Valhalla Conversations

Behind every great man, is a great woman - and in the 11th century, there were many men claiming, taking or inheriting the throne of England, and thus there were also many great women. Following the debut of BBC's King & Conqueror historical drama - I invite historian Sharon Bennett Connolly onto the podcast to discuss the very real lives of these remarkable female figures, who all had their own role and influence to play in the most turbulent century which resulted in the fateful events of 1066. Join us and learn the truth about Queen Emma, Gytha, Edith Swan-neck, Edith of Merica, Matilda and many more.

You can learn more about these women in the following books:

Silk and the sword: the women of the Norman conquest by Sharon Bennett Connolly.

Queen Emma and the Vikings by Harriet O'Brien.

Queen of the Conqueror: The Life of Matilda, Wife of William I by Tracy Borman.

Queen Emma & Queen Edith: Queenship and women's power in eleventh century England by Pauline Stafford.

#historicalfigures #historicalevents #1066 #BritishHistory #EnglishHistory #HaroldGodwinson #WilliamOfNormandy #EmmaOfNormandy #QueenEmma #Matilda #Flanders #Normandy #HaraldHardrada #EdwardTheConfessor #AethelreadTheUnready #EnglishThrone #EnglishKings #EnglishQueens #RoyalHistory #EleventhCentury #England #Norway #Witan #Earls #Mercia #Wessex #Northumbria #BBC #HistoricalDrama #HistoricalTVSeries #TVSeries

Joining me in this month's episode is comic writer ⁨@Zackkaps⁩ , we will be discussing Kill All Immortals ( ⁨@darkhorsecomics⁩ ) with spoilers and exploring his creative and cleverly inspired choice to use a family of Vikings, and a particular famous family for those in the US, to grant them immortality and billionaire level wealth. We discuss greed, freedom, independence at what cost, the perception of Vikings as brutal warriors and reveal exciting news for the future of this comic story arc.

Zack Kaplan is a break out science fiction comic writer and creator of such comics and graphic novels as KILL ALL IMMORTALS, BEYOND REAL, MINDSET, BREAK OUT, METAL SOCIETY, FOREVER FORWARD, JOIN THE FUTURE, THE LOST CITY EXPLORERS, PORT OF EARTH and ECLIPSE. After just a few short years, he has worked with publishers such as Image/Top Cow, Dark Horse, Aftershock, Vault, Scout Comics and DC Comics. His first three series were all optioned for TV adaptation, with PORT OF EARTH currently being developed by Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Ent. Zack has taught screenwriting and storytelling at the International Academy of Film and TV, located in the Philippines. He currently lives in Los Angeles. https://zackkaplan.com/

- Kill All Immortals - Succession meets John Wick…with immortal Vikings. A thousand years ago, Viking explorer Erik the Red and his four adult children discovered a mysterious source of immortality. Now, in our modern world, they are an enigmatic billionaire family with a powerful banking empire. But when Erik’s only daughter, Frey Asvald, seeks to finally be free from her family’s influence, she must be prepared to reveal their supernatural secrets and confront her well-trained siblings in a deadly and epic struggle for power. Get ready for a bloodthirsty immortal fight like no other!

https://youtu.be/nAgOg-zFIrM?si=Dvnt0EUgIv2KubuH

Writer: Zack Kaplan

Artists: Fico Ossio, Thiago Rocha and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

⁨@ThoughtBubbleComics⁩ Comic Festival & Comic Con, Harrogate, November 2025. https://www.thoughtbubblefestival.com/

Joining me this month as my special guest, is author Kaitlin Felix as we discuss and explore her stereotype smashing historical fiction novel, Ran's Daughters, who feature a remarkable cast of Norse women and one heck of a historical adventure! If you like authors Bernard Cornwell, Giles Kristian, Justin Hill, then you will LOVE Kaitlin's book.

I was an ARC reader for it before release and I read it in 3 evenings with great enjoyment and her writing is sensational. I love it so much that I indulge myself by reading aloud the Prologue to grant you a taste of how good it is. Kaitlin Felix writes Norse historical fiction and fantasy.

Her work has featured in anthologies and international publications. You can find her full list of works here. Her upcoming novel, Rán’s Daughters, is published with Outland Entertainment as part of their Althingi Universe. https://katifelix.com/

Join me in discovering a stunning set of special photographs and their talented photographer. We meet a very unique and talented photographer, Jenn Robinson, who is also a near decade long member of Regia Anglorum, and her amazing photographs that have captured moments from the legends of the Norse pantheon.

See them in full glory at her website: https://jenniferpetersphoto.com/reenactment

And find out more about Regia Anglorum, UK's biggest historical re-enactment society: https://regia.org/home.php

Joining me for this month's episode is a good friend of mine, Genevieve Gornichec, due to our shared passion for all things Norse and I'm delighted to finally after years of talking online about her wonderful Norse Fantasy and Norse History books, 'The Witch's Heart' and 'The Weaver and the Witch Queen'. Learn what inspired both stories about remarkable female figures of mythology and history, her experience writing and publishing, her second life in viking age living history and so much more.

Please discover more about Genevieve and her books at her website: https://genevievegornichec.com/

Clear the mead benches, lay out fresh straw, roll out the mead barrels and prepare to welcome the most "hapless" group of Norse heroes and heroines to the Hall of the Worthy as we welcome:

Game Master, ‪@ianstuartsharpe‬ aka Mr Vikingverse, who has recently completed an actual play podcast, Vikings & Valkyries, of his uniquely norse Thought & Memory Saga adventure set in the When The Wolf Comes universe. You can listen on YouTube and Spotify. https://vikingverse.com/podcast-episodes

Along with Characters/Players:

Bill Hopkins, a GM-for-hire on StartPlaying (using the stage name MagicLudi). He also has channels on Facebook, Twitch, and Youtube so you can get a taste of his GM style before signing up. https://startplaying.games/gm/magicludi

Steve Madill, a prolific author of science fiction and fantasy, with over a dozen books across three series. http://www.sjmadill.com/ ‪

C J Adrien‬ an award-winning author of Viking historical fiction novels and co-host of the ‪@vikingologypodcast‬ podcast. https//www.cjadrien.com/

Annina Kaski, actress, writer, producer and star of ‪@BardicQuest‬ and Find more of her work at the ‪@theawkwardactress‬.

Taylor Moe, filmmaker, blacksmith and Dungeon Master at Silver Fire Films.

My next special guest in this mini series meeting the many talented and skilled and knowledgable folk who are part of this years ⁨@JORVIK-Viking-Centre⁩ Jorvik Viking Festival - is a truly talented storyteller by the name of Jason Buck.

I chat to him about how he first encountered the Norse myths, how he creates the stories he enchants audiences with, we discuss the nature of stories and their enduring power, the blessing and curse of not knowing all the norse stories ever told, how various folklore share similiarities and many other topics I hope you find interesting.

If you are at all interested in attending one of his live or online story events please visit his website here: https://www.jasonbuckstoryteller.co.uk/

You can begin to experience and listen to his wonderful and skilled story of The Shield Maiden thanks to this video recording he made of it, in two parts, 4 years ago on YouTube - https://youtu.be/LkQv0ZmJbLE?si=WV8hZFwyVSi8hOx0

And if you are interested in the Viking Folklore and Fairytales collection I am currently reading - you can find out more about it here - https://www.flametreepublishing.com/viking-folk-&-fairy-tales-isbn-9781804172308.html

Return and join us in Valhalla as we conclude Episode 15, Norse Games & Vikings in Games, with special guest academics, Luca Panaro (University of Iceland) and Emma Thompson (University of Leicester) - Part 2!

- If you haven't watched/listened to Part 1 please do so, otherwise you will miss out on the many games and topics of representation discussed -

Games mentioned in Part 2 are as follows:

Roki @PolygonTreehouse

Final Voyage of Draengr Thar (table top role play game for 5e Dungeons & Dragons) by @1ShotJC

Tribes of Midgard @TribesofMidgard @norsfell

Odin's Ravens (table top card-based game for 2 players)

Althingi (table top card-based game for 4 players) @JoshuaMGillingham @outlandentertainment1295

Viking Raders (table top card-based game for up to 4 players) @vikingraiders

When The Wolf Comes (table top role play game, powered by Shadow of the Demon Lord rules) @ianstuartsharpe

Svilland (table top role play game for 5e Dungeons & Dragons) @DRSPublishing

Journey to Ragnarok (table top role play game for 5e Dungeons & Dragons) by Mana Project Studio

Choice of the Viking by Declan Taggart @ChoiceOfGames

Niffelheim @NiffelheimGame

Expedition Viking @LogicArtists

Northgard @Shiro_Games

Bad North @Rawfury

Joining me in this month's episode of Valhalla Conversations are two academics, Luca Panaro, a PhD candidate at the University of Iceland, in the Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies; and Emma Thompson, a Midlands4Cities (M4C)-funded PhD Researcher at the University of Leicester, in archaeology broadly but specifically looking at Viking Age and Late Anglo-Saxon mortuary identities.

We unite together to dive into the topic of games played by the vikings and the journey to games where we can play as vikings!

Games discussed in Part 1 are as follows:

Hnafltafl aka Tafl - A traditional Norse strategy table top board game.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla & Orlog @assassinscreedUK @Ubisoft

God Of War (2018 onwards) @PlayStation

Valheim @irongateofficial

Norse @ArcticHazard @tripwireinteractive

Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree @WildboyStudios

The Frostrune @grimnirmedia9341

The Banner Saga @StoicStudio

Dead in Vinland @ishtar_games

Jotun @thunderlotus

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hell @gamesfarm3558

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice @officialninjatheory

You can also read Luca's "deep dive" article into Norse Mythology retold in God of War 2018 here: https://doi.org/10.22478/ufpb.2595-9107.2021v1n4.60355

Do follow up with Part 2 of our this insightful and interesting conversation!

I am delighted to welcome a guest with a unique and special connection to myself, in that we are both Alumni of @hudduni - myself graduating in 2009, whereas Katie Smith, a graphic designer at @yorkarchaeology graduated in 2020.

And thanks to her talent and current position, she was given the almighty task of helping design the very first and most exclusive @TopTrumpsOfficial card set for the @JORVIK-Viking-Centre which were release a month or two before this years Jorvik Viking Festival.

I had a really enjoyable chat with Katie, sharing our connection, learning of her journey from graduate to graphic designer for YAT and her own personal learning curve on Norse Mythology and how it helped her interpretation and depiction of the various gods, goddesses, giants and monsters in the pack.

You can buy the pack from the Jorvik Online Shop here: https://www.jorvikshop.com/products/jorvik-top-trumps