Saga Thing

In this special Saga Brief, we wrap up our four-part series from Iceland with an interview recorded in the shadow of Snæfellsjökull, one of the most iconic landscapes in the country. This time, we are joined by Ragnhildur Sigurðardóttir, park manager of Snæfellsjökull National Park, for a wide-ranging conversation about the sagas, Icelandic heritage, and the powerful connection between people and place.

Snæfellsjökull National Pa...

Though Guðmund the Powerful has been laid to rest, tensions between the Möðruvellings and the Ljósvetnings continue into the next generation. In a bold move toward peace, Eyjólf Guðmundarson (the new leader of the Möðruvellings) attempts to create peace by forming an alliance with Þorvarð Hóskuldsson (grandson of Þorgeir Lawspeaker and leader of the Ljósvetnings). But there's a dark cloud on the horizon. 

A surprise pregnancy, que...

This special Saga Brief interview with Anna Melsteð (of the Eyrbyggja Saga Society) was recorded at the foot of Helgafell on a drizzly afternoon following a full day of exploring key sites from Eyrbyggja Saga with Anna, Eyberg, and Guðlaug as our guides.

Our day began with a quick viewing of the original site of the Þórsnessþing, mainly to get a view of where drítsker might be.

We followed that up with a rugged hike to Vigrafjörðu...

In this special Saga Brief, we visit historic Reykholt, once home to Snorri Sturluson, for a fascinating conversation with Sigrún Guttormsdóttir Þormar, department manager at Snorrastofa. This interview is the second installment in our four-part series recorded on-site during our recent trip to Iceland.

Sigrún generously met with us on a Saturday to talk about Snorri’s life, legacy, and the important...

With Þórir Helgason freshly outlawed, Guðmund inn ríki (the Powerful) turns his attention to Þorkell hák (Bully) to sate his thirst for revenge. Speaking of thirst, Þorkell lands one of the sickest burns we've heard in a long while at Guðmund´s expense.

After butting heads since the first chapters of the saga, these two finally come to blows in a thrilling and hilarious climax. Who comes out on top? You'll just have to listen to f...

On our recent trip to Iceland, we had the pleasure of speaking to a variety of fascinating people about their interest in the sagas. Our goal was to get a sense of how these individuals read and engage with these medieval texts in a modern context.

Saga Brief 27, a 4 part interview series, is the result of those efforts.

In this first episode, we chat with Björn Júlíus Grímsson, an Icelandic tour guide who loves to share the stunni...

Tensions have been building in Eyjafjörður as nearly everyone in the north seems to have it out for Guðmundr inn ríki. Across the last few episodes, Guðmundr has taken loss after loss when pitted against some of the region’s heavy hitters. Perhaps things will turn out differently for him when he embarks on a campaign of legal vengeance against Þórir Helgason, a rival chieftain whose been spreading rumors about Guðmundr’s masculini...

We return with the tale of Vöðu-Brand, another entertaining þáttr from the opening section of Ljósvetninga Saga. This is the story of a troublesome young man who is bored with life the farm in northern Iceland. His restlessness carries him across the sea for a brief and somewhat turbulent stay in Norway. Once back in Iceland, young Brand can't seem to get out of his own way, causing a spot of trouble for himself that might just cha...

While we don't make major progress through Ljósvetninga saga in this episode, we have a great time talking about two of the three þættir that fill a gap in the manuscript. Another gap in a manuscript? Indeed. We open the episode with a very brief discussion of the A and C manuscripts to help explain what's going on there.

At the heart of this episode are two tales. The first is known as Sörla þáttr Brodd-Helgasonar, about a young ...

It's time to begin our series on Ljósvetninga Saga! In this episode, we introduce the saga and work our way through the first four chapters.

While Ljósvetninga Saga focuses on the career of Guðmundr inn ríki (Gudmund the Powerful), he plays a small role in this episode. Instead, we focus on a conflict between Thorgeir Lawspeaker and his sons over the fate of an outlaw. This one is the apéritif served to get you in the mood for an e...

In this episode, we review the second Tale of Halldor Snorrason (Halldórs þáttr Snorrasonar inn síðari) from the 13th-century Morkinskinna (moldy or rotten skin/parchment). If you enjoyed the first of Halldor's tales, we think you'll like this one even more. Last time, Halldor pushed his relationship with King Harald Hardrada to the brink but in this episode he may just push things over the edge. One...

Gleðileg jól frá Saga Thing! Long before Charles Dickens penned his beloved A Christmas Carol, a well-known and infamous Icelander seems to have had a similar idea. While less wholesome and optimistic than the Dickens classic, there’s surely a lesson somewhere in this tale that we’re calling Egil’s Yuletide Carol.

Inspired by the 1930s radio dramatizations of A Christmas Carol starring Lionel Barrymore, we’ve tried our hand at pro...

Hwæt a Movie returns with Beowulf: Prince of the Geats! Given how hard this one is to find, we’d be surprised if any of you have seen it.

Released in March 2007, shortly after SYFY's Grendel and ahead of Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf, this Scott Wegener-directed indie film dives into the epic tale with a unique take on the hero and his legendary battles. And while the film’s limited budget and production constraints might be apparent,...

Saga Thing returns once again to the tales of Icelanders from the sagas of Norwegian kings with a surprise double feature of tales involving Halldór Snorrason, the son of Snorri goði and longtime companion of King Harald "harðráða" Sigurdsson.

We open with The Tale of the Story-wise Icelander [Íslendings þáttr sögufróða], a fun little story about an Icelander who makes a name for himself telling tales and sagas in the court of an o...

Hwæt a Movie returns with the Beowulf film you didn’t know you needed to see: SYFY’s Grendel. Released at the start of 2007, ahead of Beowulf: Prince of the Geats and Robert Zemeckis’s Beowulf, Grendel rides the wave of Beowulf-mania that was sweeping nation back then. Or perhaps it started the craze?

And while you might think based on the title that this film picks up where Beowulf and Grendel left off with a more nuanced and sym...

It's time to put Valla-Ljot's Saga on trial. How will this brief story that's less than a single Hrafnkel hold up under scrutiny? Is there enough violence for a proper round of Best Bloodshed and Body Count? With only a few nicknames, how will John stretch his section out to the usual length? What kind of surprise reveal does John drop on Andy at the start of Thingmen? And how does Valla-Ljot's Saga perform when all is said and don...

We’re back, and not a moment too soon! After the pot-stirring life and unceremonious death of Halli Troublemaker at the hands (and axe) of Valla-Ljöt Ljotolfsson, Halli’s older brother Hrolf Jaw retaliated by having Ljöt’s nephew Thorvard killed by a squad of murderers at a market. Now the whole valley’s on edge, waiting to see whether a carefully-brokered truce between Ljöt and Guðmund the Powerful can bring peace to the Tumultuou...

While we may have finished Svarfdaela Saga, we're not done with the most tumultuous valley of medieval Iceland just yet. In this episode, we pick up with the next generation. The lead actors in this little drama are Halli, the grandson of Karl the Red, and Ljot (aka Valla-Ljot), the son of Ljotolf the godi. And though the tensions between Karl and Ljotolf's families had cooled at the end of Svarfdaela Saga, it doesn't take Halli lo...

It's time for the third installment of our side project known as Hwaet a Movie! In this episode, we give the Saga Thing treatment to the 2005 Canadian-Icelandic film Beowulf and Grendel. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and watch it (even if our review might not cast it in the brightest light). The film stars Gerard Butler as Beowulf, Stellan Skarsgård as Hrothgar, and Sarah Polley as Selma the witch. Don't worry if...