We want to share this little treat of a þáttr with you all before we release the Judgments episode for The Saga of Víga-Glúm. The Tale of Thorvald Chatterbox (Þorvalds þáttr tasalda) is a gem from the Flateyjarbók biography of King Ólaf (Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta).

If Thorvald’s fantastic revivification and battle prowess with a ship’s oar left you wanting more, then this fast-paced Saga Short might just satisfy your craving. Thorvald journey’s to Norway starts out like many other tales of Icelanders visiting Norwegian royalty. And, of course, with King Ólaf Tryggvason involved, this one includes plenty of pressure to abandon the Norse gods in favor of the much stronger and kinder (sometimes) Christian god. The story follows Thorvald as he sets off on a mission to prove himself to the king by tracking down Bárð the Stout, a fiercely independent figure who has already made two of the king’s troops of emissaries disappear. 

Will Thorvald live up to the reputation of the capable Icelandic retainer so thoroughly established in other tales? Or will he succumb to the strength and will of the powerful Bárð the Stout? And what’s all this about Bárð’s beautiful daughter Thora? There’s only one way to find out (assuming you don’t want to just read the story yourself). Grab your headphones and enjoy Saga Thing’s retelling of The Tale of Thorvald Chatterbox!

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Music Credits

Intro Music – from “Death Awaits” by Billy Malmstrom

Outro Music – From “Óðinn” by Krauka

When last we left Glúm, he was enjoying the fruits of his violent labors against the men of Espihóll and sharing an enigmatic verse about his personal body count. When Þorvarð the Troublemaker hears about this, he’s quick to set Þórarin on the case, forcing Glúm to swear an oath that he played no part in the killing of Þorvald Hook.

Will this oath clear Glúm of any guilt in the matter or will his clever phrasing prove to be his undoing? Listen and find out for yourself (though if you’ve been listening to the past 5 episodes, you should have a pretty good idea of where this is heading for our story’s hero).

We may have missed our March deadline for finishing Víga-Glúm’s Saga but we got there in the end.

Enjoy this grand finale!

Listen and let us know what you think on our various socials:

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Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Poetry Music – “Bittersweet” and “Nerves” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

At long last, we return . . . to the prophecy about the cousins Steinólf and Arngrím. Oddbjörg. What could possibly break the bond of these BFFs? Hopefully Arngrím’s wife can make some sense of their little feud and help heal the fracture in their relationship.

Speaking of fractures, this is the episode where things really pop off between Glúm and the men of Espihóll and we begin rushing headlong toward the climax and conclusion of this saga. Here’s a little map of the region to help you make sense of the major locations featured in this episode.

Along the way, we talk about the sudden appearance of a skytningr (an inn or tavern) in the saga and fall into a discussion of how exactly that word works in the contexts of Víga-Glúm’s saga, with special reference once again to Jesus Fernando Guerrero Rodriguez’s dissertation Old Norse Drinking Culture.

Rodriguez, Jesús Fernando Guerrero. Old Norse Drinking Culture. PhD Dissertation. University of York, 2007.

Check out the oldest surviving manuscript copy of Víga-Glúms saga on handrit.is.

There’s also stuff here for fans of dream interpretation and even Norse mythology, specifically Thor’s battle with Hrungnir the jötunn.

Thor and Hrungnir by Carl Emil Doepler

Listen and let us know what you think on our various socials:

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Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Poetry Music – “Dark Times” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, we catch up with an old friend called Killer-Skuta. You might remember him from The Saga of the People of Reykjadal and of Killer-Skuta. We’ll revisit a familiar story from that saga where Killer-Skuta makes an attempt on the life of Killer-Glum and try to make sense of how it ended up in this saga (and that one). That leads to an inevitable conversation about saga writing, manuscript collecting, and art.

Once we put Killer-Skuta to bed, we’re right back into the main narrative of Viga-Glum’s Saga. The main focus of this episode is the mysterious case of the missing livestock. The prime suspect is a wily freedman named Hallvard who sets up a farm between the properties of Halli the Old and his son Bard. And while everyone else in the district would like to see Hallvard put in his place, there’s one man standing in the way of justice and he’s got a powerful father.

How will Glum escape the clutches of the violent Killer-Skuta? And will Hallvard get fat on the livestock of his neighbors or will he finally face justice? And when will we ever get back to those kindly cousins who are destined to kill each other? Find out in this episode of Saga Thing!

Listen and let us know what you think:

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Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, Glúm continues to establish himself as a leading figure in southern Eyjafjörður. We start with a brief overview of the many marriages that take place at this stage of the saga, including:

Of course, the real trouble starts when Thórir’s son Thorgrím sets his heart on the lovely Thórdís. Things get interesting from there. Check out the Víga-Glúms saga genealogy Andy’s been building here.

All these marriages naturally result in the arrival of many new characters to the saga. Among them are Már, the son of Glúm and Halldóra, and two special little cousins, Arngrím and Steinólf. These two boys get along better than anyone in Iceland. Surely they have a bright future ahead of them. Right?

We also dive into a fun little story about Ingólf, a very large man who finds a home at Þverá with Már and Glúm. Through no fault of his own, Ingólf gets caught up in a somewhat precarious feud between Glúm and a no-good neighbor known as Kalf of Stokkahlaðir. There’s a horse fight, some hurt feelings, and then thing leads to another. Before you know it, there’s a lawsuit against Ingólf at the Althing.

As usual, we’ve got plenty of digressions to distract you from the story. We talk about ice storms in Mississippi, snow storms in Massachusetts. We go on for too long about formalist approaches to the structure of Víga-Glúms saga and how we approach building an episode of Saga Thing. This actually leads to a brief discussion of the role of minor characters in the sagas, a subject that the great Ármann Jakobsson covers in his new book (grab a copy here):

We discuss the fascinating subject of children and toys in medieval Iceland. While there’s not much info out there, we found just enough to get John excited about a possible Saga Brief on the subject ;). At some point, I mention a small toy carving found at Seydisfjordur (a great spot to visit in the East fjords). What kind of animal is this?

Read the article in Smithsonian for more information.

As you’ll hear, this episode is very digression heavy as we work our way through a transitional moment in the saga. There are many many references to Gabriel Turville-Petre’s edition of the saga, which provides plenty of useful insights and discussion points for us.

Listen and let us know what you think:

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Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Saga Thing returns after a much-needed holiday to pick up the story of young Glúm Eyjólfsson, better known to history as Víga-Glúm.

When last we left you, Glúm’s father (Eyjólf, who some called Lump) had passed away. Seeking any advantage they could get in the district, Thorkel the Tall and his son Sigmund claimed the best land at Thverá for themselves, pushing Ástrid and Glúm to the margins of the property. With no help coming from her eldest son Thorstein, Ástrid is forced to rely on her youngest, Glúm. Unfortunately for her, Glúm is a known coalbiter who prefers laying by the fire to working or pursuing justice for his family.

As the situation worsens, Glúm heads to Norway hoping to gain some experience and recognition from his maternal grandfather Vigfús. Of course, things don’t go exactly to plan when he arrives.

How does this family reunion go for Glúm? Does grandpa Vigfús the hersir embrace his Icelandic grandson and raise his status? And who will help Ástrid deal with increasing pressure from Thorkel and Sigmund to leave Thverá? All the answers are in this episode of Saga Thing.

Along the way, we talk about the place of religion in Víga-Glúm’s Saga, highlighting some places to look for signs of pagan influences in the text. For example, is old Vigfús a figure of Óðin? Does this saga explore a tension between cults of Óðin and Frey? Is it all about fate? Or is this simply a story about human beings who make their own choices and have to live with the consequences.

Speaking of pagan influences, we go on a brief tangent to talk about the dísablót, a special holiday and sacrifice to honor the household gods.

As always, we dig into some genealogies. Please have a look at the family tree Andy’s been building for Víga-Glúm’s Saga on FamilyEcho.

And if that’s not enough, we also share some interesting stories about corpses getting dug up to face legal consequences for their actions. If you’re into that kind of thing, you’ll definitely want to check out the episode on Pope Stephen VI from our friends at Pontifacts.

If you’re interested in reading Víga-Glúm’s Saga for yourself, you can find the 1866 translation by Edmund Head for free on the sagadb.

We’re using the John McKinnell translation, which is available in the Complete Sagas of Icelanders collection and as a stand alone text from The New Saga Library.

As with most modern scholarship on this saga, much of what we have to say about this text begins with the edition by Gabriel Turville-Petre.

Listen and let us know what you think on our various socials:

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Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Poetry Music – “Dark Times” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

We’re thrilled to kick off our first episode of Víga-Glúms saga, the last of the sagas of Eyjafjörð. Víga-Glúms saga is one of the great character-driven Íslendingasögur, often drawing comparisons to Egils saga. Now, whether that’s because it also happens to be a biographical saga or because it’s of a similar quality will have to be sorted out on the podcast across the overview and judgments. But we’re excited to start this new saga either way, and this first episode sets the stage beautifully for the arrival of the man who comes to be known as Killer-Glum.

Like so many sagas, Víga-Glúms saga opens not with the hero himself but with the adventures of the generations that came before him. These early chapters give us a sense of the family dynamics, the local tensions, and threads of fate that Glum will inherit and inevitably wrestle with as his saga develops.

Cast of Characters:

I’m going to try and include a cast of major characters in the show notes for each episode to help listeners keep track of things. In this first episode, we get to know Glum’s formidable ancestors, including:

Of course, this wouldn’t be Saga Thing without a few memorable supporting characters to make things interesting. This episode introduces some pretty interesting Norwegians:

And then, there are the Icelanders who will make Glúm’s life more interesting, and challenging:

If you need some help keeping track of all these names and relationships, check out the genealogy Andy is preparing for Víga-Glúms saga here.

Víga-Glúms saga is definitely a fun one that we’ve been saving for a while. We hope you enjoy this first episode!

Texts Discussed in This Episode

Listen and let us know what you think:

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Recent Interview Links

As promised, here are the links to our recent interviews:

Relevant or Irrelevant – “Podcasts and Teaching” (KALA broadcast portion)

Relevant or Irrelevant – “Podcasts and Teaching” (KALA podcast portion)

Vikingology – “It’s a Saga Thing”

Music Credits

Intro Music – “Prelude and Action” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro Music – “Stormfront” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A little Halloween treat for all you Saga Thing fans. You’ll want to listen with headphones to get the full effect on these two spooky tales.

Listen and then share your thoughts on our social media:

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Music Credits

Intro Music – from “Death Awaits” by Billy Malmstrom

Outro Music – “Mythic Force” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hwæt a Movie is back! This time we dive deep into the uncanny valley epic Beowulf from 2007. Released at the height of Robert Zemeckis’s motion-capture mania, this version of our favorite Old English classic promised to bring the poem to life like never before. It was slated to be an event like no other, at least for John and Andy.

In this star-studded and CG-saturated film, Ray Winstone voices a Beowulf who looks suspiciously like an action figure and swaggers like he just killed nine nicors. He’s accompanied by the ageless Wiglaf, played by Brendan Gleeson. The great Anthony Hopkins plays a jovial but somewhat mad King Hrothgar, Robin Wright plays the deeply troubled Queen Wealhtheow, and John Malkovich does his best John Malkovich as Unferth.

But if we’re honest, this is the Grendel family’s movie from start to finish. Crispin Glover turns in a unforgettable performance as a Grendel who swells with anger and shrinks with vulnerability. Grendel’s mother is a gold-dipped, shape-shifting femme fatale with stiletto feet. She’s also very much Angelina Jolie. And then there’s Grendel’s little half-brother dragon. That’s right, the dragon is part of the family!

Is this adaptation a clever deconstruction of heroism and myth-making? Or just an excuse to get Beowulf naked on an animated dragon? Zemeckis, Gaiman, and Avary take some bold liberties with the source material in this one, and we’re here to guide you through it all from the perspective of two curmudgeonly middle-aged medievalists.

As always, this episode of Hwæt a Movie includes a thorough summary and discussion of the film, a brief Q&A, and our final ratings: how well the film handles Beowulf, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother, plus our ever-important scores for faithfulness to the source and overall entertainment value.

Beowulf (2007) was a wild ride to discuss, and we hope you enjoy it half as much as Beowulf enjoys shouting his own name. Or at least as much as Zemeckis likes cleverly blocking Beowulf’s bare bits from view with conveniently placed objects.

Once you’ve listened, let us know your thoughts. Is this the definitive Beowulf for the 21st century? Or just a fever dream in a damp cave?

And do you forgive us for being grumpy when it comes to Beowulf movies?

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All music taken from the film for this episode is written and produced by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri.

In this episode, we finally sit down with Dr. Yoav Tirosh, one of the leading voices in Old Norse–Icelandic studies and an all-around fascinating person to talk to. Yoav has written extensively on topics ranging from Ljósvetninga Saga and saga authorship to storytelling, cultural memory, and disability studies. He’s also the creative force behind the webcomic Viking Comics, a seasoned Icelandic tour guide, and a delightful companion for wandering around Kraków. Or was it Prague???

Yoav recently completed a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at Aarhus University and now works as a researcher at the Center for Disability Studies at the University of Iceland. You can pick up a copy of his latest book, How Genre Governs Creation in the Medieval Icelandic Sagas. It’s very affordable.

We talk with him about his current work, his interdisciplinary approach to medieval texts, and what motivates him as a scholar.

But our main focus, naturally, is Ljósvetninga Saga—a text that Yoav knows better than just about anyone around (one might even get the feeling that he’s obsessed with it after listening to this interview). Having written both his MA thesis and PhD dissertation on the saga, Yoav walks us through its manuscript history, important differences between the A and C versions, and the ongoing debates around whether the saga represents a cohesive narrative or a collection of shorter tales. He also scolds us for our many failings in the 

Along the way, we discuss Guðmundr inn ríki (Guðmund the Powerful) and the saga’s broader commentary on leadership, power, and corruption in Icelandic society. Yoav shares his thoughts on generational memory, cultural context, and what the saga reveals about the anxieties of its age.

After suffering the stings and barbs of his wrath, we invite Yoav to offer his own judgments and to give us his final rating for Ljósvetninga Saga. There’s also something in there about David Lynch and saga structure, John loses power and disappears for a bit, and we learn about a fortuitous encounter between Yoav and his nemesis in an Icelandic bathroom.

Join us for a wide-ranging and deeply engaging conversation that feels a lot like the grad school conversations that inspired Saga Thing.

Have fun with this interview and then let us know what you think on our social media:

Yoav on Instagram

Yoav on Bluesky

Yoav on Reddit

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Music Credits:

Introduction –from Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur

Outro – Ólafur Liljurós