This time we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Eleanor Barraclough to the show. We nerded out in a previous episode about her book Beyond the Northlands: Viking Voyages and the Old Norse Sagas, which is a great read we highly recommend, so we were very excited to speak with Eleanor about her new book Embers of the Hands: The Hidden Histories of the Viking Age.

In the new book, she delves into all kinds of evidence, both written and archaeological, to try and find the little bits of “gold” from the Viking Age past — you know, those bits that represent the utter humanity that often gets lost in the shuffle.

That search for humanity took us on a wide-ranging chat. We talked about Eleanor’s interest in the Sámi, an often overlooked Nordic culture that both shared and didn’t share space with the Vikings. And then true to our style at Vikingology, we wandered into all sorts of oddities like squirrels, whether Vikings would have been vegan, monsters, and turds — all things that defined what it meant to be human in the Arctic North 1,000 years ago, and that we can still relate to today.

We also ponder what we can learn from the Viking Age and whether at least some of it is worth repeating, based on Terri’s recent post.

To read more about all the interesting things she’s up to, check out Eleanor’s site. And for an intimate and seriously entertaining yet educational way to learn about the Viking Age, for goodness sake buy her books! You won’t regret it.

We had such a fun time! For an extra treat, stay tuned at the very end for a behind-the-scenes look at our pre-show banter.

Thanks Eleanor! We definitely look forward to meeting up again soon.

Skál!

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