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!

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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:

• Glúm - Halldóra
• Thórir of Espihóll - Thórdís
• Thórarinn of Espihóll - Thorgerd
• Thorvald Hook of Espihóll - Thorkötla

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.

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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/