Podcast
Vikingology Podcast
Hosted by The Art and Science of the Viking Age · EN
Terri and C.J. are first and foremost educators passionate about the Viking Age and Viking history. Theirs was a meeting foretold in the myths of old. Both are historians of Viking history, both live in Oregon in the U.S., and both share the same birthday. It seemed only natural they team up for something epic. The Norns have woven this fate.
vikingology.substack.com
vikingology.substack.com
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Viking Ghost Stories
Dec 1101:19:10Tap to summarizeThe Norse during the Viking Age inhabited a world that was both utterly foreign to us and yet humanly familiar. Like us, they believed in ghosts. But maybe unlike us they believed in revenants and other supernatural creatures of all kinds. It seems their world was pretty porous when it came to the line between the living and the dead.In this episode we chatted with Irina Manea, a scholar of Norse myth and the saga literature, to get a sense of the viking mind regarding death and the afterlife. How did they deal with dead bodies? Where did they believe people went after death? Were ghosts and revenants welcomed or shunned? Were the dead scary or benevolent? Did they take steps to protect against them? And how much did the Christianization of Viking Age Scandinavia change those beliefs?It’s a fascinating topic that we hadn’t delved into much on the show. We learned a lot, including the fact that maybe an important way to keep bad spirits away is to cover your anus. To be safe, you’d better watch or listen and find out why :)Thanks Irina! We must do it again soon.You can find Irina on her Shield of Skuld newsletter right here on Substack. Do check it out. Lots of great viking content there.Skál Get full access to Vikingology Podcast at vikingology.substack.com/subscribe
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Viking Law and Order: English Edition
Nov 2901:12:46Tap to summarizeHistorians and archaeologists who study the vikings are constantly grappling with the question of the amount and level of influence they had on the various parts of the world they ventured into. In this episode we add legal customs to the mix with Dr. Jake Stattel, a legal historian and postdoc research fellow at Cambridge University's Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, who is looking into this very thing — pun intended :)We talked about how legal institutions in England were changing dramatically from AD 900 to 1200 due in part to internal political developments but also to the incursion of the vikings who not only raided and traded but eventually settled there, creating a new hybrid culture based on traditional Scandinavian legal systems, in an area that came to be known as the Danelaw.Want to know the difference between customary and common law, how a person would know which laws they needed to obey when living in a hybrid world, and what happened to 13-year old thieves? Jake’s got you covered.His article Legal culture in the Danelaw: a study of III Æthelred has won several awards for its novel approach to this subject, so if you’re interested in a deeper dive, do check it out.Thanks Jake for a really interesting chat that got our wheels turning!Vikingology is reader-supported. Thanks for watching and listening! To support our work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Get full access to Vikingology Podcast at vikingology.substack.com/subscribe
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It's a Saga Thing!
Nov 701:08:08Tap to summarizeFour podcast hosts geeking out on the Viking Age. What could be better, right?We finally got our chance to sit down with John Sexton and Andy Pfrenger, Medieval Studies scholars who found they shared a love of the Icelandic sagas and started a podcast about it. They’ve been at it for over a decade now, bringing in-depth readings and discussion of the sagas — those tales about people living on a harsh little island in the North Atlantic during the Viking Age — which are chock full of utterly human situations and emotions that are still relatable all these centuries later. And sometimes they even put them on trial.But oddly enough, we started the conversation by talking about Beowulf and what it means to be killed in the Vikingverse. Go figure. John and Andy are leading a saga tour of Iceland in April 2026. If you are interested in tagging along, check out their website Saga Thing Tours. Space is limited so sign up early!And don’t forget to listen to their podcast. You’ll get a deep dive into the saga literature and occasionally hear an interview with top scholars and general viking enthusiasts as well. All great stuff.Thanks John and Andy! We hope we get to do it again. Skál!Vikingology is reader-supported. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so we can continue bringing you great guests like John and Andy. Get full access to Vikingology Podcast at vikingology.substack.com/subscribe
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Meet the Normans
Aug 27Tap to summarizeTerri and C.J. are finally back together again!After a summer hiatus so that C.J. could move to France, we reunite for a very special chat with medievalist historian and fellow American Pacific Northwesterner Eleanor Janega. Some of you might recognize her from her incredibly popular History Hit TV series that she’s done on everything from the history of body modification to the plague, King Arthur, the medieval afterlife, and more.But we wanted to talk to her about her latest series about vikings named Norman.Well, actually the ones named “Rollo the Walker” and “William the B*****d” whose viking opportunism and medieval badassery gave us the area in France that we still call Normandy to this day because of them. We find out how and why a viking chieftain could create a dynasty that would change the history of a French region and the entirety of England forever. And why those Normans are the tech bros of the Viking Age.Thanks so much Eleanor! You are great fun and we look forward to chatting again soon.You can find out more about Eleanor’s work, including her books THE ONCE AND FUTURE SEX: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society and The Middle Ages: A Graphic History on her website.You can also check out Eleanor on her two podcasts: Gone Medieval and We’re Not So Different.Vikingology is reader-supported. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to keep the magic coming. Get full access to Vikingology Podcast at vikingology.substack.com/subscribe
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