Iron-Age North“ by Luke John Murphy, 2018 “The dating of Eddic poetry – evidence from alliteration” by Haukur Þorgeirsson, 2017 “Þrymsvkiða, Myth and Mythology” by John Lindow, 1997 “The Poetic Edda”, transl. by Carolyne Larrington, 2014 “The Prose Edda”, transl. by Anthony Faulkes, 1995 Contact: Write in: waelhraefn (at) gmail (dot) com Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/Nvw5hmkRsW Music: Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

   August 28, 2022·26min
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   Number 3: Episode 4 - Wells, Wisdom, and Fate

   In which Oðinn may not be the only Norse god to have ever sacrificed a part of his body for a drink from the well of wisdom. This episode covers the two most famous wells situated near the World Tree, Yggdrasill, as well as the beings who maintain them: Mímir whose severed head offers counsel to Oðinn, and the norns who author the fates of mankind. And did you know that the norns are the reason why the English word "weird" still exists today? Sources: “Chronicles” Volume II by Raphael Holinshed, 1587 “Dictionary of Northern Mythology”, by Rudolf Simek, 2010 “Fate” by John Lindow in “Pre-Christian Religions of the North” Volume II, 2020 “Norns” by Karen Bek-Pedersen in “Pre-Christian Religions of the North” Volume II, 2020 “The History and Chronicles of Scotland” Volume II by Hector Boece, transl. by John Bellenden, early 1500s. “The Poetic Edda”, transl. by Carolyne Larrington, 2014 “The Prose Edda”, transl. by Anthony Faulkes, 1995 Contact: Write in: waelhraefn (at) gmail (dot) com Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/Nvw5hmkRsW Music: Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com). Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

   June 25, 2022·30min
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   Number 4: Episode 39 - The Worship of Good and Evil

   Are the gods the good guys or the bad guys? On that note, did ancient Norse people ever worship the jötnar? This week we take a look at what it really means to be a god in the Norse mind. Two surprising sources will help inform our analysis: a horse phallus preserved in herbs and an Icelandic volcano. Don't miss it! Sources:Giants” by Margaret Clunies Ross in Pre-Christian Religions of the North volume II, 2020“Cyclical Rituals” by Jens Peter Schjødt, also in Pre-Christian Religions of the North volume II, 2020.“Ritual responses to catastrophic volcanism in Viking Age iceland: Reconsidering surtshellir cave through bayesian analyses of AMS dates, tephrochronology, and texts” by Kevin Smith, et al in the Journal of Archaeological Science volume 126, 2021.“Lausavísa from Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar in Heimskringla 1” by Diana Whaley in “Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to circa 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1.” 2012.“The Poetic Edda”, transl. by Carolyne Larrington, 2014“The Prose Edda”, transl. by Anthony Faulkes, 1995Contact:Write in: waelhraefn (at) gmail (dot) comJoin the Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/Nvw5hmkRsW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music: Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

   May 16, 2026·59min
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   Number 5: Episode 38 - Eating Hearts and Drinking Blood

   This time we dig into a rarely discussed aspect of Norse mythology: stealing your enemy's power by eating their heart or drinking their blood. But just who's power can be stolen by way of this gory ritual? Animals? Monsters? Humans? Let's find out together. Sources:“Heimskringla Volume 1, The Beginnings to Óláfr Tryggvason” transl. by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes, 2011“Gesta Danorum” transl. by Karsten Friis-Jensen and Peter Fisher, 2015“The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki” transl. By Jesse Byock, 1998“The Dating of Eddic Poetry: Evidence from Alliteration” by Haukur Þorgeirsson, 2016“Dating the Old Norse Poetic Edda” by Christopher Sapp, 2022"Eaten hearts and supernatural knowledge in Eiríks saga rauða" by Andrea Maraschi, 2018“The Poetic Edda”, transl. by Edward Pettit, 2023“The Prose Edda”, transl. by Anthony Faulkes, 1995Contact:Write in: waelhraefn (at) gmail (dot) comJoin the Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/Nvw5hmkRsW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music: Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

   May 18, 2025·28min
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