Excellent Icelandic Saga Edutainment
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“This podcast has done more to introduce people to the Sagas of the Icelanders than any number of college literature courses.
With an eye for entertainment, John and Andy (both literature professors) unpack the sagas, extracting the most important, dramatic, and hilarious scenes. They discuss important themes and notable historical figures.
But their innovation is the Judgement section. (In Icelandic, 'thing' means a legal court, where neighbors can bring complaints for the local leadership to render judgement or mediation.) in this section, John and Andy judge the saga and its characters in seven categories:
-Best Bloodshed: the most satisfying violent act in the saga
-Body Count: a tally of untimely deaths, to compare with other sagas
-Nicknames: unpacking the meaning behind the kenning-based nicknames that Icelandic literature is famous for
-Notable Witticism: the zingy-est one-liner, the most fabulous fluting, or the most bumper-sticker-worthy phrase in the saga
-Outlawry: a chance to give just deserts to the most despicable character who may have escaped censure in the saga
-Thingmen: John and Andy play 'Fantasy Iceland' and each draft one character to join their all-star team
-Final Verdict: a simple score out of 10 for the saga under judgement
This judgement allows John and Andy to highlight interesting characters and events in the saga which they may have missed in the summary. A review of the themes and critical reception of the saga during 'Final Verdict' serves well to round out the discussion.
This podcast is entertaining and educational in equal measure. The two professors do a wonderful job at both introducing Icelandic sagas in an approachable manner, and also providing resources for listeners who want to dig deeper into the subject. Their intelligence, and their friendship, is evident throughout.
A tip for new listeners: it's okay to skip the three-part 'Episode One' and jump straight into Hrafnkel's Saga. If you find yourself hungry for more background knowledge (and I'm willing to bet that you will), by all means go back to them.
One final Easter-egg hunt: Listen carefully for the moment where a zombie infestation is dealt with in a novel, yet wholly Icelandic, fashion. ;-)”Read full review »
Anon483782838484 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
09/22/15
More reviews of Saga Thing
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“Finally! Icelandic sagas have been ignored for a really long time. It's hard to understand all the nuances in the stories. The Saga thing is chocked full of equal parts humor and really useful information.”Read full review »
MirianEve via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
08/25/16
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“I started listening to this in preparation for a family holiday to Iceland and have become totally addicted! I've enjoyed it so much I considered changing my dissertation topic to include the Sagas, though I think I'll save it for a masters. Thanks again guys, you've really opened my...”Read full review »
Thorbjorg Ship-Breast via Apple Podcasts ·
Great Britain ·
06/20/16
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“I have only listened to the first half dozen episodes but I am really enjoying it.”
Recycler4570 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
09/10/16
Do you host a podcast?
Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
Listen now
Links
Genres
Artwork or description wrong?
Request an update »
Updates may take a few minutes.
Do you host a podcast?
Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
