October 16, 2023

S4E9 Volsung Saga III: Sinfjotli, His Life and Death

1 hour 12 minutes

In this episode, Shawn and David are back after a bit of a hiatus due to busy real world demands. Shawn gives updates on his life and recent adventures.

Shawn outlines Chapters 7, 8, and 10 of Volsung Saga, connecting the story of Sigmund and his son Sinfjotli. Chapter 9 on Sigmund’s son Helgi and the associated Eddic Poems will feature in the next episode Volsung IV.

David and Shawn make connections back to the previous short episodes on the sagas of historical kings and David’s narrative on Richard Wagner’s Song of the Neibelung as a condensed version of the similar story of Wotan/Odin and Sigfried/Sigurd.

Sinfjotli is the tragic son of Sigmund who is born of a curse and dies by a curse. All of these are the steps which go into the making of a true hero.

Other Notes:

David’s addendum to the episode: At 39 minutes when I get sidetracked from a thought about what Sigmund and Sinfjotli in wolf skins represents. It is the archetype of Sigmund as the Wild Man, which is the proper foster father to teach a hero to get in touch with his true nature (animal nature, earthy side; see Robert Bly’s book Iron John). This Archetype is further confirmed in the way Sinfjotli’s younger brothers get killed, it involves them playing with gold coins, leading them to encounter Sigmund (a golden ball tempts the boy to follow the Wild Man in Iron John).

Podcast mentioned during the episode: Psyche Podcast guest Peter Rollins talking about many interesting points, including the importance of why we need desire, and need suffering and struggle to find meaning and purpose in life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_lOTUSC8Ls

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