‘Norse sagas [...] tend not to have [...] Michael Bay fight scenes'
July 24, 2022 7:56 PM Subscribe
Dr Jackson Crawford is a linguist with a YouTube channel devoted to old Norse language and literature. He’s been releasing videos twice a week for the last five years, covering old Norse language lessons, translations of texts, elements of Norse culture and discussions with experts in related fields.
Dr Crawford has appeared on Metafilter twice previously for Star Wars as an Icelandic saga (still available at his old blog) and the Cowboy Hávamál (available now at his current website).
In Cowboy Hávamál: Ten Years On (20 minutes), he talks about what Hávamál means to him and why he created the ‘cowboy’ translation. In Hávamál: A Brief Intro. (and why you ought to read it) (seven minutes), he introduces Hávamál as an exemplar of wisdom literature; in Hávamál: The Norse Poem of Odin's Wisdom (21 minutes), he talks about our source for the text of Hávamál (the Codex Regius manuscript), explains some of the translation choices in his book The Wanderer’s Hávamál and translates some excerpts from the text. He also reads the complete text and provides a rough translation in Hávamál (complete) in Old Norse, with runes, translation, and commentary (3 hours 47 minutes).
He also provides a reading and translation of the Lokasenna (1 hour 45 minutes) and discussions of famous events from the Poetic Edda: Odin Hangs Himself (15 minutes) and Loki’s punishment (19 minutes). The Art of Viking Poetry: A How-To (includes kennings) (48 minutes) explains the structure of different styles of Norse poetry.
He occasionally talks about the reception of Norse literature in pop culture – the title quote is from The Northman (Norse Expert's Thoughts) (45 minutes) and he has also discussed The Thirteenth Warrior (26 minutes). Spoiler: he enjoyed The Thirteenth Warrior more than The Northman.
I’ve enjoyed a lot of his discussions with other experts but instead of linking all of them I’ll highlight Tapestries and Tolkien (with Avedan Raggio) (1 hour 20 minutes) – they discuss the Njals saga tapestry, interpreting visual art, weaving, dyeing, spinning and the relationship between women’s work and women’s magic, and influences on Tolkien’s writing.
Dr Crawford has appeared on Metafilter twice previously for Star Wars as an Icelandic saga (still available at his old blog) and the Cowboy Hávamál (available now at his current website).
In Cowboy Hávamál: Ten Years On (20 minutes), he talks about what Hávamál means to him and why he created the ‘cowboy’ translation. In Hávamál: A Brief Intro. (and why you ought to read it) (seven minutes), he introduces Hávamál as an exemplar of wisdom literature; in Hávamál: The Norse Poem of Odin's Wisdom (21 minutes), he talks about our source for the text of Hávamál (the Codex Regius manuscript), explains some of the translation choices in his book The Wanderer’s Hávamál and translates some excerpts from the text. He also reads the complete text and provides a rough translation in Hávamál (complete) in Old Norse, with runes, translation, and commentary (3 hours 47 minutes).
He also provides a reading and translation of the Lokasenna (1 hour 45 minutes) and discussions of famous events from the Poetic Edda: Odin Hangs Himself (15 minutes) and Loki’s punishment (19 minutes). The Art of Viking Poetry: A How-To (includes kennings) (48 minutes) explains the structure of different styles of Norse poetry.
He occasionally talks about the reception of Norse literature in pop culture – the title quote is from The Northman (Norse Expert's Thoughts) (45 minutes) and he has also discussed The Thirteenth Warrior (26 minutes). Spoiler: he enjoyed The Thirteenth Warrior more than The Northman.
I’ve enjoyed a lot of his discussions with other experts but instead of linking all of them I’ll highlight Tapestries and Tolkien (with Avedan Raggio) (1 hour 20 minutes) – they discuss the Njals saga tapestry, interpreting visual art, weaving, dyeing, spinning and the relationship between women’s work and women’s magic, and influences on Tolkien’s writing.
Pedantically, I will point out that Njal's saga is Icelandic, not Norse.
posted by praemunire at 8:18 PM on July 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 8:18 PM on July 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
An interesting example is the underrated 2020 film Mortal from Norway by director André Øvredal - - although one has to wonder what the Norwegians know about an American superhero like Thor?
posted by fairmettle at 9:56 PM on July 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 9:56 PM on July 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
A YouTube channel that is similar ish is the Welsh Viking.
posted by poxandplague at 1:36 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by poxandplague at 1:36 AM on July 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
If this stuff interests you, allow me to recommend my favorite podcast, Saga Thing. John Sexton and Andy Pfrenger are two incredibly geeky professors of medieval literature who have been friends since grad school, and are reading through all the Icelandic family sagas and discussing them. Except when they get distracted and talk about D&D or Star Wars or whatever. ("Maybe we should just ditch the whole sagas thing and do a Star Wars podcast." "Yes, because two middle aged white guys talking about Star Wars has never been done as a podcast before.")
After they finish summarizing the saga, they then judge it on seven categories: Best Bloodshed (the most impressive moment of violence), Body Count (tallying the total number of deaths in the saga, and then calculating the BCDM - Body Count Density Measurement, measured in deaths per Hrafnkel, Notable Witticisms (the best quips and clever and/or badass sayings), Nicknames (a discussion of any particularly interesting nicknames, like "Horsecock", "Ship-Breast", "Seal Testicle", and "Open Handed But Stingy With Meat"), then they choose the worst person to Outlaw, then each choose their favorite character from the saga to take into their own retinue, and finally they give the saga a 1-to-10 rating on general quality.
It is a lot of fun.
https://sagathingpodcast.wordpress.com/
posted by Xiphias Gladius at 7:24 PM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
After they finish summarizing the saga, they then judge it on seven categories: Best Bloodshed (the most impressive moment of violence), Body Count (tallying the total number of deaths in the saga, and then calculating the BCDM - Body Count Density Measurement, measured in deaths per Hrafnkel, Notable Witticisms (the best quips and clever and/or badass sayings), Nicknames (a discussion of any particularly interesting nicknames, like "Horsecock", "Ship-Breast", "Seal Testicle", and "Open Handed But Stingy With Meat"), then they choose the worst person to Outlaw, then each choose their favorite character from the saga to take into their own retinue, and finally they give the saga a 1-to-10 rating on general quality.
It is a lot of fun.
https://sagathingpodcast.wordpress.com/
posted by Xiphias Gladius at 7:24 PM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
« Older Another blow for the TED talk industrial complex | California To Make Its Own, Low-Cost Insulin... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by metametamind at 8:04 PM on July 24, 2022 [3 favorites]