Saga Thing

Latest Episodes:

Episode 37d - The Saga of Havard of Isafjord (chapters 19-24) Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

While Havard and his band of merry cousins and bloodthirsty tweens hides out at Atli's, his good friend Steinthor is heading to the Althing to work his magic on a settlement for all the killings. But there's one more brother of the sons of Thjodrek out there. His name is Thorarin and he's a chieftain of some consequence. He's hatched a plot that could earn him a healthy settlement and a bloody revenge that depends on Atli being the kind of cowardly pushover his reputation suggests. Does Havard have what it takes to defend himself against these powerful men or will he fall victim to their cunning plan?

Join in on the conversation here:

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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/

Episode 37c - The Saga of Havard of Isafjord (chapters 11-18) Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

What do you do after a successful killing spree? Kill some more! At least that seems to be Havard of Isafjord's motto. There's a certain logic to it as one killing begets another. But Thorbjorn has a lot of brothers and there's only so much killing Havard can do before he needs to find a sweet spot to hide out. Perhaps that nice fella from the Althing who offered his help will provide the protection Havard needs?

This episode moves quick. We meet some new characters, see some familiar faces, and get a shocking surprise involving two young boys who stand up to a local bully. We also spend some time talking Old Norse poetry. All in all, a good time.

One more episode of Havard's saga to go before we take it to the Saga Thing!

Music Credits

Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Review Music - "The Royal Vagabond Medley" by Jocker's Dance Orchestra

Poetry Music - – “Fornheim” by Danheim

Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Hwæt a Movie! - Episode 1 - Beowulf (1999) Sep 18, 2023

Show notes

As part of our 10th Anniversary extravaganza, we are launching what could become a new podcast: Hwæt a Movie! It's a movie review podcast focusing on films with a medieval (or medieval adjacent) setting.

To get this little experiment off on the right foot, we are starting with a series on Beowulf movies. There are a lot of them and they aren't necessarily good representations of the poem. But that doesn't matter.

Join us as we discuss, review, and rate 1999's Beowulf, starring Christopher Lambert, Rhona Mitra, and Mac from Night Court!

Music Credits

Intro Music - Beowulf

Performed by Jonathan David Sloate (as Jonathan Sloate) Written by Jonathan David Sloate (as Jonathan Sloate) Published by Sorcerer's Apprentice Publishing Company

Segment and Outro Music - Guilty (Juno Reactor Mix)

Performed by Gravity Kills Written by Gravity Kills Published by TVT Music, Inc. Gravity Kills appears courtesy of TVT Records p1997 TVT Records

10th Anniversary of Saga Thing (Part 2) - How Well Do You Know Your Co-Host (with Totalus Rankium) Sep 18, 2023

Show notes

One episode wasn't enough to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. In this special bonus episode, you get double the podcast hosts! We're joined by our good friends Rob and Jamie from Totalus Rankium for another thrilling edition of How Well Do You Know Your Co-Host! Originally intended to be part of a single anniversary episode, we had so much fun that we had to break it off into its own special episode.

We hope you enjoy!

10th Anniversary of Saga Thing Sep 18, 2023

Show notes

Join us as we celebrate our 10th Anniversary with some reminiscing, listener interaction, ridiculous bits, and a lot of laughs. There might even be a hilarious surprise guest appearance here as well. And if that's not enough for you, we've got two more bonus episodes to sate your appetite.

As we say more than once in this episode, thank you for listening. Whether you've been listening for 10 years or 10 days, we appreciate you and we're honored that you are sharing this journey with us.

Skál!

Episode 37b - The Saga of Havard of Isafjord (chapters 6-11) Aug 16, 2023

Show notes

[Quick Note: This episode appears to be over 8 hours long. It's a cruel joke by the podbean upload. The actual length is just over 90 minutes. It will end where it's supposed to.]

We’re back with another installment of Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, The Saga of Havard of Isafjord. This one is quickly becoming a new Saga Thing favorite. In this episode, Havard lays around, Bjargey gets busy, Thorbjorn takes a nasty fall, and Vak meets one of the more surprisingly stupid but realistic demises we’ve seen on this podcast. Along the way, Havard cracks the door open to let a new God into his heart, but only if said new God can provide him with the bloody revenge he's been praying for.

We also dig into the runesack and discuss the wonders of whale rib rollers and what exactly Thorbjorn is doing with Sigrid and the other young women he takes into his household.

Thanks to Will Bilson for the beautiful painting of Havard and Bjargey's touching goodbye as Havard leaves to seek vengeance against Thorbjorn. You can find more of Will's work at https://www.instagram.com/willjah_art.thing

If you’d like to send us a message, a question, a comment, or compliment for our 10th Anniversary Special, you’ve got lots of options:

Sagathingpodcast on Facebook

Sagathingpodcast on Instagram

Sagathingpod on X (Twitter)

Saga Thing’s unofficial official Discord

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/

First and Second Verse Music - "Despair and Triumph" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Third and Fourth Verse Music - “Valravn” by Danheim

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

Episode 37a - The Saga of Havard of Isafjord (chapters 1-5) Jul 30, 2023

Show notes

Saga Thing returns with a brand-new episode for a brand new saga from late medieval Iceland. In this episode, we dip our toes into the first five chapters of Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings, The Saga of Havard of Isafjord. It’s a story of good guys vs. bad guys in this surprisingly fun but little-known classic.

The heroes of this episode are Olaf and his parents, Havard and Bjargey. The villains are Thorbjorn and his despicable nephew Vak. Needless to say, things don’t go very well for Olaf and his family when they come up against Thorbjorn’s ruthless brand of authoritarianism.

We’d also like to welcome our new guest illustrator, William Bilson. In his first illustration for Havard’s Saga, we see Thorbjorn gently guiding the local lawspeaker to the right decision when he’s asked to settle a dispute over a whale carcass. You can check out more of William’s work at www.instagram.com/willjah_art.thing

Music Credits

Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Saga Short 11 - The Tale of Bolli Bollason Jul 02, 2023

Show notes

With Laxdaela Saga behind us, we turn to the Tale of Bolli Bollason to bring the journey to a proper end. In this fun little story, Bolli Bollason finds himself swept into more than one conflict up in northern Iceland. Does he have the social and political (and warrior) savvy to go there and back again without a scratch? Listen and find out!

Warning: Andy goes a bit crazy with the maps and topography in this one.

Music Credits:

Intro: from “Death Awaits” by Billy Malmstrom

Outro: From “Óðinn” by Krauka

Episode 36o - Laxdaela Saga (Judgments) Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

After a very close inspection and lengthy investigation, we are finally ready to put Laxdaela Saga on trial. As it's been over a year since we started, John and I take our time reviewing the candidates for our usual Saga Thing categories:

Best Bloodshed
Body Count
Nicknames
Notable Witticisms
Outlawry
Thingmen
Final Ratings

Our thanks to all of you out there who have listened, commented, and engaged with us as we worked our way through this massive and entertaining saga. We're especially grateful to all of you who've been interacting over on our Official Unofficial Saga Thing Discord page. If you're not involved over there, at least sign up and lurk. It's pretty interesting stuff.

A very special thanks to Jacob for sticking with us through a whole year of illustrating for Saga Thing. It was a monumental effort and a pleasure to see his art evolve across the saga. Many thanks, Jacob! Check out more of his work on Instagram where he's @skarphedin_illustrator.

Music Credits

Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Episode 36n - Laxdaela Saga (chapters 72-78) May 09, 2023

Show notes

We began our journey through Laxdaela Saga in April of 2022. A year and many many episodes later, we finally come to the end. Please join us as we discuss the final few chapters of the saga. It may be a little difficult to find the narrative thread if you're expecting to follow Bolli or Gudrun through these last pages of the text. They're certainly there, but the saga's ending is designed to wrap up the story of Gudrun's husbands and to look forward toward the genealogical connections to future generations.

Of course, Bolli and Gudrun get their moments in this conclusion, including Gudrun's brief but riddling confession of who she loved most.

We wrap it all up with a lengthy summons of Gudrun and a detailed discussion of her character, something we've been waiting for a long time to do. I argued that we should devote a whole episode to Gudrun, but John reminded me that we've spent half a year commenting on her. Think of our summons as an invitation for further discussion, which you can do on our various social media platforms:

The Unofficial Official Saga Thing Discord

SagaThingPod on Twitter

Sagathingpodcast on Facebook and Instagram

We appreciate your patience as we worked through this amazing saga across the last year. We'll be back soon with the Bolli Bollason's Tale and the Judgments.

Music Credits

Intro Music - "Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4236-prelude-and-action
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Review Music - "The Royal Vagabond Medley" by Jocker's Dance Orchestra

Outro Music - "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4421-stormfront
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license