This episode’s a bit of a different format than usual. I’m working on a large series about the Viking Age, from the explosive raid on Lindisfarne to the crushing defeat at Stamford Bridge in 1066. The prep alone is a lot of work, and I don’t want to record it until I’m very good at recording things.
So, in the interest of learning to record things better, on this episode of the Bjorn This Way Podcast, I’m reading Hrafnkel’s Saga.
One of the shorter sagas, it tells of struggles between the upper and lower classes of 10th Century Iceland. It tells of a legal system where legal settlements are only enforced by the strength of those seeking justice, and the role that personal honour played in that society.
It’s the story of powerful men, and men that want to be powerful. It’s a story about how pride comes before the fall, and how sometimes things come after the fall, too.
For further reading, a very scholarly analysis of this saga is available through Saga Thing Podcast. Honestly, go check them out – they do great work.
Reference
Palsson, H. (trans.) (1971) Hrafnkel’s Saga and Other Icelandic Stories. Penguin Classics.
Music
Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)(http://filmmusic.io)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Bjorn This Way 