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Mar. 19th, 2016 09:09 amSo, I am sick. I stayed home from work yesterday, which was an excellent decision. Today, I feel a little better, but am extremely glad it's Saturday and I don't have to go anywhere or do anything at all.
(BTW, do you think that there is a law declaring that all cough-and-cold medicine has to taste nasty? Is there a congressperson or something I should be writing to? I mean, there is a reason that when you google "home cough remedies" the first one on every list is "stick a spoonful of honey in your face." That is because those people know what I have been suffering.)
But that's not what I came here to post about. I came here to tell you about the Saga Thing podcast, which I spend several hours knitting to yesterday. You guys, it is great. It's two dudes, and first they give you a nice summary-and-discussion of an Icelandic saga, and then they grade on a bunch of criteria, like "Best bloodshed scene" or "Wittiest dialogue" or "Best nicknames". And the first three episodes are a wonderful easy background summary of life in Iceland during the saga period, as well as how the sagas were written. It is educational and entertaining. The two dudes are pretty funny, in that sitting-around-with-your-friends kind of way, and clearly passionate and well-educated on their topic.
Bonus: you don't have to have read the sagas in question to enjoy the podcast - the first one they did, Hrafnkel's Saga, I had not read at all and I found their summary and discussion really interesting and easy to follow. I'm in the middle of the episodes on Eyrbyggja Saga, which I have read and which is long and very episodic, and I felt they did a great job of summarizing and tying everything together. Plus, they talked about the spectral seal head that comes up through the floor at one point and is never explained, and about the time one guy stopped a haunting by suing the ghosts. That last is a perfect encapsulation of everything great about the sagas, I'm so happy it exists in the world. They're mostly covering the family sagas, but they have done The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, so there may be some other genres in there at some point. (Not that the family sagas aren't great - they are. I just always want to talk about the Volsungasaga.)
So if you've ever thought to yourself, "Well, I'd like to learn more about the Icelandic sagas, but I'm just not up to actually reading one right now," this would be a great podcast for you. And if you just want to listen to two dudes talking about a bunch of people with names like Thorstein Codbiter and Thorgrimma Witch-face fighting badass duels and suing ghosts, then I also recommend it. 8)
(BTW, do you think that there is a law declaring that all cough-and-cold medicine has to taste nasty? Is there a congressperson or something I should be writing to? I mean, there is a reason that when you google "home cough remedies" the first one on every list is "stick a spoonful of honey in your face." That is because those people know what I have been suffering.)
But that's not what I came here to post about. I came here to tell you about the Saga Thing podcast, which I spend several hours knitting to yesterday. You guys, it is great. It's two dudes, and first they give you a nice summary-and-discussion of an Icelandic saga, and then they grade on a bunch of criteria, like "Best bloodshed scene" or "Wittiest dialogue" or "Best nicknames". And the first three episodes are a wonderful easy background summary of life in Iceland during the saga period, as well as how the sagas were written. It is educational and entertaining. The two dudes are pretty funny, in that sitting-around-with-your-friends kind of way, and clearly passionate and well-educated on their topic.
Bonus: you don't have to have read the sagas in question to enjoy the podcast - the first one they did, Hrafnkel's Saga, I had not read at all and I found their summary and discussion really interesting and easy to follow. I'm in the middle of the episodes on Eyrbyggja Saga, which I have read and which is long and very episodic, and I felt they did a great job of summarizing and tying everything together. Plus, they talked about the spectral seal head that comes up through the floor at one point and is never explained, and about the time one guy stopped a haunting by suing the ghosts. That last is a perfect encapsulation of everything great about the sagas, I'm so happy it exists in the world. They're mostly covering the family sagas, but they have done The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, so there may be some other genres in there at some point. (Not that the family sagas aren't great - they are. I just always want to talk about the Volsungasaga.)
So if you've ever thought to yourself, "Well, I'd like to learn more about the Icelandic sagas, but I'm just not up to actually reading one right now," this would be a great podcast for you. And if you just want to listen to two dudes talking about a bunch of people with names like Thorstein Codbiter and Thorgrimma Witch-face fighting badass duels and suing ghosts, then I also recommend it. 8)
