In this episode, Shawn discusses the character of Halvdan the Black as described in Snorri Sturluson's work, Heimskringla.
Halvdan was a great king in his own right; however, this portion of Heimskringla also serves to describe the marriage to a woman named Ragnhild, and the resulting greatness of their family line, starting with their son Harald Fairhair, the supposed first king of a unified Norway.
Through the texts (along with "The Saga of the Volsungs") you can build out a line of Harald's ancestors that show he is descended from 2 gods. Freyr through his father, and Odin through his mother.
Though if Halvdan and Ragnhild did exist, these links to gods surely to make for a great story to highlight the greatness of the future Norwegian Kings (which is arguably why Snorri wrote about them in the first place); however, the "historicalness" of these claims are obviously non-existent.
However, We DO know that the kingdom of Norway exists, and still exists to this day with King Harald V, so at what point to we say we know an ancestor of his existed or didn't?

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Check out David’s writing: Prosoche Project (www.prosocheproject.com).
Walled Garden (https://thewalledgarden.com/davidalexander)

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