Asatru Folk Assembly - 12⧸4⧸24 Victory Never Sleeps, Episode 126 - Egill's Saga, Part 1

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:00:30.000 Thank you.

00:01:00.000 We'll be right back.

00:01:30.000 Thank you.

00:02:00.000 Thank you.

00:02:30.000 Thank you.

00:03:00.000 Hey everyone, how are you guys doing tonight?

00:03:22.000 And welcome to another episode of Victory Never Sleeps.

00:03:25.980 Uh, this is an interesting one because we're going to be transferring into the sagas.

00:03:33.740 Um, one of the big things to remember with this guys is that the sagas have, uh, important

00:03:40.440 functions outside of, um, say, out of the true lore based around the gods.

00:03:49.640 Um, but there's a lot of history and a lot of things to consider.

00:03:54.920 so i really think it's going to be interesting but this is a long one so we're going to be doing this

00:03:58.280 every wednesday every woe than stay or odin's day um throughout the month of december so you know

00:04:08.280 if you uh if you're just joining us now that's awesome um if you know people that may um you

00:04:15.400 know join us later on or later on in the month don't worry we will try to kind of recap and give

00:04:23.080 some guidance before we start

00:04:24.840 pressing forward. Because, again, there is

00:04:26.920 a lot. And he is an enigmatic

00:04:29.360 character,

00:04:31.240 A.L. Skalagrimson,

00:04:33.300 as far as...

00:04:36.680 Sorry, I got all these noises going on.

00:04:41.880 He is an enigmatic

00:04:43.460 character who I think

00:04:45.340 exemplifies...

00:04:47.980 ...

00:04:49.080 ...

00:04:51.080 ...

00:04:53.080 I think he exemplifies fury in some of the best, uh, forms. Um, and I think that it's often forgot

00:05:02.660 that Lord Odin is the, uh, bestower of ecstatic fury. So, um, we're definitely going to see a lot

00:05:10.980 of that, but let's get into some announcements. Um, Nick, I don't know if you're, I'm on that,

00:05:16.060 uh, back chat, if there's any particular announcements that need to be met. Um,

00:05:22.380 yeah. So make sure that you like and subscribe and share and whatever the equivalent is in any

00:05:30.740 of the other places that were being watched, Odyssey, Twitch, X, Rumble, obviously YouTube

00:05:38.600 and VK for the, uh, for the Slavic, uh, crowds. Um, yeah, but definitely make sure that you,

00:05:47.360 um, at least let people know what we're doing here. We're, we're, we're, um, you know, giving

00:05:54.320 out lore and interpretation, and we're also answering questions and we're answering them

00:06:00.600 openly, honestly, upfront with no, um, uh, you know, rehearsal or anything of that nature. So

00:06:07.540 So we're trying to give you guys the open door to reach out and find out information about Ausatru, about the Ausatru Folk Assembly, from our hearts and our minds to you.

00:06:27.120 Oh, yeah.

00:06:27.780 And we had the audio podcasts and so on and so forth.

00:06:31.400 I'm not as good as intros as you are, Alceur Goli.

00:06:34.160 So I will leave that up to you.

00:06:36.140 You showed up at just the right time.

00:06:38.760 All right, guys.

00:06:39.760 Welcome to another exciting edition of Victory Never Sleeps,

00:06:45.500 but one that I'm particularly excited about.

00:06:50.720 For the month of December, Svon and I are going to present to you

00:06:57.440 the saga of Egil Scalagransson.

00:07:01.020 um anyone who has read this saga before knows that it's awesome um it is

00:07:11.620 I mean everybody's got their favorites for different reasons and there's cases to be

00:07:17.300 made for a lot of them but this is action-packed and exciting and about a real person who experienced

00:07:26.380 a spectacular life filled with high adventure um he is our uh highly a mother for december

00:07:39.860 celebrated uh with a day of remembrance on the 9th and in his honor we wanted to present

00:07:47.600 his saga and read through all of it and you know share it with you guys this evening

00:07:54.880 and the following three Victory Never Sleeps episodes on Wednesdays

00:08:01.520 or whenever you guys listen to it later.

00:08:07.040 It's a lot.

00:08:08.160 We're going to try to cover a lot of material.

00:08:10.860 I appreciate Svan making the time for this,

00:08:13.420 and I appreciate you guys spending the time with us.

00:08:15.900 I'm going to try to cover 23 chapters a night on this.

00:08:21.580 So that's substantial.

00:08:24.660 your look the chapters are not like pages and pages but they're it's a lot so we're gonna go

00:08:32.260 through it um i've given nick a couple of links i had hoped to get with spawn earlier to see if he

00:08:40.180 had a preferred version presented to us but what i found earlier that's really cool that nick can

00:08:47.060 pull up is a interactive map of icelandic sagas that's got like hyperlinks to different places

00:08:55.620 in iceland where a lot of these things these events occurred um

00:09:02.980 if you google it there's plenty of different versions um

00:09:10.100 do you have one in particular you plan on using spawn if not i've got

00:09:14.500 Yeah, the website is called sagadb.org. This is an 1893 translation. Okay. W.C. Green.

00:09:28.240 All right. So that is the one that I happened to have pull up and was going to suggest.

00:09:33.100 So that's very weird. Fortuitous.

00:09:35.580 yes all right and i also recommend if anybody has this book series um this is uh this was

00:09:44.140 making its rounds um very very substantial i have cracked it open numerous times and um

00:09:52.680 so yeah if you have the saga of the icelanders uh this is this is good very very

00:09:58.760 a waiting tone in both senses of the word um if you need to bludgeon intruders or things of that

00:10:08.760 nature it will it will suffice um but yeah uh okay before we get into the meat of tonight's

00:10:21.320 program a couple of things up front it is the first broadcast of december so i wanted to bring

00:10:27.560 you guys up to speed we have been making tremendous progress on our efforts to pay off new york's off

00:10:36.120 um guys may remember last month i think we had like 72 000 in change that we still owed

00:10:46.840 um now this month we have 67 000 in change that we owed so that is you know moving by leaps and

00:10:54.120 bounds um again this is kind of the next thing it getting this off the books means that we can use

00:11:03.080 the money that would be going to interest on this towards other projects and this means that we can

00:11:08.520 move on to start planning and gearing up for phrase hoff so to get prayer to get lord frayer

00:11:15.880 is hoff we need to first pay off and complete the hoff to his father in the order and in order to

00:11:22.760 do that we rely on y'all's generosity you guys have been amazingly generous anybody who's been

00:11:28.040 paying attention has seen this this thermo go up and up so we're doing great we appreciate it if

00:11:35.800 you would like to contribute to what we're doing uh nick's got the link up if not runestone.org

00:11:41.560 has the link there if you're listening to this in audio format know that we have it

00:11:47.880 now to where if every AFA member would give $89 tonight, we would have it paid off in the morning.

00:11:59.240 So, something to think about to kind of put it into digestible chunks.

00:12:04.360 But anyways, thank you guys so much for that.

00:12:06.480 With that said, Svon is, oh, I also will plug the 2025 AFA calendar on sale now at runestone.org.

00:12:20.440 Madison East, wife of Gauthier Trent East, did the hard work of putting that together for us.

00:12:29.680 It's a nice thing to have.

00:12:31.500 It has pictures of AFA events throughout the prior year.

00:12:38.180 It's cool. It's calendar. Get yours while they last.

00:12:44.320 We base numbers on last year's demand, so I'm not sure how many we have left in stock, but go ahead and get yours today.

00:12:53.420 And with that, Svon, is there anything folks need to know before we get into the meat and taters of stuff today, like time period?

00:13:08.160 Just anything they need to know before the text?

00:13:13.100 Yeah, timelines and like what you had said, just need to know or just to understand.

00:13:19.480 And the placement of Eil's life and his father and grandfather, who are key, really is focused around and dated fairly well around the ascension of the king, Harold the Fairhair.

00:13:39.740 And I don't think it's just a plot convenience that Harold is a huge focus.

00:13:46.340 It was such a changing point in the Norwegian political system to be, to have all of these jarls yoked under one king.

00:13:57.540 And it did cause a ton of problems and just so much motion was going on around that time.

00:14:08.420 um the the genesis if you will of the icelanders was really focused around either all the political

00:14:17.740 machinations that harold the fair hair was doing in norway or what he was doing after he he um

00:14:25.980 was crowned um but it's it's it's in that kind of political time frame um 850 to the year 1000

00:14:37.260 And this is a little bit before Aeol's time, because all of the sagas start off with this, there's almost like a mimicry, or just, I guess the style is similar to, say, the way that the Nords perceived biblical things.

00:14:57.620 like um the reason why icelanders last names end with soon and and doctor um because in the bible

00:15:07.140 it would say you know you know abraham uh or you know isaac son of and and so on and so forth so

00:15:14.500 the nords just kind of saw this as a lineage is important so now we'll just we'll name the first

00:15:20.660 names of all of you know the fathers and they include the the mothers often um so you'll find

00:15:28.260 a lot of lineage heaviness in the beginning and that's okay just understanding like they will go

00:15:34.900 back generations and generations and generations but it's it is worth noting that these generations

00:15:40.260 were memorized because the um the writing of al saga was like in the 1200s so well after um and

00:15:53.380 the stories were spoken of and um passed around before they were actually formalized and written

00:16:02.180 down um i honestly don't know if there was maybe some smattering of writings that were being done

00:16:08.740 Icelanders were eventually known as being the, the, the, the, the Nords that wrote everything

00:16:14.420 down. Um, but the, the poems of Egil's saga are just, they're, they're, they're really dynamic

00:16:26.420 and they're very, very of, of, of high quality. It's, it's, it's not just because they were

00:16:32.220 written down. They were passed on before they were written down for a reason. And that was

00:16:38.860 because of his poetic prowess, which is the reason why I think that Egil saga is one of the most

00:16:45.780 pivotal Icelandic sagas. His poetry, in essence, immortalized it. But there's huge spans of time

00:16:55.980 between the two and the stories that happened in between um surprisingly enough did i don't think

00:17:05.020 they really affected ale saga like they did some of the other sagas some of the other sagas really

00:17:10.780 go into the spiritual and the meta of things going or on and ale saga kind of does it in an after

00:17:18.460 effect ale saga or ale will do something um and then suddenly there's uh well then you know the

00:17:26.620 land did react to the way he did this because eric uh blood axe was you know ousted from the land

00:17:35.580 so i think it's it almost adds a little bit of more gravity to what's going on when we see

00:17:44.860 something magical or or what i what i would call the the meta of or the the supernatural um because

00:17:53.820 it's always kind of discussed in a in a after effect and i i really do like that um and it it

00:18:04.220 does have mythos but it's it's surrounded by a sense of of grounded reality and sometimes you

00:18:13.580 find that and other times you don't especially the further away you go with the sagas of the

00:18:18.380 greenlanders the greenlanders i think are really filled with with a lot of magic but that magic is

00:18:25.580 not substantiated through actual events or actual um historical events that can be quantified you

00:18:35.100 know we do know that anacur the blood axe was you know was brought into northumbria and eventually

00:18:41.900 became you know king and had his kingdom in york so that's really really interesting to me um

00:18:48.780 i think it's also important why read the sagas at all um a couple of things why do we use old

00:18:55.420 norse as our our last peninsula connected to the ancient world of our ancestors that our religion

00:19:02.620 was was worshipped um because it's the most or it's the closest to um and so i think it's worth

00:19:13.500 even though we should understand that the icelanders and the nords in general

00:19:17.820 are different than say the germans or the anglo-saxons or or um the the eastern um

00:19:24.860 um, smattering remains of the Eastern Germanics. Um, they are different culturally, they are

00:19:32.120 different, um, in the way that they, you know, they hold certain values. Um, but this gives us

00:19:38.820 a little, a snapshot into things. That being said, at the same time being written well after,

00:19:47.000 um, there were certain things that I think that the, the writers and, and the, the conversion

00:19:54.400 times had started to, not embellish, but they focused more on certain aspects. And I think

00:20:03.180 these were a reaction to the way that Christianity and the organized Catholic church was changing

00:20:09.360 the Nordic world. And in a way, the Nordic mind was, I think they were attempting to also kind of

00:20:18.480 paint um the unification of the nordic lands under harold is like being very similar to

00:20:27.120 the the one church if you will and so there's a rebelliousness in the sagas um

00:20:34.240 that the but the icelanders i think ultimately wanted to keep these stories going because they

00:20:40.640 it allowed them to really uh explain certain early settlements of iceland and where people

00:20:49.040 come from and what they do and you know who they are as the people um some of the sagas are

00:20:55.360 absolutely fascinating um as far as certain religious tidbits and then there's also history

00:21:03.520 of like there's an icelander um who was born of a slave from the baltic sea and then it turned out

00:21:12.320 that she was not from the baltic sea she was actually from uh the northern irish kingdoms

00:21:20.720 and her father um was a chieftain there and um she had his name is kjartan kjartan olofsson

00:21:32.800 and that story of him going down and just wreaking havoc on the um the danes uh that settled in um

00:21:43.600 southern ireland and uh and the norwegians and and the founders of dublin so if you're

00:21:50.080 a history buff and you like some really you know cool history the sagas are worth reading

00:21:55.680 if you're looking for religious tidbits of information you'll find them um quite often

00:22:01.600 you just kind of get through the structure of them the sagas themselves and once you do you

00:22:06.800 really can catch a lot of things that i think are worth noting or knowing as an house of thru

00:22:14.320 something that i think is important to

00:22:24.640 events especially um important events and momentous things

00:22:31.600 aren't the result of accident.

00:22:36.840 Events build upon one another,

00:22:39.860 and that's how the tapestry of Earth is constructed and woven,

00:22:46.980 is through action.

00:22:48.200 It's through action and the results of that action over time.

00:22:54.700 Cause and effect is a very simple concept to,

00:22:57.880 Yeah, of course. But it's a much meatier concept when you view the world through a mythic and a meta lens to where it's not simple cause and effect.

00:23:19.360 It's a very complex cause and effect, and there's benefits and momentum over time, and this flows into our concept of the Nornir,

00:23:36.900 and they're weaving of that tapestry and they're working through it towards destiny and towards projected outcomes.

00:23:52.520 We are tremendously blessed as a people because we have the Icelandic materials.

00:23:59.060 Their position as kind of the fringe of the pagan world as it was gradually becoming Christianized.

00:24:13.180 Their codification of our lore and documentation of the closest touchstones of the traditional living existence of our folk is a treasure and it's something very special.

00:24:33.600 It was the last, in many ways, the last bastion of a lot of this knowledge in its authentic presentation.

00:24:45.680 and their consciousness of the need to record history

00:24:53.440 and record the traditions of their people,

00:24:58.120 even in a literary way or in a poetic way,

00:25:01.960 is really a blessing to us

00:25:04.760 and something that we would be much poorer if we did not have.

00:25:12.480 There's infinite like,

00:25:14.040 well how come you guys use you know the old norse how come we don't you know use old english or how

00:25:19.780 come we don't use gothic or how come because those people didn't write stuff down the same way

00:25:24.180 that the speakers of old norse did be they danes norwegians swedes or icelanders

00:25:34.660 that recorded world in that context is where we got the touchstones and the points of reference

00:25:43.880 and familiarity that we have to connect us to our lore. There's infinite right ways that things

00:25:50.460 could have, would have, should have been done. But there's one way that things were done.

00:25:55.300 And that's what's really important. That's what did happen. We traveled back, you know,

00:26:01.700 a thousand, shoot, in some of these cases, 2000 years, then yeah, there was a point where any

00:26:08.740 number of branches of our folk and of the practice of our faith could have taken an

00:26:16.140 ascendancy as far as language and culture and codifying and writing things down, but

00:26:21.480 they didn't.

00:26:23.740 These folk did.

00:26:26.460 And it's in those terms and building upon that expression of our worldview and our faith

00:26:33.520 that the modern reforging of Alcitru took place.

00:26:40.940 This is the sword that was passed down to Steve McNallan

00:26:46.240 that was reforged into our modern faith.

00:26:50.600 Could have been a lot of swords,

00:26:52.220 but this is the sword that we got

00:26:53.760 and that we've built modern Alcitru upon.

00:26:56.380 So familiarizing ourself with it

00:26:59.940 And with, there, I get that there's a tendency of some people to want to, like, LARP and try to recreate this world that we read about.

00:27:18.020 So that's not practical, it's not reasonable, and it's not a good idea.

00:27:28.460 but what is a crucial idea is to understand the context that the lore came to us through

00:27:34.860 by understanding that better we can translate it most effectively and most

00:27:42.560 completely into a modern usage in a modern context and into modern situations and celebrating the

00:27:54.280 stories of heroes doing great things is good for our soul and one of the you know core beautiful

00:28:03.080 things about the existence of Aryan mankind since the beginning and continues to this day

00:28:07.860 so sit back enjoy this story I would encourage everyone to look at the website that Nick loaded

00:28:15.640 with the little interactive map because it's not just a map of Iceland it plots things

00:28:20.420 all around Europe. And this saga in particular, they jump around. Sometimes events occur in

00:28:27.480 Norway, sometimes in Iceland, sometimes in England. So yeah, it's hyperlinked if you're

00:28:35.260 going through the chapters in the version that Nick's putting up right now. And you can follow

00:28:40.160 along and kind of click that and get an idea. Even if you have really good geography, it's very

00:28:46.520 helpful it's extremely helpful if you don't have geographic familiarity with that part of the world

00:28:53.160 in this period in history so i'm excited for us to go through it before we go i'd like to also

00:28:58.840 acknowledge uh that jared from virginia gave us 90 towards paying off njordshoff we appreciate that

00:29:07.560 so much thank you very much jared and i think swan's got something else he wants to say two

00:29:13.720 things one i was gonna actually run to the restroom before we started uh the other is

00:29:19.080 jarrett reach out to me i'm in virginia we can link up we can hang out we can do moots and you

00:29:27.720 can hold bloat and we can do things just keep an eye out i don't know if your hair is looking funky

00:29:33.640 or if your hair is if your hair needs to touch up this man can't do it um i'm gonna run to the

00:29:40.360 rest for just momentarily all right so i sat here and talked for quite a while and swan had a lot

00:29:45.960 of opportunity but no now is the time he chooses to use the restroom that's okay no guys i'm really

00:29:51.800 excited to present this and swan was the guy i wanted to be my partner in doing this not only

00:29:57.640 for all the reasons he does on the normal lore but you know we joke around and it comes up a lot but

00:30:02.600 anybody knew swan was actually born in iceland he has relatives that still live in iceland

00:30:10.280 and so he has a lot of not only is he very well read in our lore and been doing this for decades

00:30:18.920 but he also has a familiarity with the land with the language and with some of the cultural

00:30:26.920 touchstones in a way that um our other folk don't necessarily experience in the same way

00:30:34.200 so i think it's going to be a really good addition to uh to the broadcast also jason

00:30:42.360 in texas donated an additional ninety dollars to paying off muratov thank you so much jason

00:30:48.280 we appreciate it um you guys are being very generous tonight thank you so much

00:30:53.080 Yeah, so, other stuff in the meantime, I hope everybody is set up well for Yule.

00:31:16.280 as the month progresses we'll talk a little bit more about yule stuff um but that's exciting i

00:31:23.840 hope everybody is gearing up and really getting into the spirit of it this year uh also kind of

00:31:30.600 worth noting and spawns back we'll start on the text here in just a second but i want everyone to

00:31:35.780 though there's going to be a lot of spawn reading the story to us um

00:31:41.720 this is still a question and answer based program please ask anything that you want we will answer

00:31:51.160 all of your questions tonight one way or another i say tonight we'll answer all of your questions

00:31:57.680 before this broadcast is over even if it goes into the wee hours of the morning um that said

00:32:04.040 if the question is relevant to what we're talking about or something we want to you know make a

00:32:09.300 a little take a break and detour on to get we will if not excuse me if not we'll go back through

00:32:16.000 but do please realize you guys are very welcome to ask any questions you might have about this

00:32:20.760 or anything else for that matter and we'll definitely get to those it may just take a

00:32:25.940 little bit of time oh also sarah uh sarah alt bought us three coffees it's $15 donation she

00:32:32.820 says good evening i'll tell you go at the end witness fond looking forward to listening to

00:32:36.280 this saga being discussed. Hail A.L. Scala Grimson. Hail the AFA. Hail victory. Hail to

00:32:42.900 you, Sarah. Thank you so much. I owe Sarah just a dynamic Yule card. Every time I think

00:32:55.540 about Yule, we still have it on the refrigerator. Her and her husband sent a beautiful Yule card

00:33:01.080 with a folded Nordic ship in it that opens up.

00:33:07.840 And ever since then, I've just been like,

00:33:10.460 I need to do something of equivalency in that.

00:33:14.040 But I do want her to know.

00:33:15.940 I think about her at Yule,

00:33:19.180 and I was always just blown away by that.

00:33:23.040 So I thank you, Sarah.

00:33:26.420 All right.

00:33:27.120 Well, Svahn, will you begin reading us the saga of Eos Kalligrimson?

00:33:34.800 Yes.

00:33:35.940 Again, like I said, the intros are lineage-based.

00:33:41.700 It's just really worth noting that the start of this, which is almost kind of in the beginning is like a familial saga.

00:33:49.960 And then it turns into the focus of Eos.

00:33:54.700 Because it's just too good.

00:33:57.120 There, the focus on Kveldover and of Skalagrim, and since Eil is the son of Skalagrim, you know, he'll be right kind of before.

00:34:12.200 And it is also just worth noting and remembering that Thorover is Eil's brother.

00:34:21.860 And Thorover is like a knight.

00:34:26.680 He oaths, he does fealty to king, and he fights and dies nobly.

00:34:33.600 And much of the antagonism that comes from Aeol is his attempt to get, in essence, the built up or accrued wealth of his brother.

00:34:49.260 No spoilers.

00:34:50.700 No, no, no, no, no spoilers.

00:34:52.280 I just, I wanted to kind of lay out that Ayo is, he is a hero, but in a truly frame bending sense.

00:35:08.900 He is absolutely a man of indomitable will and opportunistic.

00:35:18.920 but he yes again and i i mentioned it right before he came on i think he exemplifies fury in such a

00:35:25.700 uh just magnanimous way like he is when you think of warriors and you think of heroes and

00:35:33.500 you think of certain warriors you know being a certain way um you know ale is certainly

00:35:40.980 he's he's kind of parallel to i think the perhaps the virtues that we exalt today so and it's yeah

00:35:50.520 pretty interesting um so um as we're going through here let's see yeah i just want to talk so much

00:36:06.240 too about like the certain things but we'll just cut right in all right chapter one there was a

00:36:12.540 man named Ulf son of Bialvi and of Halbera the daughter of Ulf the fearless so uh Halbera is

00:36:25.340 mentioned um as and you will see the the feminine you will see the women mentioned another interesting

00:36:31.840 thing about uh women in the sagas that's not the same for men is um that none of them are spoken

00:36:38.960 of or at least named or nicknamed in a negative sense um you don't always see that with with the

00:36:45.840 men you know there's negative traits and there may be a reason for that that a lot of people will try

00:36:50.480 to say socially um however you know the general sense of naming is that um you would be named by

00:36:58.480 your friends a lot and i think that you know people going out and viking you know going a

00:37:06.000 viking and and doing lots of things your friends get kind of crass funny i was unaware that this

00:37:11.680 was an option i'm not saying everybody has to do this um but this is actually on the site we

00:37:19.840 usually use with the old norse paired with it on uh velocity on ballista.org yeah i asked about

00:37:27.280 that i didn't know i didn't get a chance to check the only reason i was checking is in

00:37:31.920 the version you're reading uh she's the daughter of ulf um what was yours of the um

00:37:44.000 ulf the fearless yeah he is described as oaf the wicked in uh the one on the saga map

00:37:52.160 so i'm looking at the old norse to figure out what the original situation was anyways yeah and

00:38:00.160 that yeah again most likely is that that um oh but it does have the it has the old norse yeah

00:38:08.080 that's what i'm kind of checking out but anyways yeah let's go ahead and let's try to knock out a

00:38:13.520 chapter and then talk about it if necessary at the end of the chapter so we get through them

00:38:21.200 All right. So Ulf the Fearless, she was the sister of Halbjorn half-giant from Hrapnista, and he the father of Ketel Haying. Ulf was a man so tall and strong that none could match him, and in his youth he roved the seas as a freebooter.

00:38:47.440 In fellowship with him was one Kari of Bertla, a man of renown for his strength and daring.

00:39:00.140 He was a berserker.

00:39:03.000 Ulf and he had one common purse and were of the dearest friends.

00:39:08.480 They kept their winnings and earnings together and just spent them as they needed, just this being a great sense of trust.

00:39:21.540 But when they gave up freebooting, Kari went to his estate at Bertla, being a man of great wealth.

00:39:32.980 Three children had Kari, one son named Eivind Lambi, another, Alvir Nuf, and a daughter, Salbjark, who was a most beautiful woman of a noble spirit.

00:39:49.460 Her did Ulf take to wife, and then he too went to his estates.

00:39:56.420 Wealthy he was, both in lands and chattels, he took baron's rank as his forefathers had done, and became a great man.

00:40:06.400 It was told of Ove that he was a great householder. It was his want to rise up early and then go round among his laborers or where his smiths were and to overlook his stock and fields.

00:40:25.140 and at times he would talk with such as needed his counsel and good counsel he could give in all

00:40:32.340 things for he was very wise but every day as the evening grew he became sullen so that few could

00:40:40.900 come to speak with him he was an evening sleeper and it was commonly said that he was very strong

00:40:49.060 or shape strong he was called kveldolf or kveldolfer um the twilight or the evening wolf

00:41:00.180 kveldolf and his wife had two or actually i don't want to skip over that that this is often linked

00:41:06.100 and um focused on in mentioning with the nordic um understanding of of

00:41:14.420 uh some in the basic sense people will refer to it with lycanthropy or werewolf you know uh

00:41:26.020 traditions and um it is uh you know again it very well could have been um perhaps uh you know

00:41:35.700 um mental or stress or or what have you but um he was rumored to uh just be so cantankerous that

00:41:44.740 people would leave him alone at the setting of the day um and he would transform throughout the day

00:41:51.540 from a you know an inspiring uh leader and giver of wisdom to just where he was so you uh you know

00:42:01.780 uh unable to be talked to and this he is not the berserker kari is the berserker so um i find that

00:42:13.460 you know very very interesting but it's not really mentioned of anymore um

00:42:18.660 but we start to see in the positive sense a lot of the things that were held um in

00:42:27.940 uh old north society as being marks of a good man council um studiousness and waking up early

00:42:38.480 um all of these things and we'll see a lot of that that's why i think there is

00:42:43.080 so much value um in the sagas uh so kveldolf and his wife had two sons the elder was named

00:42:55.060 Thorolvr, the youngest Grimmr. These, when they grew up, were both tall and strong as their

00:43:05.480 father. But Thorolvr was more calmly, as well as doughty, favoring his mother's kin. Very cheery

00:43:13.920 was he, liberal, impetuous in everything, a good trader, winning the hearts of all his men.

00:43:23.800 Grimm was swarthy, ill-favored, like his father, both in face and in mind.

00:43:31.440 He became a good man of business, and skillful was he in wood and in iron, an excellent smith.

00:43:39.880 In the winter, he often went to the herring fishing, with him many housecarls.

00:43:46.600 but Thorolf was 20 years old then he made then he made him and this is fell off

00:43:56.800 made him ready to go harrying if nobody's familiar with that word there are two uses

00:44:05.740 of the word harrying in English there is the harrier or to to fly or to flit about

00:44:13.580 And that kind of also corresponds with harrying, in which, again, there's the flying or flitting about or attacking of an area. It could be, you could say, the pack of wolves was harrying the herd of caribou. And that would have that, that sense.

00:44:36.580 Um, so when he was ready to start this time in his life and to test his, his wit and his will against the waves and against the steel of others, uh, Kveldov gave him a long ship and Kari of Bertla's son, Ivend and Alvir resolved to go on that voyage, taking a large force and another long ship and they roved the seas in the summertime.

00:45:06.580 um so now the the sons of the best friends are you know working together and there's a two ship

00:45:14.620 group kind of going out and and doing things um

00:45:19.840 they got and this got them wealth and had large booty to divide for several summers they were out

00:45:31.060 roving but stayed at home in the winter with their fathers thorolf brought home many costly things

00:45:38.580 and took them to his father and his mother thus they were well to do both for possessions and

00:45:46.180 honor so here clearly honoring the your your mother and your father with the the gifts of

00:45:53.620 your labor um and i mean if your labor is you know the going viking good the idea too is just

00:46:03.220 um whatever tracks that take you you know never forgetting about your parents um

00:46:10.100 and but they would go home and live with them um

00:46:16.740 kveldolf was now well stricken in years and his sons were grown men

00:46:23.620 Adbjörn was the king over the Firthfolk. There was an earl of the of his named Hrowald whose son was Thoril.

00:46:40.620 Atli the Slim was then an earl, and he dwelt at Gawla. He had sons, Halstein, Holmstein, and Herstein, and a daughter, Solvay the Fair.

00:46:56.940 I love that name. It just means desirous of the sun.

00:47:03.460 It happened one autumn that much people were gathered at Gawla for a sacrificial feast.

00:47:11.580 Then saw Alvar Hnuf Solvei and courted her.

00:47:17.220 So Alvar Hnuf courted Solvei.

00:47:20.260 um but the earl thought of him as an unequal match for his daughter and would not give her over

00:47:28.500 whereupon oliver composed many love songs and thought much of solvay that he left for freebooting

00:47:36.420 but thorolf and ivan lambi kept it on so this part here is you'll notice um

00:47:46.500 the general motif of the sagas is every woman is always the daughter of her father. And

00:47:57.620 you will see when someone comes a courting, there's two reactions. One, if she deems it fit, 0.95

00:48:07.540 if she sees it as the way that she wants to go, then I have no problem with it. That's like one

00:48:13.900 way the other is no and i think that the overarching benefit of this societally is that

00:48:23.340 the woman can reject and was most likely talking to her father but could reject without offense

00:48:30.860 um and or if he was of some sort of status that was not you know befitting or equal to

00:48:40.300 Yeah, there was definitely some societal, you know, benefits to making sure that certain classes stayed with certain classes in based on, you know, factors and those factors don't always necessarily mean economic factors because remember, you know, it was based on will and your will to gain and what you were willing to do as far as crossing the oceans.

00:49:10.300 and fighting or trading um however again if there was somebody of low status it was kind of seen as

00:49:17.580 like they were unwilling to really test themselves in the world not so much just simply that person's

00:49:25.660 a laborer um as it was you know most all of these people are laborers they're farmers and and they

00:49:33.100 move to a certain point where they just don't have to do all the work they have other people doing

00:49:38.060 the work um but it's just kind of hard to understand the difference between

00:49:43.100 the way like say classes you know are viewed now um

00:49:50.700 so

00:49:55.260 now comes harold the fair hair

00:49:59.500 so herald son of halfdan or the half dame swarthy was heir after his father he had bound himself

00:50:12.700 to this vow not to let his hair be cut or combed till he were the sole king over norway

00:50:20.340 wherefore he was called herald shock head and this is really just more the shocking

00:50:29.920 visage of him um it was seen as shocking for him to have not combed his hair and and to let it grow

00:50:40.560 out unchecked um and it you know it probably was um you know very uh ruined if you will um

00:50:52.720 so first he warred with the kings nearest to him and conquered them as is told at length elsewhere

00:51:01.280 Then he got possessions of Upland.

00:51:06.080 Thence he went northwards to Throntheim and had many battles there before he became absolute over all the thrones.

00:51:16.220 After that, he purposed to go north to Naumdel to attack the brothers Herlo and Hrolok, kings of Naumdel.

00:51:27.860 um and i interesting again the entire area is is run by two um

00:51:34.700 but when these brothers heard of his coming hair law with 12 men entered the the sepal

00:51:46.460 sepal curl mound which they had caused to be made they were three winters at the making

00:51:56.060 the mounds were and the mound then was closed after them but king frolog sank from royalty

00:52:04.680 to earldom giving up his kingdom and becoming a vassal of herald so herald gained the naumdalsmen

00:52:13.420 and the hauloland with a fleet of of mida and rums and romsdale but solvi bandy legs

00:52:23.900 and Huntheob's son escaped thence and going to King Arnvid in South Myra were asked to help

00:52:34.980 with these words. So I've thought about that, just the, um, the idea of them going into the mound.

00:52:43.120 um and i've wondered if this is some sort of not not an actual like closing oneself up

00:52:55.040 and simply dying but a ritual in which the leading or the the leader of the land

00:53:04.380 um removes himself from leading by in essence dying in the mount um

00:53:11.640 and being um kind of removed of power i just a very interesting thing that's a rabbit hole

00:53:20.940 um you know i was doing a little reading before we started so wrote that down to go look into

00:53:27.180 um anybody wanting to uh prep or do any stuff we're looking at

00:53:33.640 trying to hit 23 chapters a night so four chunks of 23. so anybody wanting to prepare for next

00:53:45.660 week it'd be chapter 24 through i don't know now i got a map uh 67

00:53:51.840 no i'm sorry 24 through 47 i apologize

00:53:57.820 Now here, this part is, again, a poem or a derived message that is to be passed.

00:54:19.880 So he says, though this danger now touches me before long, the same will come to you.

00:54:24.720 For Harold, as I wean, will hasten hither when he has enthralled and oppressed after his will all in North Myra and Romsdale.

00:54:38.760 So as he sees it, the foreseeing of all actions, Harold will gain power and crush all others.

00:54:52.300 And so he's sending out this call to arms and or a call to help.

00:54:57.620 Then will be the same need be upon you as was upon us to guard your wealth and liberty and to try everyone from whom you may hope for aid.

00:55:09.480 And I now offer myself with my forces against this tyranny and wrong. 1.00

00:55:14.060 But, if you make the other choice, you must do as the Naldol's men have done, and go of your own will into slavery, and become herald's thralls. 1.00

00:55:29.180 My father, though it victory to die a king with honor, rather than become, in his old age, another king's subject, 0.99

00:55:36.960 Thou, as I judge, will think the same, and so will others who have any high spirit and claim to be men of valor.

00:55:47.700 so this turning and really arming towards herald uh herald's power i think is more so

00:55:57.360 the the issue um with the inability of your gaining money for yourself but gaining money

00:56:05.720 to give to others to give to a king um in this area was seen just yeah it was it was a desperation

00:56:14.160 And I think that really is because of the migration era warriors that moved back into the area after King Odeker of Rome. There was a heavy sense that you had to carve out, but Harold was changing things and bringing everyone under one banner.

00:56:34.980 By such persuasion, King Arnvid was determined to gather his forces and defend his land.

00:56:45.880 He and Solvi made a league, and they sent messengers to Avbjorn, king of the Firthfolk, that he should come and help them.

00:56:55.660 So Avbjorn, after counsel taken with his friends, consented and bade cut the war arrow and send the war summons throughout his realm with word to his nobles that they should join him.

00:57:11.700 so i the only uh reference there with the bade cut to the war arrow um is again the the possibility

00:57:23.060 and i'm not you know again 100 sure because uh some of this this stuff i am as i run into it

00:57:30.060 i'm like oh that's some due note because i i haven't read this in years um is that it's just

00:57:39.300 reference to war in general the loosing of the arrow um though i don't think it's particularly

00:57:46.900 that they're actually shooting an arrow with a message um but when the king's messengers came

00:57:55.220 to kveldolf and told him their errand and that the king would have kveldolf come to him with his house

00:58:02.260 carls thus answered he it is my duty to the king to take the field with him if he have to defend

00:58:13.300 his land and there be harrying against the firth folk but this i deem clean beyond my duty to go

00:58:23.860 north to merah and defend their land briefly ye may say when we meet your king that kveldolfer

00:58:34.020 will sit at home during this rush to war nor will he gather forces nor leave his home to fight with

00:58:41.700 herald shock head for i think that he has a whole load of good fortune where our king has not a

00:58:49.540 a handful. So he's basically stating here that he does not believe that the tide of Orlog is in the

00:59:03.220 favor of his king, but he's caught and doesn't want to be seen as a coward. He just thinks that

00:59:10.920 it's a fruitless endeavor. The messengers went back to the king and told him how their errand

00:59:17.380 had sped, but Feldhoffer sat at home on his estates. So we come to a chapter break. I want

00:59:24.960 to take the time to acknowledge GW Farnsworth bought us five coffees. Thank you. We appreciate

00:59:33.280 you. You are a consistent donor on here every week. You know, every one of those coffees is a

00:59:39.560 $5 donation. We really appreciate you. Thank you. Another thing I wanted to kind of note as we go

00:59:46.540 through this because unlike unlike etic poems and like high mythology or things that way

01:00:04.060 this is a historical recounting of real people doing real things and i want

01:00:10.380 As a couple of mental notes for us to just kind of digest and keep in mind, there is a common thing to say today about no more brother wars.

01:00:28.020 I get that in the current political context that we live in.

01:00:32.240 It makes a lot of sense, and I'm not saying I don't support that as a concept, but it's also we need to be real.

01:00:38.640 almost all the wars of our ancestors are brother wars because we lived in a world that was much

01:00:45.340 smaller and there was a lot of infighting between things and that said

01:00:50.460 in the world of certainly the Icelandic sagas people are closely related to one another with

01:00:59.740 mutual bonds and relationships and find themselves on different sides of things

01:01:05.500 In that way, a lot of things are similar to the American Civil War in the fact that you find people with conflicting alliances that don't know, you know, what to do because they're loyal to their state.

01:01:21.400 Their kinfolk live over here a couple of counties over that are on the other team.

01:01:25.320 And what do you do?

01:01:26.180 there is a lot of that and but in a much more complicated matrix because there's so many

01:01:36.160 small kingdoms you hear kings spoken about near the king of like their valley other times you

01:01:44.360 hear you know an earl or one of uh herald's men and he is the king over or he's the earl over

01:01:50.100 several valleys, but he's fighting against, you know, King so-and-so that's got

01:01:54.740 50 retainers. So you've got a lot of complex things there. And the other thing is this isn't

01:02:03.140 a work of fiction or a morality exposition. These are real people doing things. And I think that

01:02:13.720 as grown people, any children listening to this, go for it. You pick a good guy,

01:02:21.200 pick a bad guy and root for your team. I get that. But as grown people,

01:02:27.060 there's not always a bad guy. There's not always a good guy. Sometimes there are two different men

01:02:35.880 in different valleys that have competing interests and they got to go out and see which one's going

01:02:42.640 to get to eat and which one's not. So it's really easy to pick, to read this story and

01:02:55.120 try to pick sides based on perspective. But it's also important to realize that there's

01:03:03.600 good people on both sides of things. Things aren't necessarily binary and duty often puts

01:03:11.020 good people on the quote-unquote bad guys team and bad people on the quote-unquote good guys team

01:03:17.780 and there's just realities of stuff that works that way so when you

01:03:21.440 read this or when you experience any of the history of our people

01:03:28.280 I mean I'm not saying don't root for the home team but realize these are all men who are

01:03:37.040 making independent decisions that are what's best for their family and what they

01:03:42.720 you know are compelled to do sometimes these men are heroes sometimes they're villains

01:03:48.340 sometimes they're somewhere in between and they're choosing to be loyal to their lord or not

01:03:56.500 to support and care for their family's interest or not to avenge their kinsmen or not and it's just

01:04:06.080 really important to view these people through that matrix history is really important to me it's

01:04:12.720 if we read about something in the news that is concurrent

01:04:17.120 are we're very emotionally attached and we're appalled by tragedy and we are you know exalting

01:04:27.040 of of glorious things when we look in the past we tend to look at real people as if they're some

01:04:34.720 kind of fictional characters and we don't appreciate the reality of their struggle so

01:04:40.480 when we read the sagas of real people there's these are men and women like you and i these

01:04:50.640 people have families like you and i these people get scared these people get emboldened with battle

01:04:59.280 lust these people get emboldened by regular lust these people have to deal with the same mental

01:05:08.560 conundrums that we have to deal with but in a different context in a different age

01:05:12.720 but these are men and women like you and i and i think it's really important to

01:05:18.160 just consider it through that lens while we're looking into it

01:05:20.960 yeah i think this is a lot of people might be like well where's ale um there's context

01:05:31.400 and it really is about the the hefty chunk of an understanding of what was going on in norway

01:05:39.840 this isn't even in iceland and um this is you know pre this this saga is bigger than the life

01:05:49.840 of ale scholar grumson yeah that's the focus of it but this one of the things

01:05:57.840 it's fun and awesome to read the story of a hero doing cool stuff

01:06:03.840 i can make it sound more eloquent than that but at the base you know from little boy to grown man

01:06:10.720 i'm not sure how you ladies experience it but it's always cool to read adventure stories and

01:06:16.240 even cooler when they're real people who did real things beyond that for a religious context

01:06:23.440 what's so cool about the sagas is it gives us a glimpse into that world the geopolitics of the

01:06:32.000 time the cultural touchstones and the the context and that really helps to clarify our lens when

01:06:41.440 we read our lore and when we you know process more overtly religious elements of our faith

01:06:52.800 continue yeah so uh harold is on the march he is taking over vast swaths of land and other areas

01:07:02.480 are starting to spread you know he's a tyrant or what what have you and they're really doing this

01:07:09.280 to muster troops they need to go to other landholders um and different people send their

01:07:16.080 messengers out and you know ask them for for bodies they need they need axes they need spears

01:07:24.800 they need men ready to fight harold is gaining power and they want to stand up to him um and

01:07:33.760 again this is nothing new like like as a year ago they said this is nothing new as far as uh

01:07:39.600 you know wars being fought um but this is different in the sense that harold is is using

01:07:48.480 um all different kinds of tactics to either bring people under him or yoking them with his power um

01:07:56.880 with the ultimate culmination of, of uniting Norway under his banner. And this was not going

01:08:05.920 to be an easy task. And he knew that. And as of, you know, as so far in this story, you know,

01:08:14.160 Kveldolf, who is the grandfather of Eil, is not having it. And, you know, for whatever his reasons

01:08:23.240 to be whether it's you know not wanting to lose menfolk or ultimately too he you know

01:08:31.080 may have plans when things turn watching to see how this goes with um between um harold and obbyar

01:08:43.560 so um let me see

01:08:47.320 okay so that same autumn the sons of atli set to alvernuf as his at his home and would feign

01:09:01.320 have slain him they had such a force that alvir could not withstand them but fled for his life

01:09:09.800 going northwards to mida he there found heralds and submitted to him

01:09:18.040 and went north to the king of throndheim and he became most friendly with him and remained

01:09:24.280 with him for a long time thereafter as and was made a skull um in the winter following earl

01:09:36.760 went um the inner way by the eid sea southwards to the firths having news by spies

01:09:47.320 of the movements of of the king vaimund he came by night to nausdale where vaimund was at a banquet

01:09:57.720 and surrounding the house burnt within the king and 90 men after that that after that carl of

01:10:08.760 Bertla came to Earl Rakhnavald with a long ship fully manned, and they too went north to Myra.

01:10:19.640 Rakhnavald took the ships that belonged to Veimund and all the chattels he could get.

01:10:27.480 Kari of Bertla then went north to King Harald at Throntheim and became his men. So right now is

01:10:36.760 is game of thrones level machinations going on. Um, people are, you know, uh,

01:10:46.060 being usurped, uh, either overtly or softly, but people are being removed and people are now going

01:10:55.960 northwards and they're, um, making allegiance with Harold. And, um, so this is just giving

01:11:04.900 all of those kind of, you know, hand, hand and, and sword details, um, as Harold, uh, starts to

01:11:13.020 gain his power. The next spring, King Harold went southward along the coast with a fleet

01:11:20.240 and, and subdued the Firths and the Fells and arranged for his men of his own to rule them.

01:11:28.680 so he starts to set up his um his uh jarls or his uh his earls or barons um

01:11:39.480 earl hroald he set over the firth folk so difference between hroald and herald um

01:11:49.720 king herald was very careful when he had gotten new peoples under his power

01:11:54.600 about barons and rich landowners and all those whom he suspected of being at all likely to raise

01:12:03.100 rebellion. Every such man he treated in one of two ways. He either made him become his liege man

01:12:10.980 or go abroad. As a third choice, suffer yet harder conditions, some even losing life and limb,

01:12:19.860 Harold claimed at his own through every district all patrimonies and all land tilled or untilled

01:12:29.500 likewise all seas and freshwater lakes all landowners were to be his tenants as also all

01:12:39.000 that worked in the forest salt burners or again people who made salt from burning water

01:12:47.680 and uh evaporating the water to make sea salt hunters fishers by land and by sea all these

01:12:57.200 owed him duty or tax and but but many fled abroad from this tyranny and much waste wasteland was

01:13:05.880 then colonized uh far and wide both eastward in yamtaland and in helsinkaland and also to the

01:13:17.020 Westlands, the South Isles, Dublin in Ireland, Katniss in Scotland and the Shetlands, and in that

01:13:27.080 time, Iceland was found. So overall, I think that it's just important to understand that turmoil

01:13:36.220 is one of the big motivations for this particular expansion of the Norwegians out of Norway.

01:13:47.020 harold was successful in what he was doing and a lot of people did not want to pay tax or

01:13:54.460 to owe fealty or be called to war especially with a king that they had no bonds with um

01:14:03.180 and also that they would lose some sense of being able to kind of build or or expand on their own

01:14:10.060 power that now they would have to answer to someone if they decided to do something so this

01:14:17.180 really caused massive expansion into the orkney islands into the pharaoh islands into scotland

01:14:25.020 into ireland and ultimately into iceland which was a it was already discovered but was not settled um

01:14:36.620 Um, the folk didn't really know what to do with it yet. And, um, it wasn't even fully named yet

01:14:44.540 of grounded reality. Oh, I'm getting an echo. Um, let me see. So we start, um, with chapter five,

01:14:57.840 the message, the king's message, excuse me, to Kveldolf. King Harald lay with his fleet in the

01:15:07.980 Firths, whence he sent messengers round the land to such as had not come to him, but with whom he

01:15:15.340 thought he had business. The messengers came to Kveldolf. So now, Avbjorn's men, and Avbjorn

01:15:23.140 himself, you know, having lost the Firths. Now, Harold sends messages to Kfeldorf.

01:15:35.260 They set forth their errand and said that the king would have Kfeldorf come to him in audience.

01:15:41.700 He has heard, said they, that you are a man of renowned and high family. You will get from him

01:15:49.040 terms of great honor for the king is very keen on this to have with him such as he hears are men of

01:15:56.240 mark and strength and bravery then it's also worth noting harold was probably very well aware that

01:16:02.720 kfeldorf did not join his opponent so that again um would garner a kind of an essence that they

01:16:13.120 you know to reach out and build um allegiance so long as kveldof could give fealty to him

01:16:21.200 uh kveldof answered that he was an old man now not fit for war or to be out in warships

01:16:29.440 i will now he said sit at home and leaves leaves servings leave serving kings

01:16:35.760 Upon this message, the messenger said, then let your son go in your stead to be king, or to the king. He is tall and a likely warrior. The king will make you a baron, said they to Grim, if you will serve him.

01:16:57.800 and grim said i will be made a baron under none while my father lives he while he lives shall be

01:17:08.520 my only liege lord um so now there's the obstentatiousness against harold um

01:17:18.260 you know this could be seen just really is not a good move i mean not banding together in one

01:17:25.500 direction and now having the more successful victor looking at you um but again this is uh

01:17:32.380 oftentimes the overarching um cut of the future icelanders and i think that ultimately this is

01:17:43.020 the story is playing into this a little bit the icelanders kind of or the future icelanders

01:17:50.620 Being of these people who would not have rule by the king, I think was popular with most Icelanders.

01:18:04.560 So the messengers went away, and when they came to the king and told him all that Kaldolfer had said before them, whereat the king looked sullen, but he spoke little.

01:18:21.920 These men, he said, were proud.

01:18:25.000 And what were they aiming?

01:18:27.660 What were they aiming at?

01:18:29.380 Alvernuf was standing near and he bade the king not be wroth. He said, I will go, said he,

01:18:38.040 to Kveldolf, and he will consent to come to you as soon as he knows that you think

01:18:44.680 in a matter of a moment. So, you know, now Alvir says, like, don't immediately fly into war.

01:18:55.720 let me talk to him i can convince him um and you know we we can he can he will join you

01:19:03.640 so alvaro went to kfeldorf and told him that the king was wroth that he was angry and it would not

01:19:10.940 go well unless one of the two father or son came before the king he said two and that he would get

01:19:19.800 them great honor from the king if they would but pay homage further he told them at length as was

01:19:27.700 true that the king was liberal to his men both in money and in honors so uh and again this this

01:19:36.540 usage of the translation of liberal is about being open-handed and being kindly uh to his

01:19:44.380 to his uh loyal subjects if you will um and kveldof returns and says my foreboding is that i

01:19:55.820 and my sons shall get no luck from this king and i will not go to him but if thoralf returns this

01:20:05.080 summer from going out of eiking um he will be easily won on this journey to this journey

01:20:12.240 as also to be made the king's man say you this to the king that i will be his friend

01:20:19.280 and will keep to his friendship all who heed my words i will also hold the same rule and

01:20:27.000 authority from his hand that i held before from the former king if he will that it continues so

01:20:35.160 still, and I will see how I and the king agree. So nothing's going to change for me. I was ruled

01:20:43.720 over by Arbjorn, and now I'll be ruled, you know, in essence by Harald, but things will not change

01:20:52.500 for me. He did say, kind of again, linking out or laying out perhaps a carrot, is that one of his

01:20:58.500 sons, particularly Thorolf, who has already gained renown, they find it pleasing, desirable

01:21:07.680 to go and speak to the king. But he's not here now. So he's, again, I'm old. I don't want to

01:21:15.180 change. Maybe one of my sons will do it. Obviously Grimm has already, you know, stated that he will

01:21:23.620 not do it. He will only follow his father. So, then Alver went back and told the king that Kveldorf

01:21:32.440 would send him his son, and he, said Alver, would suit better, but was not then at home.

01:21:43.020 The king let the matter rest, and in the summer he went inland to Song,

01:21:48.020 and in autumn made ready to go northwards to throndheim so in a way alvir is keeping the

01:21:58.820 peace and buying time and he's really banking on kveldolf's son to move in um and build better

01:22:09.780 agreements and in essence to kind of wait for kveldolf to kind of not be able to lead and

01:22:15.940 perhaps fall into sickness. Um, and so this kind of, again, gives his King Harold a chance to

01:22:24.940 stop warring. He just warred heavily. There's a heavy loss with every war. And so the benefit is

01:22:32.680 if he wants to move against, uh, Kveldolf, now he'll have more men and they'll be healed up.

01:22:38.760 Um, and it won't be a war after a war, you know, conflict after conflict.

01:22:43.960 Um, so in chapter six, Thorolf resolves to serve the king. And that's pretty much what you're going

01:22:55.080 to find is, is Thorolf is seen as the exemplary and, uh, and Eo is often seen as, um, the, uh,

01:23:07.140 the dastardly at times um or excuse me actually a different thorolf i forgot this is a generation

01:23:15.700 before um yeah this is uncle thorolf but again the name starts to stick with a consistent um set um

01:23:26.740 thorolf feldo for son and ivan lambi came home from sea roving in the autumn thorolf went to

01:23:35.700 his father and father and sud had some talks together thorolf asked what had been the errand

01:23:42.740 of the men whom harold had sent to the to the lands and feldorf said the king had sent him

01:23:50.180 sent them with a message that feldorf or else one of his sons should become his man or or be

01:23:57.460 one of his um lords or a thane of the king and thorolf asks well how answered thou

01:24:07.300 and kaldolf said i spake i spake what was in my mind that i would never take service with king

01:24:14.740 harold and ye two will both do the same if i may counsel this i think will be the end

01:24:23.140 that we shall reap ruin from that king.

01:24:29.640 That, said Thorolf, is quite contrary to what my mind tells me.

01:24:34.980 For I think I shall get from him much advancement,

01:24:38.320 and on this I am resolved to seek the king and become his man.

01:24:42.160 And this I have learned for true,

01:24:45.600 that his guard is made up of none but valiant men.

01:24:50.720 so now King Harold is applying a second tactic. And this tactic is to be freely giving to the men

01:25:00.660 who, um, oath, uh, fealty to him and their honor renowned building. It becomes an attractant to,

01:25:10.340 to, to other, um, free men and it's working. And Kveldof knew it was probably going to work

01:25:18.340 with thorov um he knew his son well um to join their company if they will have me seems to be

01:25:29.620 most desirable these men are in far better case than all others in the land and tis told me of

01:25:36.340 the king that he is most generous in money gifts and and the like to his men and not slow to give

01:25:44.100 them promotion and to grant rule to such as he deems meat for it so he's a giving king

01:25:51.300 uh a king that gives wealth and lands um whereas i hear this about all that turn their backs upon

01:26:01.540 him and pay him not homage with friendship that they all become men of not some flee abroad

01:26:08.660 Some are made hirelings.

01:26:11.440 It seems wonderful to me, Father, in a man so wise and ambitious as thou art,

01:26:17.100 that thou wouldst not thankfully take the dignity which the king had offered thee.

01:26:23.040 But if thou thinkest that thou hast prophetic foresight of this,

01:26:28.700 that we shall get misfortune from this king,

01:26:32.780 and that he will be our enemy,

01:26:35.620 then why didst thou not go to battle with him, against him, with that king in whose service

01:26:43.800 thou wert before? Naomi thinks it is most unreasonable neither to be his friend nor his

01:26:50.820 enemy. And there is a huge tenant of understanding. Kveldof is immediately,

01:27:01.180 um by not choosing sides by not acting he is you know the the neutral party and he's the fence

01:27:12.860 sitter or in essence he's worrying only about himself and you know um out of beyond the king

01:27:20.220 before him uh was relying on him joining and he didn't and now the king is like maybe i have an

01:27:28.380 ally. And he says, no, I'm not an ally either. Um, but I, I think ultimately he's banking on

01:27:34.540 his sons kind of smoothing things over and he's just not willing to go down, uh, into his, you

01:27:41.920 know, uh, dying days, um, as being, you know, yoked by anyone. Um, but yes, again, the big

01:27:51.840 thing is, is, you know, you can't have friends if you, if you don't know what an enemy is,

01:27:55.700 You can't have a hero if you don't know what a coward is.

01:27:59.560 It's super important.

01:28:02.800 And Farolf is saying this, you know, you shouldn't be just a, neither a friend nor an enemy.

01:28:10.620 Got to pick a side.

01:28:11.900 And that's one of the things you see sometimes.

01:28:15.120 And this, this is a thing.

01:28:19.780 You see old men finding these power plays happening and kind of sitting back and seeing which side's going to, you know, who's the winning team and how to get on the winning team and then how to structure it with their children as pawns to where they have the maximum flexibility with it.

01:28:44.680 And that's a common political play by nobles in medieval Europe and, I mean, I think forever.

01:28:56.460 You see the wise old man that's seen a lot of stuff and seen a lot of people start up really hot and then burn out in a lot of things in their life.

01:29:04.140 And so they kind of try to play the odds for what's the best setup for their children, especially if they don't think they're particularly long for the world.

01:29:15.020 They want to know, how do I set my kids up to be on the winning team, to not become the enemy of powerful people, but also not to be too much associated with something that I don't trust yet.

01:29:29.720 So we see that a lot, and I think it's kind of important.

01:29:33.420 random side note for over in the chat freya join we'll get you set up we'll get you figured out

01:29:39.980 don't worry about it money's not a thing that's not the point um i just want to put that out there

01:29:46.220 to you personally there's a whole big side note thing um might as well take the opportunity because

01:29:56.060 it's there to explain the hoftollers we have somebody over on the side mentioning you know

01:30:02.620 money's tight things are going on um they may want to join but they can't because you know they're

01:30:09.500 dealing with some money stuff and they'll join when they can pay and whatever it's not about

01:30:14.060 money that's not the point yes we absolutely need money to keep hoffs open to keep running to do

01:30:20.380 what we do but it's never about that there's never ever anybody who is not allowed to participate in

01:30:28.060 the afa because they're broke that's not real there's also not allowed to be people who are

01:30:34.300 members of the afa that refuse to contribute and be part of the team so where those two things

01:30:40.140 collide is a whole lot of discretion freya seriously don't worry about money stuff i see

01:30:45.340 your application come in we'll get you set up we'll figure the rest out down the road that's not

01:30:49.820 don't worry about that so we have a thing called the hoftoller

01:30:55.580 and it's it's interesting because

01:31:02.220 there was a time i was reading something in uh the elder gods by stephen paulington about

01:31:08.940 anglo-saxon england when there was the battle between christian and pagan over there the

01:31:15.100 christian clergy were very lamentful that the christians were so reticent to

01:31:22.940 to contribute and pay their tithe when they had you know the ausitur of the time were

01:31:30.140 magnificent in their contributions to their temples and towards their gods and towards

01:31:35.340 ausitur um there's a thing called the hoftoller which you know literally means hoftoll and the

01:31:40.860 The idea of it was a percentage-based giving towards their religion, towards Asatru.

01:31:50.320 And that's what we have worked hard over the last, like six years or so in the AFA to really push in advance.

01:32:07.040 the AFA for a long time when we started out there's a lot of like membership dues and that's

01:32:18.740 very much a club kind of model and it got us to where we were but where we need to be is a much

01:32:24.960 more religious giving model a lot of people hear the word tithe and like oh that's the thing the

01:32:32.120 jews do and it is in that you know that word and that verbiage but the idea of percentage-based

01:32:38.900 giving uh something i looked into when i became y'all's here ago a few of like you know how do

01:32:44.140 we do this right that's common across you know most religions that i could find is some sort of

01:32:51.680 a percentage-based donation towards your gods your church and your religion and that's what

01:33:00.820 the Hofftoller really is. The idea of the Hofftoller is an honest 1% minimum and however

01:33:07.500 much maximum you would like to give towards our ability to do stuff. The cool thing about that

01:33:12.900 is it's percentage-based. So if we've got a bunch of, you know, bajillionaires, then we're all

01:33:20.640 living, we're doing great and we're able to do a lot of things. But if we have somebody of very,

01:33:25.720 you know small means that can't give a lot you know even down to even down to zero if they're

01:33:31.860 completely homeless and make zero one percent of zero zero but the percent makes it fair all the

01:33:39.120 way across the board and when people are doing well we all do well and when people are doing

01:33:43.100 poorly we all you know share that and the tide of our folk rises and falls with how our members are

01:33:51.740 doing. But it's a very good option for people that, you know, maybe they're a single income

01:33:56.620 household because we want every adult member of a household to be an independent member of the

01:34:02.920 Austro Folk Assembly and not a plus one. We want them individually to be members of our church.

01:34:08.420 But if the income's not like that, that's fine. The Hoftholler can be about the household income

01:34:14.160 and we get that all figured out. But anyways, I just want everybody to know it's not about that.

01:34:19.600 if people are having a hard time or having hardship it's not about that at all

01:34:25.040 unfortunately what we've learned is if we don't track that and enforce that and push on it

01:34:32.640 a lot of people are unwilling to give support and contribute to what we do

01:34:38.960 so yes it's a requirement that people contribute and be part of stuff but if you're eager and

01:34:43.760 you're actively involved and you're doing stuff we'll work it out we'll figure it out it's

01:34:49.920 despite what anybody might say it's not about that i mean we obviously need money to keep

01:34:56.320 the lights on and do things but we're not about shaking everybody down to be part of our church

01:35:01.360 that's not what it is we do want people contributing people who are actively engaged

01:35:06.000 so we would love to have you if you can do it and get set up and i look forward to seeing your

01:35:09.440 application um cool that was an aside and i gave you a gave you a potty break there or whatever

01:35:18.160 you needed um i mean did you mention too just um the discovery of of that uh the like going towards

01:35:29.600 it from founder mcnowlin no so this is okay so kind of a random and funny aside um yeah this was

01:35:39.440 crazy how fortuitously so we're in the early days of things we are coming upon this month

01:35:47.120 in the beginning of next month this month we'll close out the 30th year of the astro focusing

01:35:53.440 we will be marking 30 years in the books um at the turn of the year so that said you know it's

01:36:04.160 it's we've it's hard to when you're starting something out to know where it's going to go

01:36:11.520 and to take the time to preserve all of those things but looking back we've tried really hard

01:36:17.960 to go back and archive the old runestones we've done a great deal of that uh nick is a good time

01:36:24.940 for a link for the library at runestone.org if you want to go check it out we've been able to digitize

01:36:30.180 in um like catalog the old runestones which was the uh original ousted true publication

01:36:40.740 that our founder stephen mcdallin established

01:36:47.700 the first one was like 72 and um so

01:36:53.860 so there was uh anyways we're capturing a lot of those old ones in like 1982 i think i found

01:37:04.420 where he talked about trying to get people to do a percentage-based giving that he called the

01:37:10.980 hoftoller that and he even said the christians require 10 we're only asking for one which was

01:37:18.020 kind of shocking because that was the exact idea that i had in uh what 2016 2017 that um

01:37:28.340 i had no idea had been tried before um it's been a struggle starting something new to

01:37:34.340 get people to want to actually contribute but and that was part of the reason for the

01:37:40.660 failure of the austral free assembly is people were not wanting to be part of something bigger

01:37:46.660 and not wanting to contribute to making this work in a serious way in a lot of ways

01:37:54.340 house true's grown up a lot since the 80s and i'm so very proud of our folk and impressed and

01:38:03.620 appreciative that we've got people who are very generous these days and it makes a huge difference

01:38:10.580 it means a lot it is literally the reason that we're able to have four hoffs so far and we've

01:38:18.100 got plans and we're working towards great things we're able to do this because you guys are

01:38:22.740 generous and because the folk that are part of our afa family give of themselves and literally

01:38:29.940 put their money where their mouth is to make this move forward and we're so very appreciative of

01:38:35.060 of that, and I don't want that to ever be lost, or, you know, anyone to think that's

01:38:40.140 not appreciated, because it absolutely is, thank you, with that, we've got Rage of Red

01:38:51.020 bought us five coffees, it's a $25 donation, thank you so much for that, thank you for

01:38:56.660 all that you guys do, Matt and Svan, hail the AFA, well, hail to you, Rage of Red, we

01:39:02.180 appreciate it um spawns back in action what chapter we on so everybody can follow along with

01:39:09.900 you are we starting what starting eight um no so thorolf is uh about to leave his father's

01:39:17.180 homestead um so we are at the bottom of chapter six copy that i was reading a little bit ahead

01:39:25.440 all right yeah and he uh he says you know uh that that thorolf says to his father i think

01:39:31.040 it's not good that you do not claim to be an enemy or a friend of this new king um

01:39:41.440 and so the the father and son are are having these discussions about

01:39:45.760 the politics of the land and their people and where they're gonna go from here

01:39:51.040 hmm and um as it was it went said kveldolf just as my mind foreboded that they marched not to

01:40:01.660 victory who went northwards to fight with herald shockhead and mita and equally true will this be

01:40:08.100 that herald will works work much scathe on my kin but thou thoralf will take thy own counsel

01:40:17.800 in thine own business nor do i fear though thou enter in the company of herald's guards

01:40:25.820 that thou will not be thought capable and equal of the four and foremost in all proofs of manhood

01:40:33.160 only beware of this keep within bounds nor rival by betters nor rival thy betters

01:40:42.380 that will not i am sure yield to others over much so he says this is the point in which your life

01:40:51.520 is your own and your decisions should be of your own but when you go there um you know don't get

01:40:58.380 again that this kind of propheticness he's saying don't get so caught up um in the victories of

01:41:08.060 herald um and this is of his you know his uh uh you know opinions of this time and then he says

01:41:16.180 you know i have no doubt you'll prove yourself well um but don't you know find out where you're

01:41:23.740 at and never make rivals of those who have more or are better um than you and but yet at the same

01:41:32.380 time never um be so forgiving that you you know of yourself you know giving to others over much

01:41:41.660 um you know be reserved and find out hierarchy and learn learn your way in so um

01:41:52.780 when thorolf made him ready to go felled off accompanied him down to his ship and embraced

01:41:58.700 him with wishes of his happy journey and their next merry meeting and then we switch over to

01:42:06.220 chapter 7. um chapter 7 of bjargolf brynyolf bard and hildreider uh so kind of segways there was a

01:42:21.740 man in hallowellan named uh bjorgolf bjorkolf mountain wolf and he dwelt in torgar he was a

01:42:33.580 baron powerful and wealthy in strength and stature and kindred half hill giant so

01:42:42.220 there we see this usage again of of of of hill giant or half hill giant um

01:42:49.020 the translation of the word is

01:42:55.400 because we know that the word

01:42:59.960 seems to be also utilized. It's not like

01:43:04.120 a joten. A joten is seen as an elder being of ancient

01:43:08.000 source, even as old as the

01:43:12.040 gods. But a risi is more of a localized

01:43:16.300 kind of concept, an idea of like a troll or a being of great power. And that we could discuss

01:43:27.520 on length later, but about the idea of how bloodlines could be mixed with half giants.

01:43:33.520 But the general idea is that upon someone being of massive size or massive strength,

01:43:41.460 it was always kind of referred to that they were of hill giant stock or they were uh you know

01:43:47.540 there must be blood from from the reesee the mountain reesee have somehow you know um

01:43:56.100 born into your bloodlines that would explain why you guys are are so massive um

01:44:02.340 Um, so we will see that a couple of times.

01:44:05.860 Um, so he had a son named Brynjolf, who was like his father.

01:44:13.160 Bjorkolf was now old and his wife was dead.

01:44:16.660 And he had given over into his son's hands all business and found him a wife, Helga, daughter of Ketelhaing of Hrapnista.

01:44:26.940 Their son was named Bard.

01:44:29.600 He soon grew to be tall and handsome and became a right doughty man. So

01:44:38.640 Björgolf has a son Brynjolf and Brynjolf marries the daughter of Ketil Haying. Her name is Helga

01:44:49.040 and they have a son named Bard. One autumn there was a banquet where many men were gathered.

01:44:55.680 björgolf and his son were were being there the most honorable guests in the evening they were

01:45:04.080 paired off by the lot to drink together as the old custom was so that i think is interesting too

01:45:13.800 just the idea of um of either being randomly selected um or as it were just to have like

01:45:22.720 the person either across the way from you or right next to you was kind of like

01:45:26.960 your drinking buddy for the night. Um,

01:45:30.320 so now there was at the banquet, a man named Hognay owner of a farm in Lekka, a man of great

01:45:41.300 wealth, very handsome, shrewd, but of low family who had made his own way. He had a most beautiful

01:45:49.700 daughter, and her name was Hilderida, the ride to battle or battle rider by name, and it fell to her

01:45:59.600 lot to sit by Bjorkov. They talked much together that evening, and the fair maiden charmed the old

01:46:08.260 man. Shortly afterwards, the banquet broke up. That same autumn, old Bjorkov journeyed from his home

01:46:17.400 in a cutter of his own with 30 men aboard. He came to Leka, and 20 of them went up to the house

01:46:25.480 while 10 guarded the ship. When they came to the farm, Hogni went out to greet him and made him

01:46:33.300 welcome, invited him and his comrades to lodge, which Offer-Bjorgolf accepted, and they entered

01:46:41.200 the room but when they had doffed their traveling clothes and donned mantles then hogni gave orders

01:46:48.560 to bring in a large bowl of beer and hilderida the daughter of the house bear the l ale to the guests

01:46:58.800 so we can see again more customs here um and and it you know it's the the lady is bearing forth 0.98

01:47:07.600 ale to these visitors. Bjorkov called to him, Hogni, the good man, and said,

01:47:16.420 my errand here is this. I will have your daughter to go home with me and will even now make with

01:47:24.640 her a hasty wedding. Hogni saw no choice but to all be as Bjorkov would. So Bjorkov bought her

01:47:35.660 with an ounce of gold and they became man and wife so here one thing is it's this hogni and

01:47:43.900 his daughter and his family can now move up in station through marriage and connection with

01:47:49.900 bjergolf and the bride price if you will um was an ounce of gold they became man and wife and

01:47:58.700 Hildurida went home with Björgolf to Törger. Brynjolf showed him ill-pleased at this business.

01:48:08.380 Björgolf and Hildurida had two sons. One was named Harik and the other Hayrik.

01:48:20.460 And then soon after this, Björgolf died. But no sooner was he buried than Brynjolf sent away

01:48:28.300 Hildurida with her sons. So Brynjolf did not take kindly to his father wedding and marrying a

01:48:37.840 younger woman and having children that could also make claim and pull themselves up in station.

01:48:45.360 So he sends her away. She went back to her father at Laika and there her sons were brought up.

01:48:52.620 They were good-looking, small of stature, but naturally shrewd, like their mother's kin.

01:48:59.540 They were commonly called Hildurida's sons.

01:49:03.320 Brynjolf made little count of them and did not let them inherit any of his father's properties.

01:49:13.760 Hildurida was Hogni's heiress, and she and her sons inherited from him

01:49:20.580 and dwelt in Laika and had plenty of wealth. Bard, Brynjolf's son, and Hilduridah's son

01:49:27.480 were about of an age. So in essence, they're giving more political standing as it moves towards

01:49:36.400 the foundings of folk in areas in the story. But it just kind of also is stated matter-of-factly

01:49:47.480 about who is who and what is what. Um, and in this case, you know, no war came of this, no,

01:49:53.380 no rivalry. Um, but it was that Bjorgov's son Brynjolf was just not having this. And when he

01:50:02.320 sent her back, she raised her sons there with her father, um, and was due to his thing. So he didn't

01:50:10.780 really put her out. Um, but again, yeah, all of these marital kind of situations, um, you know,

01:50:18.000 going on. So, um, Björgolf and his son Brynjolf had long held the office of going to the Finns

01:50:28.320 and collecting the Finns tribute. So Finnmark or Finland, um, and again, you know, taking people

01:50:37.360 under yoke there, um, with trade, you know, pulling, uh, furs and things from the Finns,

01:50:46.280 and then, you know, doing these exchanges, and also building, uh, better, bigger and better

01:50:53.240 settlements, and they would pay tribute. Um, northwards in Hauloaland is a firth called,

01:51:03.680 Vefsnir, and in the Firth lies an island called Alost, a large island and a good, and good,

01:51:16.980 that says and a good, sorry, and good, and in this a farm called Santnes.

01:51:26.040 There dwelt a man named Sigurd, the richest man thereabouts in the north. He was a baron,

01:51:33.260 and wise of understanding, he had a daughter.

01:51:37.620 Her name was Sigrid, rider to victory.

01:51:41.280 And she was thought of the best match in all of Halorland,

01:51:47.240 being his only child and sole heiress to her father.

01:51:52.000 Bard Brynjolfsson journeyed from home with a cutter

01:51:56.600 and 30 men aboard northwards to Alostk

01:51:59.660 and came to Sigrid of sadness.

01:52:03.260 There, he declared his business and asked that Sigridr be his wife.

01:52:10.960 This offer was well received and favorably answered.

01:52:14.940 And so it came about that Bard was betrothed to the maiden.

01:52:19.660 The marriage was to take place next summer. Bard was then to come north for the wedding.

01:52:24.420 um chapter eight of bard and thoralf so king harold this is back to to him now

01:52:39.220 had that summer sent word to the men of power that were in halualand uh summoning to him

01:52:48.440 such as had not come to him before. Brynjolf resolved to go to Harold, and with him

01:52:58.900 Bard his son. And in the autumn, they went southward to Throntheim, and there they met the

01:53:06.120 king. He received them most gladly. Brynjolf was made a baron of the kings, and the king also gave

01:53:13.100 him large grants besides that which he had before. He gave him with all the right of journey to

01:53:19.500 Finnmark or to the Finns with the king's business on the fells and the Finn traffic. So all the

01:53:27.380 trading that was happening on that side of Finland. Then Brynjolf went away home to his

01:53:32.900 estate, but Bard remained there at Herald's and he was made one of the king's guards.

01:53:38.700 of all his king of all the guard the king most prized his scalds they occupied the second high

01:53:48.760 seat of these all the ill scald sat innermost and uh it just you know interesting ill scald

01:54:00.140 not ill like sick and not ill like a bad poet um but a scald of

01:54:08.100 uh dastardliness he was uh that that name you know iller is like a worker of bane

01:54:18.340 so you know a a scald that works bane is oh just super interesting to me as a name um

01:54:26.540 He had been scalded to Halvdan the Swarthi, King Harald's father.

01:54:35.740 So next to him sat Thorpeorn Raven, then Alvyrnuf, and next to him was Bard.

01:54:44.340 And he was thereby named Bard the White or Bard the Strong.

01:54:48.580 He was in honor with everyone there.

01:54:51.000 But between him and Alvyrnuf was an especially close friendship.

01:54:56.540 That same autumn came to King Harald Thorolf, Kveldolf's son, and Ivan Vlambi, his friend. Their fathers were friends. They became friends and went out sea-reeving, if you will. And now they have left and joined or come to Harald's court.

01:55:22.060 kari of bertla's son and they were well received they brought thither a swift 20 bench long ship

01:55:33.580 well made which they had before used in sea roving they and their company were placed in the guest

01:55:40.560 hall but when they had waited there till they thought it would fit time to go before the king

01:55:46.620 Kari of Bertla and Alvernuf went in with them. They greeted the king. Then they said, Alvernuf,

01:55:55.240 here comes Kveldolf's son, whom I told thee in the summer that Kveldolf would send.

01:56:02.580 His promise to thee will now stand fast, for here thou canst see true tokens that he will be thy

01:56:09.040 friend in all when he hath sent his son hither to take service with thee. A stalwart man as thou

01:56:16.380 mayest see. Now, this is the boon craved by Kveldolf and all of us, that thou receive Thorolf

01:56:23.760 with honor and make a great man with thee. So, you know, Alvir is running kind of interference

01:56:34.540 for Kveldolf, but I think he's ultimately doing it for the boon of Thorolf. And the king answers

01:56:40.400 his words well promising that he would do if thorolf proves himself and accomplished indeed as

01:56:48.480 he is right brave in look so thorolf is you know he's well seen he's uh he's a handsome and like

01:56:59.220 daring fellow with renown built around him and he says you know if if you um act and and and

01:57:06.160 accomplishes as good as you're fabled to look, I'm hopeful. And this Thorolf was made the king's

01:57:15.820 household and one of his own guard. But Kari of Beritla and his son, Ivan Lambi, went back south

01:57:24.880 in the ship which Thorolf had brought north and so home to Kari's farm. So now Ivan is not with

01:57:34.000 Thorolf, his friend. Thorolf remained there with the king, who appointed him a seat between

01:57:39.920 Aubernuf and Barth. So we can start to see the seating arrangements, the way that people are

01:57:45.400 seated near the king as having station. The second seat for him, of course, being

01:57:52.740 the scald that was a scald or the poet to his father.

01:57:57.900 um and these three struck up a close friendship and all men said of thorolf and bard they were

01:58:08.440 well matched they were in a well-matched pair in calmliness and stature and strength and in

01:58:14.900 doughty deeds and both were in high favor with the king but when winter was passed and summer

01:58:21.940 came, then Bard asked leave to go and see to the marriage promised to him before with Hildreðr.

01:58:29.860 And when the king knew that Bard's errand was urgent, he allowed him to go. Then Bard asked

01:58:35.560 Thorolf to go with him and accompany him, saying, as was true, that he would meet there many of his

01:58:42.940 kin and men of renown whom had not yet seen, that he had not yet seen or known. Thorolf thought that

01:58:49.960 this was desirable so they got leave from the king and then they made made them ready and took

01:58:56.180 a good ship and a crew and went their way when they came to torgar they sent word or sorry let

01:59:04.520 me backtrack a little bit a lot of the times when you're reading the the uh the sagas it's worth

01:59:11.280 noting that it's not always like something that we are akin to where there's going to be a sudden

01:59:18.080 plot twist, or there's going to be, you know, they do show up, but it's not always set with

01:59:25.960 that in mind. In essence, this is a retelling of events. So, and they went, so Thorolf and Bard

01:59:37.140 go north to attend Bard's wedding. When they came to Torgar, they sent word to Sigurd that Bard

01:59:45.220 would now see to that marriage on which they had agreed upon the summer before. Sigurd said that

01:59:51.140 he would hold to all that they had arranged. So they fixed the wedding day, and Bard with his party

01:59:58.140 were to come north to Sandnes. At the appointed time, Brynjolf and Bard set out, and with them

02:00:05.400 many great men of their kin and connexians. And it was, as Bard had said, that Thorolf met there

02:00:13.240 many of his kinsmen that he had not known. They journeyed to Sandnes, and there was held the most

02:00:20.720 splendid feast. And when the feast was ended, Bard went home with his wife and remained at home

02:00:26.820 through the summer, and Thorolf with him. In the autumn, they came south to the king again, and were

02:00:33.980 with him another winter. During that winter, Brynjolf, so the father of Bard, passes away.

02:00:41.720 And when Bard learned that the inheritance there was open for him, he asked of leave to go home.

02:00:48.580 This the king granted, and before they parted, Bard was made a baron.

02:00:53.720 And this, again, too, is kind of seen as like no longer a guardsman.

02:00:57.360 He's inheriting his father's wealth and lands.

02:00:59.920 So he moves up in station, even in the king's court.

02:01:03.280 um, all of this, you know, like I think a lot of folks don't, they think of this as, um, perhaps

02:01:09.480 medieval Europe or, you know, after Christendom, but no, there's a lot of this already going on

02:01:16.040 in the Nordic lands. Um, so, uh, the king granted, and before they parted, he was made a baron

02:01:26.900 as his father had been and held of the king, all those same grants that Brynjolf had held.

02:01:32.460 bard went home to his estate and at once became a great chief but hildery the sons got no more

02:01:40.320 of the heritage than before bard had a son by his wife and his name was grim meanwhile thorolf

02:01:49.260 was with the king and in great honor and part of me only thinks of like the idea of naming a baby

02:01:58.140 grim is because perhaps he had such a like a scowling face um you know when he was a baby um

02:02:09.900 chapter nine battle in hoppers firth but wait before we do that um

02:02:20.060 touching base on something and i hope everybody's enjoying it and following along i certainly

02:02:26.060 i certainly am the map is neat i re i realized why my translations were all screwed up it's an

02:02:31.580 icelandic map so i pressed the english translate it's a google translate problem not the icelanders

02:02:39.500 have it translated just fine so that's on that's on me um yeah i hope everybody's enjoying it and

02:02:46.540 following along this is fascinating this is a saga that neither sfan nor myself have really

02:02:51.580 looked at or read in a number of years it was one of the very first sagas that i read and it

02:02:58.400 i mean it's awesome i love it it's really cool but it's nice to kind of reacquaint myself with

02:03:05.300 it this evening i also wanted to point out i see over in the chat um about freya wanting to get

02:03:13.680 set up as a member and not having friends uh or family in the usa you do now

02:03:22.800 and i mean that so yeah with that said let's i'm trying to look we're not um

02:03:31.520 and i hope this is because people are enjoying it i never really know for sure um

02:03:37.520 I'm looking over in the chat and we don't have a lot of questions piling up or anything

02:03:46.120 particularly got a couple of things that we'll talk about at the end but just checking letting

02:03:52.040 everybody know you guys can still ask questions if you'd like but no we're making good progress

02:03:57.960 and I'm enjoying it and I hope everybody else is if folks are ready let's hit the chapter nine

02:04:07.520 So, this is the battle in Hoppersworth.

02:04:14.220 King Harald proclaimed a general levy.

02:04:16.860 He starts to, you know, gather taxes, and he gathered a fleet.

02:04:22.400 Summoning his forces far and wide through the land, he went out of Throntheim and bent his course southward,

02:04:29.640 For he had heard that a large host was gathered throughout Agdir, Rogaland, and Hordaland, assembled from far, both from the inland parts above and from the east out of Vik, the very large bay and fjord in the southern part of Norway.

02:04:50.660 So now the south is kind of amassing groups, and he wants to see what is this all about.

02:04:57.200 and many great men were there met who who proposed to defend their land from the king

02:05:03.760 harold held on his way from the north with a large force having his guards on board

02:05:12.140 in the forecast in the forecast excuse me in the forecastle of the ship um there was

02:05:19.580 So, you know, in the back with the king, um, in the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, near the, the,

02:05:42.660 the, um, uh, why is it eluding me? The rudder near the rudder and in the back, um, there is

02:05:53.300 all the guard men, but up in the front, there is absolute ready for carnage berserkers, um,

02:06:02.720 in the, in the, at the very, very front ready to go. Um, and I think this is more, again,

02:06:08.440 lending to the ideas like he had his best men around him and at the front of the ship he had

02:06:14.280 you know uh men of extreme violence ready and waiting um

02:06:23.720 the fleets met south in rogueland in hoppersworth there was fought one of the or the greatest

02:06:32.920 battle that king harold had with much slaughter in either host the king set his own ship in the van

02:06:42.520 and there the battle was most stubborn but in the end was king harold who won the victory

02:06:50.280 thorir long chin and our king of adgir fell there but kjotvi the wealthy fled with all of his men

02:07:00.440 that could stand save some that surrendered after the battle when the role of herald's army was

02:07:06.680 called many were uh they had fallen and many were sore wounded thorolf was badly wounded

02:07:15.560 bard even worse nor was there a man unwounded in the king's ship before the mast except those

02:07:22.680 whom iron bit not to the, the wit of the berserks. A couple of things with this one. One,

02:07:30.560 um, the King drove his ship right into the middle of the battle. And that's why his guardsmen are

02:07:39.120 many wounded, but it also substantiates another point is that the berserkers are not iron bit 0.99

02:07:45.140 because of the wit or in reality, the knowledge that the berserks had of being able to 0.76

02:07:52.680 to not be hurt by iron. So this is where we start to get that kind of, that, that mythos,

02:07:59.960 but it's kind of just blatantly stated after the fact. The battle goes, everyone's hurt

02:08:05.360 except for the berserkers, because they know their way, their, their culted way to avoid 0.99

02:08:13.180 these things.

02:08:14.180 there's a there's an interplay there and I think this is one of the instances

02:08:22.520 where I don't want to put it I'm sometimes we don't have the the right

02:08:40.940 words for it but when we think about magic things or even miraculous things we think about them in

02:08:58.300 over the top charlton heston parting the red sea ways or in like harry potter magic wand

02:09:08.540 shooting fire doing crazy stuff

02:09:15.900 there was a battle magic with the berserker and when we talk about it in

02:09:23.980 out of context these are these magical impervious to weapon beast men that

02:09:32.780 you need, you know, in some kind of Michael Bay, like, super writ large magical way.

02:09:52.320 There is a subtle thing that happens. This is going to seem really silly. We can blame it on

02:09:59.000 on the uh Stoker Bjor that uh adorns my horn but realistically there's a thing that happened

02:10:07.340 just follow me with this and I hope it makes sense um you ask people if they believe in ghosts lots

02:10:16.340 of people do and accept that cool I came home and the lights were on I know I turned them off

02:10:22.700 I think this was some kind of a ghost thing a lot of people nod me like yeah that's real

02:10:29.000 At what point do you picture the ghost flipping the switch?

02:10:34.500 That messes with our mind in a strange way.

02:10:39.700 But we all believe that happens.

02:10:41.920 So the juxtaposition between the high magic of this berserker that like literally weapons are hitting and they are not penetrating because they are made out of like bare skinned iron and they turn into these werewolf, you know,

02:10:58.880 altered beast bear creatures but what very much legitimately happened is everybody in the heat of

02:11:09.440 battle is getting messed up and these guys are standing tall surrounded by their foes and they're

02:11:16.320 frothing around and in their battle lust and they're not hurt and everyone else is

02:11:22.240 there is a magic there they have to equate it especially at this period writing this down with

02:11:29.460 their skill or their whatever else doesn't matter how skillful you are if you're set upon by a

02:11:35.840 certain number of people with sharp things even if you win folks are getting hurt

02:11:45.500 However we want to conceive of this divine and miraculous protection they have as part of the Odin cult and the berserker gang, the end result is these renowned berserkers who are revered with a certain amount of fear and awe, like awe by their fellows on the battlefield and fear by people in peacetime.

02:12:12.220 however you want to conceive of it occurring

02:12:16.780 they were with their king in the thick of battle everyone around them their enemies are dead

02:12:27.340 a bunch of their buddies are dead even the winners are hurt and they're standing tall and they're

02:12:34.320 all right so it's hard to conceive in our head this this is what i'm trying to say when you read

02:12:40.700 lore about some of these things it becomes fanciful and hard to believe and like oh you believe that

02:12:45.340 that's silly maybe the way you have it in your head is silly but in reality they engage in ritual

02:12:54.060 behavior before battle that connects with the all-father through the berserker gang 0.82

02:13:01.340 and they more often than not emerge unscathed

02:13:05.260 something happens there that is beyond just they happen to be good at fighting and

02:13:14.220 that that occupies that space is truly miraculous and magical and something that as

02:13:23.580 also true are we need to pay heed to and embrace and and recognize as the workings of

02:13:30.540 our gods and you know the cult of the the berserker um in this time i don't know if that made

02:13:40.140 any sense but what i'm trying to say is magical things don't always have to be showy what they

02:13:45.980 happen more often than not is a completely improbable series of coincidence that allow

02:13:53.860 a result to occur the idea of swords you know somebody chops an axe at dude's head and it

02:14:00.980 doesn't penetrate that's probably not how it works everybody else just happens to miss all the time

02:14:10.100 that's not really how things would work if there wasn't something else another hand at play

02:14:16.500 and i think that's what we should keep in mind even and especially when reading historical works

02:14:23.860 is the subtle hand of the divine in those kind of ways because that was an absolute reality to

02:14:32.060 those men looking at it historically or even writing about it years or decades later in the

02:14:38.200 Christian period which the saga takes us to there is a tendency to rationalize but there's a challenge

02:14:47.780 of us as men and women of faith to accept the workings of the divine within the fabric

02:14:57.660 of observable reality and I think this is kind of a cool example of that that we see

02:15:02.800 in this piece of lore.

02:15:07.980 I think, too, it's worth noting, you know, Bard did not die in battle.

02:15:17.860 He dies post-battle.

02:15:22.180 And I think that there's a part here that's worth taking note is that it's pretty clear with High Renown.

02:15:31.200 He passes, and it is seen as, you know, not a dastardly or terrible thing.

02:15:41.180 So I think that this is a great point where we get to see a couple of things going on as far as religious things in relation to, like, funerary rites.

02:15:53.600 It's also worth noting at this time, too, they were burying their dead, not burning them in a pyre.

02:15:59.900 And it's just understood that our ancestors, you know, went through cycles of preference based on land and certain, you know, things afforded to them or the technology that was available.

02:16:16.060 So before we know, go ahead. I didn't mean to cut you off. That's your finish. I was going to say, before we continue with our I'm sorry, Goethe Bodhi would like you to break it down for folks what Scala Grimm means.

02:16:34.120 Bald and ugly is generally what people say. Bald and of a displeasing countenance. Scala is bald.

02:16:41.960 maybe bald and angry looking i think angry looking was in much the same form it's always had

02:16:49.140 yeah i mean i joking around i've heard people say bald and ugly which is always

02:16:54.680 super funny to me but at the same time yeah scala grim bald and of just a dour countenance

02:17:01.560 just a mean uh bald and grumpy yeah

02:17:06.580 so after this battle

02:17:11.780 Harold

02:17:13.540 is taking stock of all his men 1.00

02:17:16.500 the berserkers 1.00

02:17:17.640 they're fine 1.00

02:17:19.100 his guardsmen

02:17:20.680 have taken some wounds

02:17:23.920 before we continue

02:17:26.320 I just want to make this note

02:17:27.680 because I think this is the case

02:17:29.060 when I ask

02:17:30.500 because I want to make sure

02:17:31.880 when Svan gets on a roll

02:17:35.300 there's often a deafening silence and usually it turns out exactly like i said in the chat room

02:17:43.220 it's because everyone is enraptured by his what he's presenting and um also as amber says though

02:17:52.900 over in the chat there are many questions there aren't many questions because every time something

02:17:57.860 isn't clear swan the pious automatically explains it for us massively appreciated

02:18:05.060 swan the pious i like it thank you i like it too that's nice thank you sir carry on if you will

02:18:15.060 um you do me great honor with with naming me that um um

02:18:20.260 Um, so the king, uh, looks about his, uh, his guardsmen and he has his men's wounds bound up

02:18:30.220 and thanks them for their valor and gives them many gifts, adding most praise where he thought

02:18:35.920 it was most deserved. He promised them also further honor, naming some to be steersmen,

02:18:42.100 others to be folksalmen, others bow sitters. And this was the last battle that King Harold had

02:18:49.900 within the land. After this, none withstood him and he was supreme over all Norway. A couple

02:18:56.820 things to note with that is most likely their, their, uh, immediate, uh, healing of, of the

02:19:06.080 wounded. And he starts to move people into positions, um, to carry on, uh, the ship,

02:19:13.480 but where you were standing and, and given a job at the ship had, had heavy connotations to,

02:19:21.940 to how close you were to, to the king. And so moving up into the, uh, folks, where the king,

02:19:30.160 uh, very, you know, most likely was, um, was a huge honor. So he's just giving out Boone

02:19:38.060 and he's speaking about all of them, the, the warriors and letting them know. And I've always

02:19:44.140 just kind of taken this as he's, he's kind of giving a speech and telling his men like, this

02:19:49.400 is good. And I think that it doesn't, it's not said in here, but they go back and then there's

02:19:54.840 more stock that's left in the healing and, and some things of that nature. So, uh, the King

02:20:03.420 saw to the healing of his men whose wounds gave them hope of life he also to burial of the dead

02:20:10.600 with all customary honors thorolf and bard lay wounded so and i that term there might seem like

02:20:19.480 they're still on the ship but i i don't think that is the case they're just stating that thorolf and

02:20:25.580 bard were had laid wounded during the battle um but thoralf's wounds began to heal but bards

02:20:34.300 proved to be mortal then bard had the king called to him and spoke thus so he's in his deathbed now

02:20:42.940 um most likely in herald's uh you know new found one lands um probably not back in throndheim but um

02:20:52.060 Um, he asks him, babe, you know, can, can someone bring the King to me? I have, I have something that I wish for him to hear so that he could decree it, um, and make sure that it is, it is honored.

02:21:06.320 Um, and the King comes to him and, um, he says, if it, if it is so that I die of these wounds, then I would ask this of the, that I may myself name my heir.

02:21:22.060 to this when the king assented then said he so it's worth noting the reason why bard's

02:21:29.580 probably doing this is because brenyal um no like bring your father uh bergul had

02:21:39.420 that that woman uh with the two children but he sent her away so bard is probably doing this too

02:21:45.580 as a as a political move so that those sons can't come in and say we have right and claim to that 0.68

02:21:51.100 land. Um, so he's, he's thinking ahead and he, of course, Bard had just been married, uh, like a

02:21:58.340 one and a half years earlier, um, to Sigrid, the, the daughter of Sigurd that was in, uh, Sandness

02:22:05.980 in the lake, um, area. So he says, I will that Thorolf, my friend and kinsman take all my

02:22:16.100 heritage, both my lands and my chattels, and to him also will I give my wife and bringing up of

02:22:23.620 my son, because I trust him for this above all men. So he's basically saying that, you know,

02:22:31.740 to take my wife and son and foster my son and raise him. And again, the taking of the wife 0.54

02:22:41.520 is an interesting point, because I think if it's contested, there could be a chance where that's

02:22:47.500 not going to happen. But, you know, as we go, we'll see how that turns out. This arrangement

02:22:55.900 he made fast as the law was with leave of the king. Then Bard died and was buried, and his death

02:23:04.600 was much mourned. Thorolf was healed of his wounds and followed the king and won great glory.

02:23:12.720 In the autumn, the king went north to Thrandheim, back to his capital now, if you will, and then

02:23:20.460 Thorolf asked to go north to Haluelan to see after those gifts which he had received in the summer 0.98

02:23:26.480 from his now fallen kinsman bard. The king gave leave for this and added a message and tokens 1.00

02:23:32.740 that Thorolf should take all that Bard had given him, showing that the gift was with the council

02:23:39.060 of the king and that he would have it so. So basically, you know, go there and accept these

02:23:46.180 gifts that your friend has given you. And by him saying that, he's saying, I'm not going to contest

02:23:52.560 it. You're a good man to me and you will, you know, rise and station as befit as Bard was.

02:24:02.740 Um, so he supplied Thorolf with a good long ship and all the tackling or tacking that was complete

02:24:11.800 with it and had everything made for his journey thence and in the best possible way. So Thorolf

02:24:17.680 set out and he and the king parted with much great affection because they had survived this

02:24:22.680 just massive battle. And I think to the loss of Bard between them, you know, is a commonality as

02:24:30.020 well. Uh, but then Thorolf came to the North to Targar, Torkar. And again, the way this, the,

02:24:37.060 the, uh, sagas are written, you'll always, but when Thorolf came North, like you're expecting

02:24:42.680 this switch, this plot. Oh no, something, you know, but no, it's not written like that. It's

02:24:48.160 just stating that now he goes to the North and this is, you know, this is what he gets. Um,

02:24:55.460 but then thor thorolf came um north to torker and he was well received he told them a bard's death

02:25:05.140 and also the bard had left him his lance his chattel and her that had been his wife then he

02:25:11.440 showed the king orders and tokens so this is you know even decreed by the king um to have transpired

02:25:19.240 Um, and when Sigridir hears this, hears these tidings, she is felt with her great loss in her husband, but with Thorolf she was already well acquainted, so her husband's friend, she knew him, he had been always at, with Bard, um, so she, he wasn't a stranger to her.

02:25:42.520 and knew him for a man of great mark and renown.

02:25:47.060 And this promise of her marriage was good.

02:25:49.600 So she basically agrees.

02:25:51.360 She consents to this marriage.

02:25:55.840 And besides, there was the king's command.

02:26:00.220 So she and her friends saw it to be the best plan

02:26:05.200 that she should be betrothed to Thorolf,

02:26:07.880 unless that were against her father's mind.

02:26:12.020 Thereupon, Thorolf took up all management of the property and also the king's business.

02:26:18.820 Soon after this, Thorolf started with a long ship and about 60 men and coasted northward

02:26:26.420 till one day at eventide, he came to Sandnes and Alos.

02:26:31.260 There they moored the ship.

02:26:33.340 And when they had raised their tent and made arrangements, Thorolf went up to the farm

02:26:37.600 buildings with 20 men.

02:26:38.900 Sigrid received him well, asked him to lodge there, and for there had been great intimacy between them since the marriage.

02:26:48.900 So Sigurd, who is the father of Sigrid, in essence, Bard's father-in-law. And Thorolf is also loved by Sigurd, because, again, outside of Sigrid, the one person who could contest the marriage is her father, and he is good. He's good with it. They're fast friends.

02:27:12.120 so for there had been great intimacy between them since the marriage connections between Sigurd and

02:27:22.640 Bard then Thorolf and his men went into the hall and they were entertained Sigurd sat and talked

02:27:29.320 with Thorolf and asked tidings Thorolf told them about the battle that they fought the summer that

02:27:35.400 summer in the south and of all of the fall of many men who sigurd knew and with all how bard

02:27:43.960 his son-in-law had died of wounds received in battle this they both felt a great loss

02:27:50.720 then thorolf told sigurd that he had been the covenant between him and bard before he died

02:27:57.500 and he declared also the orders of the king and how he would have all of this hold good

02:28:02.820 and this he showed by tokens. So he, you know, the, the witness of the king and the bidding of

02:28:10.440 this to happen, um, is being verified. After this Thorolf entered into his wooing with Sigurd. So

02:28:17.640 it's not just, you know, uh, you know, you're my wife now, but it's, it, it is, but there is a

02:28:25.520 sense that he has to, you know, it's not simply just arranged. It is, there is a courting or

02:28:35.040 of a wooing and getting to know her. And I think also too, probably lamenting Bard's death.

02:28:43.920 But this happened a lot back then. This is how things went. You could leave for a summer to a

02:28:50.420 battle and not come back. Oh, sorry. And sorry. It says here too, the wooing of Sigurd. So he's

02:29:00.640 basically laying claim to the father saying, Hey, I would like to, you know, honor Bard's wishes.

02:29:06.600 I know your daughter and I would like to marry her. And Sigurd receives the proposal. Well,

02:29:13.940 he said there were many reasons for this first the king would have it so next bard had asked it and

02:29:21.820 further he himself knew thorolf and thought it was a good match for his daughter thus sigurd was

02:29:28.420 easily one to grant this suit whereupon the betrothal was made and the wedding was fixed

02:29:33.320 for the autumn at torgar then thorolf went home to his estate and his comrades with him

02:29:40.060 and he prepared a great feast and bade them thereto. Of Thorolf's kin, many were present,

02:29:46.820 men of renown. Sigurd also came thither from the north with a long ship and a chosen crew.

02:29:53.120 Numerously attended was the feast, and it was once seen that Thorolf was free-handed

02:29:59.520 and munificent. He kept about him a large following, whereof the cost was great and

02:30:08.780 much provisions was needed, but the year was good and needful supplies were easily found.

02:30:14.720 And during the winter, Sigurd, the father of Sigrida, he died. He dies back at his home

02:30:21.720 in Samnes. And Thorolf was heir to all his property, and this brought him great wealth.

02:30:29.660 So the entitled lands of Sigrida pass on to her and her husband.

02:30:36.400 Um, now the, the, now the sons of Hildurida came to Thorolf and put in the claim, which they thought

02:30:46.160 they had on the property that belonged to their father, Bjorgolf. So that's what I was kind of

02:30:50.880 setting up before. The, uh, Bjorgolf is the grandfather of Bard and he marries a very young

02:31:01.860 woman. She has two children. Then his son Brynjolf sends them away, and now they're coming back now

02:31:08.240 that Thorolf has taken ownership of these lands and asks, you know, we want to get what we are

02:31:16.040 entitled to. And Thorolf answers them thus, this I knew of Brynjolf and still better of Bard,

02:31:26.660 that they were men so generous that they would have let you have of Bjorgolf's heritage what

02:31:32.660 share they knew to be your right. I was present when you when you two put in his put this same

02:31:39.900 claim on Bard and I heard that he thought there was no ground for it for he called you illegitimate.

02:31:49.460 Herrick said that they would bring witness that their mother was duly bought with payment.

02:31:55.120 It is true that he did not at first treat of this matter with Brynjolf, our brother.

02:32:03.340 It was a case of sharing between kinsmen, but of bard, we hope, to get our dues in every respect.

02:32:10.940 Though our dealings with him were not for long. 0.99

02:32:13.580 Now, however, this heritage has come to men who are no wise of our kin.

02:32:19.060 um speaking of Thorolf and we cannot be altogether silent about our wrong but in may that uh but it

02:32:29.880 may be that as before might will so prevail that we we get not our right of thee in this

02:32:37.900 if thou refuse to hear the the witness that we can bring to prove us honorably born Thorolf

02:32:45.700 answers angrily. So far, I am from thinking you legitimate heirs that I am told your mother was

02:32:53.180 taken by force and carried home as a captive. After that, they left talking altogether.

02:33:01.660 So he basically stands and says that their marriage was not a peaceable marriage,

02:33:10.180 but one of conquest, and that they're just basically children born of a captured

02:33:18.240 concubine, if you will, and that they have no legitimacy to the land of Bard.

02:33:27.480 Chapter 10, Thorolf in Finnmark. Now, Finnmark, mark means forest or forested lands, so Finland

02:33:36.860 Finland is Finnmark. In the winter, Thorolf took his way up to the fells with a large force of not

02:33:47.200 less than 90 men, whereas before it had been the want of the king's stewards to have 30 men,

02:33:53.860 and sometimes fewer. He took with him plenty of wares for trading, and at once he appointed a

02:34:00.260 meeting with the Finns, took of them the tribute and held a fair with them. All was managed with

02:34:08.160 goodwill and friendship, though not without fear on the Finns' side. Far and wide about Finmark

02:34:14.760 did he travel, but when he reached the Fells eastward, he heard that the Kilvings were come

02:34:23.620 from the east and were there for trading with the Finns, but in some places for plunder. Thorolf

02:34:31.760 set Finns to spy out the movements of the Kilvings, or Kilvings, and he followed after to search for

02:34:40.760 them and came upon 30 men in one den, all of whom which he slew, letting none escape. Afterwards he

02:34:49.540 found together 15 and 20. In all, he slew near upon 100 of them and took immense booty and

02:34:58.000 returned in the spring after doing this. So this is just a kind of a part in which the Finns are 1.00

02:35:05.660 scared that they don't know exactly how Thorolf's going to treat this because he had heard that they

02:35:11.380 were trading with another group. But this group wasn't just trading. They were also raiding

02:35:16.200 the Kilvingr. And Thorolf decides, all right, I'm going to put an end to this competition,

02:35:22.300 take what they have, and, you know, refocus the Finns back on Herald and Norway and where it

02:35:31.060 needs to be at. So he goes and he does that. Then he goes to, Thorolf goes to his estates

02:35:39.360 and sadness, and remained there through the spring. He had a long ship built, large, and it had a

02:35:46.760 dragon's head, fitted out in the best style. This he took with him from the north. Thorolf gathered

02:35:55.200 great stores of what he could in Haulowaland, employing his men after the herrings and in

02:36:01.460 other fishing. There was seal hunting there too, with abundance and egg gathering, and all such

02:36:07.960 provisions he had brought to him. Never had he fewer freedmen about his home than a hundred.

02:36:14.760 He was open-handed and liberal and readily made friends with the great and with all that were

02:36:21.300 near him. A mighty man he became, and he bestowed much care on his ships, equipment, and weapons.

02:36:30.320 so thus far thorolf's father's um you know premonition or at least adherence to the idea

02:36:37.760 of it is not so much showing up thorolf's doing great um in chapter 11 the king feasts with

02:36:47.680 for a sec before we get into it something else that's kind of a interesting historic note or

02:36:57.360 whatever it was thought that thoroff had a lot of like he had a substantial force with him when he

02:37:11.520 went there to collect tribute his like substantial army of men was 90 people so a lot of the time and

02:37:22.320 it the concern was that their local like magistrate guys their big force of like cool

02:37:28.720 we're calling them in the big guns was like 30 guys so i think that often

02:37:37.040 when we look back and we read some of these things we don't necessarily have a sense of proportion

02:37:44.080 um we often think when we hear about armies engaging that we're talking about thousands

02:37:52.000 or tens of like divisions of men doing things in this period especially in the far north

02:38:01.520 armies were hundreds a really big army might be thousands like

02:38:11.920 two armed engagements between yarl's might be

02:38:21.200 25 guys versus 40 guys so it's something to

02:38:28.560 it just gets you in the in the sense of things the individual warriors like one guy meant a lot

02:38:36.480 because the force was so much smaller his retinue of like guys he could bring to the field

02:38:43.840 as a you know for lack of a better term and so other people you know as a knight of

02:38:49.920 norway his retinue his like men that he led into battle was 90 guys that's

02:38:57.200 it changes a little bit of perspective when we think about

02:39:03.440 you know what that looks like my high school gym would accommodate you know what 2 000 people

02:39:10.420 one twentieth of that looks a lot smaller right on the battlefield so thinking about

02:39:18.840 just i it's just kind of a i don't know if it's important to other people or not but it's

02:39:24.020 interesting to me as just a student of history thinking about it is in our mind we picture these

02:39:29.220 massive sprawling battlefields of things like maybe you'd have in the middle east or in the

02:39:34.580 mediterranean but that's not the case here so like one guy made could make a very very substantial

02:39:47.220 difference um that's neither here nor there it was just kind of a historical note as we look

02:39:54.420 into it and it's also interesting to watch like when he goes up there to get tribute what do

02:39:59.620 those people have i think sometimes in our mind if we're not necessarily familiar with the context

02:40:04.420 or the scenario it's interesting that they like no they got seals and they got eggs from like

02:40:10.180 waterfowl that go there to lay eggs that's what they've got for trees so i think we have a

02:40:17.700 tendency to picture these things in a much more high medieval continental way than in a much more

02:40:24.900 rural um population way that we have in especially i mean shoot in all of norway sweden iceland

02:40:34.580 um scotland i think in our mind we picture a lot of this going on and like

02:40:39.540 on the rhine or in france or something where at the time the arrays of things were just very

02:40:47.260 different well and it's important to note that the kilvings were at the battle where herald

02:40:55.820 ascends so after that battle they kind of go eastward into the baltic and they're raiding

02:41:04.200 and trading in Finland, but they have attestments throughout, um, even all the way down to the

02:41:10.340 Varangians and, um, their origin is not quite known. Again, they may not have had an origin.

02:41:16.440 Then the name kills our kilfa means like a club or a cruddle or a, uh, you know, a blunt stick.

02:41:24.860 Um, and it's just kind of debated as to whether or not, um, this means that, you know, the people

02:41:30.860 that carry a blunt stick or it could also have the same meaning very much similar to the way a club

02:41:36.380 like a club house has and that these are a kind of a group of uh people brought together

02:41:45.320 for common interests and uh but it was kind of seen as like synonymous like

02:41:51.460 to go a viking and being a kilvinger and or a viking were kind of the same thing so maybe

02:41:59.760 perhaps they were united in oaths and were just they were basically in the war in norway and

02:42:06.640 after they had lost it they went east and just started kind of you know raiding and trading and

02:42:13.520 doing things so very interesting um you know information on that uh for anybody that you know

02:42:20.560 know, wants to look that up. Um, yeah, the kill, kill or keel things, uh, but generally the F is

02:42:30.120 like a V sound. So the kill wings are killing good. Um, let's see. All right. So Thorolf returns

02:42:43.120 and goes back to Halogaland and he goes there and he, he's back with his wife and in those lands

02:42:49.760 and it's just massive, you know, food and equipment and people. And he's seen as this

02:42:57.960 great organizer and free-giving king to all of his people. And he has tons of men after this.

02:43:07.960 And so he's, again, bound upon bound of good fortune. So in chapter 11, the king feasts with

02:43:15.860 Thorolf. Um, King Harald went that summer to Halogaland. So now the king comes to, um,

02:43:25.780 Thorolf's, uh, lands and banquets were made ready against his coming. Um, that doesn't mean against

02:43:34.200 him. It's just, yeah, against the news of his arrival. They start preparing, uh, both where

02:43:40.560 his estates were, and also by barons and powerful landowners. Thorolf prepared a banquet for the

02:43:46.620 king at great cost. It was fixed for when the king should come there. To this he bade a numerous

02:43:53.340 company, the best men that could be found. The king had about 300 men with him when he came to

02:44:00.060 the banquet, but Thorolf had 500 present as well. Thorolf had caused a large granary to be fitted

02:44:09.440 up where the drinking should be for there were, there was no hall large enough to contain the

02:44:16.820 multitude of, uh, 800 men. Yeah. The King had 300. Yep. So yeah, 800 folks. Um, and these are just

02:44:28.700 of, of men. That's not including others. This is just of the multitude of their, of their courts.

02:44:35.380 um and uh so thorov had caused for a large granary because he didn't have room in any hall

02:44:42.900 and all around the building great shields were hung the king sate in the high seat but when the

02:44:50.640 foremost bench was filled then the king looked around and he turned red but spoke not and men

02:44:57.140 thought that they could see he was angry the banquet was magnificent and all the viands of

02:45:02.860 best the king however was gloomy he remained there three nights as had been intended and on

02:45:10.060 the day when the king was to leave thorolf went to him and offered that they should go together down

02:45:15.740 to the beach to the strand um the king did so and there moored off the land floated that dragon ship

02:45:25.020 which thorolf had built with the tent and tackling complete thorolf gave this ship to the king

02:45:32.860 and prayed to the king to believe that he had gathered such numbers for this end

02:45:37.820 to show the king great honor, and not to enter in a rivalry with him.

02:45:43.280 So Thorolf now thinks that the king is upset because of how many people he has,

02:45:50.000 that Thorolf has.

02:45:51.120 And he's like, no, I want to give you this boat,

02:45:53.500 and I want you to understand, like, my fealty is to you.

02:45:57.420 Despite all of Mike's success, you have no rivalry in me.

02:46:02.860 Um, so Thorolf gives him the ship and prayed the king to believe that he gathered such numbers

02:46:09.960 for this end to show him great honor and not to enter rivalry. The king took Thorolf's words very

02:46:15.960 well and then he became merry and cheerful. Many added there were good word saying as was true that

02:46:23.700 the banquet was most splendid and the farewell escort of the king was most magnificent and that

02:46:31.020 the king gave much strength by such men. Then they parted with much affection. The king went

02:46:37.840 northward to Halualan, and as he had purposed, and returned south as the summer wore on. He went yet

02:46:45.520 to other banquets that were prepared for him in his honor. So now we're going back to Hildurida

02:46:55.180 and her sons so now instead of they talked to thorolf now they're going to go talk to the king

02:47:03.240 chapter 12 hilderitha's sons talk with herald hilderitha's sons went to the king and bade him

02:47:12.180 to a three nights banquet the king accepted their bidding and fixed when when he could would come

02:47:18.920 and so at the appointed time he and his train came thither so he's traveling throughout the lands

02:47:24.560 just uh kind of on a on a meet and greet with his with his kingdom um

02:47:31.100 the company was not numerous but the feast went off very well and the king was quite cheerful

02:47:37.880 harik entered into a talk with the king and their talk turned on this that he asked about the king's

02:47:45.500 journey in those parts during the summer the king answered his questions and said that they had all

02:47:50.040 been received well, each after his means. So every lord gave unto the king that which they could.

02:47:58.040 It was not about who gave the most, but that everyone could give what their title and station

02:48:05.160 could give. Herrick said, that was to be looked for because on that banquet most was spent,

02:48:14.940 and thou, O king, hadst great luck in matters, so turning out that thy life was not endangered.

02:48:22.540 The end was, as likely, thou wert very wise and very fortunate, for thou once suspected all was

02:48:29.520 not for good on seeing the numerous company gathered. But, as I am told, thou maddest all

02:48:35.660 thy men remain armed constantly, and to keep watch and war day and night. The king, so he's

02:48:43.980 Harik, who is the son of Hildritha and Brynjolf, Arminab, Brynjolf, the grandfather of Bard, is kind of starting to cause things to happen.

02:49:01.520 He's sowing seeds, if you will.

02:49:06.820 And the king looks at him and says, why are you speaking like this, Harik?

02:49:11.160 What canst thou tell of this?

02:49:13.740 Herrick answered, May I speak with permission, would I please?

02:49:17.140 The king said, Speak.

02:49:19.480 This I judge, said Herrick, that thou wouldst not deem it to be well if thou, O king, heardest everyone's words.

02:49:27.600 What men say when speaking their minds freely at home, how they think that it is tyranny that thou exercisest over the people.

02:49:35.720 But the plain truth is, O king, that to rise against thee, the people lack nothing but boldness and a leader.

02:49:44.460 Nor is it wonderful in a man like Thorolf that he thinks himself above everyone else.

02:49:50.460 He wants, not for strength and calmliness, he keeps a guard round him like a king.

02:49:57.260 He has wealth and plenty, and even though he had but what is truly his,

02:50:02.600 But besides that, he holds other people's property equally at his disposal with his own.

02:50:10.260 Thou too hast bestowed on him large grants, and he had now made all ready to repay them with ill.

02:50:19.840 For this is the truth that I tell thee.

02:50:22.400 When it was learnt that thou were coming to Halogeland, with no more force than 300 men,

02:50:30.120 the council of people here was that an army should assemble and take your life okay so what

02:50:37.400 he's trying to say now is like there was rumor that when you were coming here amongst thorolf's

02:50:43.560 men and amongst these people that there there should be a a move or a push to coup against

02:50:50.360 the king and put thorolf in power um so he's really starting to soak dissension and and and

02:50:57.400 And Thorolf, of course, you know, gave the king a great ship and tried to make sure that this was not happening.

02:51:07.760 And these people have motivation against Thorolf because their mother and they themselves feel in right to owning properties and lands and things that now is in Thorolf's property.

02:51:27.400 Yeah, let me see. And tell thee, when it first learned that we're coming north to Halogaland with no more force than 300 men, the council of people here was that an army should be assembled and take thy life, O king, and the lives of all thy force.

02:51:45.900 And Thorolf was head of this council, and it was offered him that he should be king over all the Hallorlanders and the Namsdalmen.

02:51:57.740 Then he went in and out of each Firth and round all the islands and got together every man he could and every weapon.

02:52:05.840 And it was no secret that this army was to muster for battle against you, King Harald.

02:52:11.120 But the truth is, O king, that thou hadest somewhat less force than those who met thee. Yet the farmer folk took flight when they saw thy fleet. Then this council was adopted to meet thee with friendly and show bid thee.

02:52:28.000 So he's basically saying they were gathered to kill the king. But when the common folk saw his fleet showing up, they decided to back out and run. So Thorolf decided, no, no, no, now we're going to make good and we're not going to do it.

02:52:47.460 Um, and again, I, you know, this is, I don't believe is true. It's just, again, him sowing, um, seeds and whether or not the king will listen is, is something to be heard.

02:52:59.640 so then this council was adopted to meet thee with a friendly show and bid thee to a banquet

02:53:09.620 but it was intended when thou wert well drunk and lying asleep that they would attack thee

02:53:15.660 with fire and weapons and here is proof whether i am rightly informed ye were led into a granary

02:53:23.400 because Thorolf was lost to burn it up,

02:53:27.340 burn up his new and beautiful hall.

02:53:30.540 And a further proof is that every room

02:53:33.180 was full of weapons and armor.

02:53:35.400 But when all their devices against the miscarried,

02:53:39.460 then they chose the best course that they should

02:53:41.980 and they crushed the four actual war.

02:53:44.820 And I doubt not that all may deny this council

02:53:48.020 because few methinks know themselves guiltless

02:53:51.140 were the truth to come out.

02:53:53.400 Now this is my counsel, O king, that thou keep Thorolf near thee, and let him be thy guard, and bear thy standard, and be in the forecastle of thy ship.

02:54:04.300 For this duty no man is fitter, or, if thou wilt, have him be a baron, and then give him a grant southward in the Firths, where all his family, thou mayest then keep an eye on him, that he make not himself too great for thee.

02:54:23.800 But the business here in Halogaland, put thou into the hands of men who are of moderate will, and will serve thee faithfully, and have kinfolk here, men whose relatives have had the same work here before.

02:54:39.580 We two brothers are ready and willing for such service as thou wilt use us in.

02:54:47.780 Our father long had the king's business here, and it prospered in his hands.

02:54:53.160 it is difficult oh king to place men as managers here because thou wilt seldom come here thyself

02:55:00.060 the strength of the land is too little of need thy coming with an army yet thou must not come

02:55:07.100 hither again with so few followers for there are many here just disloyal people so these two

02:55:15.600 brothers are just sowing this. And they're basically saying, bring Thorolf out of the land,

02:55:23.380 bring him close to you so that he's not, you know, given to any sort of flights of raising in power

02:55:31.800 and put it in our hands. We've been, you know, our family's been here for forever. So they're

02:55:36.100 absolutely, you know, pulling and playing.

02:55:39.860 the king was angry very very angry with these words but he spoke quietly and was always his

02:55:49.080 want when he heard tidings of great import he he asked whether thorolf were at home at torgar

02:55:56.120 herrick said this was not likely thorolf said he is too wise to be in the way of thy followers

02:56:05.180 oh king for he must guess that all will not be so close but thou wilt get to know these things

02:56:13.980 he went north to alost as soon as he heard that thou were on your way south so the king asks is

02:56:21.820 thorolf um you know at at at uh torgor and he said no thorolf left as soon as you left and went north

02:56:32.140 word because he knew he might have stirred up a lot of trouble with this supposed coup.

02:56:40.500 The king spoke little about this matter before other men, but it was easy to see that he inclined

02:56:45.980 to believe the words that had been spoken. And so, you know, this is where things get

02:56:52.240 interesting in the sense that Thorolf is trying to show the king that, you know, he does him great

02:56:59.480 respects, great honor. The granary was there because the numbers. Um, and even though he had

02:57:05.700 more men than the king, the king was traveling. Um, and it's just, it's sad in the sense that

02:57:12.580 Harold kind of takes to this nobody over a man who stood with him at the foc'sle in the great

02:57:19.540 battle. Um, you know, uh, uh, a couple of years before. So it's really, really kind of sad that

02:57:26.640 these things turn this way. But again, it is still worth noting. Harold is a king for a reason. He's

02:57:32.340 gained power in this sense. And, um, I mean, he does know there is a potential, um, if Thorolf

02:57:40.680 is inclined to. And so he is a threat, um, even if it's passive. Um, but it just, it, it really

02:57:48.180 kind of is sad um so after this the king went his way and held the reader's sons giving him

02:57:59.220 honorable escort with gifts at parting while he promised them his friendship the brothers made

02:58:05.400 themselves an errand into naumdal and went round about as to cross the king's path now and again

02:58:11.940 he was always received uh he always received their words well so now they just as he's still doing

02:58:19.780 his tour de force around his lands they just happen to be in the same areas as him and um

02:58:28.140 you know just re-emphasizing again and laying it on um thick if you will so chapter 13 uh thorkils

02:58:39.420 goes to the king. There was a man named Thorgels Yeller, a housecarl of Thorolf,

02:58:47.900 honored above all the rest of his household. He had followed Thorolf in his roving voyages

02:58:52.760 as the foc'sle man and standard bearer, and he had been at Hapersferð in the fleet of the king

02:59:00.440 herald during that great war, and was then steering the very ship that Thorolf had used

02:59:07.100 in his rovings against the Kilvinger. Thorgils was a strong of body and right bold of heart.

02:59:15.980 The king had bestowed on him friendly gifts after the battle and promised him his friendship.

02:59:21.300 Thorgils was the manager at Torgar and bore rule there when Thorolf was not home.

02:59:27.460 Before Thorolf went away this time, he had counted over all the king's tribute

02:59:32.440 that he had brought from the fells, and he put it in Thorgil's hand, bidding him convey it to

02:59:41.420 the king. So he trusted him with all of this money to give to the king. If he himself came

02:59:46.780 not home before the king returned south. So Thorgil's made ready a large ship of burden

02:59:52.260 belonging to Thorolf, and put the tribute on board. And taking about 20 men, they sailed

02:59:58.280 southward after the king they found him in naum del but when thor gills made met the king he gave

03:00:06.360 him greeting from thorolf and said that he had come hither or that he had come thither with the

03:00:11.720 fins uh tribute that was sent by thorolf the king looked at him but answered never a word and all

03:00:19.240 saw that he was angry thor gills then went away thinking to find a better time to speak to the

03:00:26.520 the king, he sought Alverdnuf, who was also at that battle and one of the king's guard,

03:00:35.880 and told him all that had passed and asked him if he knew what was going on, what was the matter.

03:00:41.580 That I do, he said, but this I've marked that since we were at Leka, the king is silent every

03:00:48.680 time Thorolf is mentioned. And I suspected that he has been slandered. This I know of Hildri the

03:00:57.040 Sons. And it's also worth noting, sorry to cut this, that remember Alver Neuf was the one that

03:01:03.220 bought time for Thorolf. He knew Kveldolf. So he's been longstanding and knows kind of

03:01:12.060 the stuff that's been going on in this area that perhaps King Harald doesn't know.

03:01:18.680 He says, this I know, Hilderitha's sons, they were long in conference with the king, and it's easy to see from their words that they are Thorolf's enemies, but I will soon be certain about this from the king himself.

03:01:31.980 So thereupon, Alvir went to the king and said,

03:02:01.980 but he went to where the ship lay thorgals at once set forth the furs before him and showed

03:02:07.500 them to the king and when the king saw that this was true that the tribute was much larger and

03:02:12.540 better his brow somewhat cleared you know furrowed brow kind of released a little bit um and thorgill

03:02:24.140 got to speak to give speech with him he brought the king some bear skins which thorolf sent him

03:02:30.940 and valuables besides which he had gotten upon the fells.

03:02:34.660 So the king brightened up and asked the tidings of the journey of Thorolf and his company.

03:02:39.940 Thorghild told him in great detail, then said to the king,

03:02:43.800 great pity is it that Thorolf should be unfaithful to me and plot my death.

03:02:49.460 Then answered many who stood by and all with one mind that this was slander.

03:02:55.080 It was slander of wicked men if such words were to be spoken.

03:02:58.580 and Thorolf was guiltless.

03:03:01.860 The king said he would prefer to believe this.

03:03:05.120 Then was the king cheerful in all his talk with Thorgils

03:03:08.020 and they parted as friends.

03:03:10.940 But when Thorgils met Thorolf,

03:03:13.240 he told him of all that had happened.

03:03:16.900 So now Thorolf is about to find out

03:03:19.560 that Harold entertained the idea

03:03:23.960 that he was seditious.

03:03:28.580 Chapter 14, Thorolf again in Finnmark.

03:03:33.400 That winter Thorolf went again to Finnmark, taking with him about a hundred men.

03:03:39.040 As before, he held a fair with the Finns and traveled far and wide over Finnmark.

03:03:43.380 But when he reached the far east and his coming was heard of, then came to him some Kvenns from Kvenland,

03:03:53.440 saying that they were sent by Faravid king of Kvenland

03:03:58.100 because the Kyriels were harrying his land. 0.68

03:04:03.160 And his message was thus to Thorolf 0.97

03:04:05.540 that he should go thither and bear him help against these

03:04:09.560 and further that Thorolf should have a share

03:04:12.440 of the booty and bounty equal to that of the king's share

03:04:16.080 and each of his men as much as two Kvens.

03:04:19.840 with the kvens the law was that the king should have one third as compared with his men when the

03:04:28.460 booty was shared and beyond that as reserved for him all bare skins and all sable coats

03:04:35.660 thorough put his proposal before his men giving them choice to go or not and the more part shows

03:04:43.480 that this would be a venture to do it and the prize was too great to pass up 0.98

03:04:48.140 this was decided that they should go eastward with these messengers so the kven uh men

03:04:56.780 um kind of ask thoralf for help and he decides to go and help another king deal with these

03:05:05.120 raiders um again to bring much uh bounty to himself and to his king

03:05:11.680 uh finmark is a wide tract it is bound westwards by the sea whereof the large firths run in

03:05:21.600 by the sea also northwards and round to the east but southwards lies norway and finmark stretches

03:05:28.980 along nearly all the inland region to the south as also does halogaland outside but eastward from

03:05:37.340 Nounland is Jantaland, then Helsingjaland, and Kvendland, then Finland, then Kyrialand,

03:05:49.260 Kyrialand. Along all these lands to the north lies Finnmark. And there are wide inhabited fell

03:05:58.620 districts, some in dales, some by lakes. The lakes of Finnmark are wonderfully large,

03:06:04.460 and by the lakes there is extensive forests but high fells lie behind from end end of the mark

03:06:12.140 and this ridge is called keels but when thoralf came to penland and met king faravid

03:06:22.620 uh yeah faraviv yeah far and wide or uh travel travel wide um they made them ready for their

03:06:33.660 march being 300 of the king's men and 400 norsemen and they went by the upper way over finmark and

03:06:42.380 came there to carialis where on the fell the same who had before harried the kvens these when they

03:06:51.340 were aware of the enemy gathered themselves and advanced to meet victory therefore but on the

03:06:58.140 battle being joined the norsemen charged furiously forward bearing their shields stronger than the

03:07:04.620 kvens the slaughter turned to be in the carials ranks many fell some fled king faravid and thorolf

03:07:13.740 took their immense wealth and spoils and returned to fenland whence thorolf and his men came to

03:07:19.740 finmark and he and ferraviv parted with great friendship so it was successful thorolf um is

03:07:28.140 again just abounding with luck um and you know goes on this venture that could have been voted out

03:07:35.900 uh because again you know there's chances of death but it was too great and everyone

03:07:41.900 you know kind of walked away with it being um for the better so we're off came down from the fell

03:07:51.580 of vefsner then went first to his farm in sandness and he stayed there a while and in the spring

03:07:59.260 went with his men north to torgar when he came there it was told to him how hilderitha's sons

03:08:07.900 had been that winter at Thronheim with the king, and that they would not spare to slander Thorolf

03:08:14.480 with the king, and it was much questioned what grounds he had for their slander. Thorolf answered

03:08:22.300 thus, the king will not believe this. Though such lies be laid before him, there are no grounds for

03:08:30.160 my turning a traitor against him, when he has done so much good and no evil towards me, and so far

03:08:37.880 for wishing to do to him harm even though i if i had the choice i would much rather be a baron of

03:08:46.520 his than be called a king when when some other follow fellow countrymen might arise and make me

03:08:54.600 his thrall so yeah for office just saying there's no way the king would believe this and i have no

03:09:01.400 desire to go against him, even though others would speak so ill of me and try to make me

03:09:10.200 a servant of the king, he doesn't think the king would entertain it.

03:09:16.660 So this is kind of a, I don't know, worthwhile thing to point out here at this point.

03:09:25.220 when I said like there's not you have to digest real history different than like

03:09:37.420 story or works of fiction these are real people living in times where treachery is

03:09:46.280 super common and you don't know who to trust and who to believe and people

03:09:57.260 often are finding themselves in these really perilous situations where you're

03:10:01.520 going to some guy's farm who's nominally one of your men but maybe a couple of

03:10:09.560 years ago he wasn't at all and you're gonna feast in his hall and be in a

03:10:15.620 situation where things can happen to you and it's hard and it's part of the tragedy of reality is

03:10:27.380 you know who do you believe because you have people that are worthwhile and from the area

03:10:34.540 telling you one thing you've got different people telling you something different and there's not a

03:10:38.920 lot of empirical data to go one way or another so the struggle here I mean for everyone but

03:10:46.060 specifically for um King Harold is like well shoot who do I trust I'm hearing all this this guy stood

03:10:56.140 by me in battle and he's been awesome and he's getting like better tribute than I've ever gotten

03:11:01.720 before from the realms he's in charge of collecting tribute from but I got this guy over here who's

03:11:08.860 telling me you know a whole different story and that he's just waiting for a time to catch me

03:11:14.220 slipping and it's just uh it's in any time in any place men of power and men of you know in political

03:11:24.460 games have this kind of thing of you know who do you trust who don't you and it's interesting and

03:11:32.700 it's all the more so when you remove it from story and you consider like no this is a real

03:11:39.020 guy sitting on a throne that's made out of wood with the texture and the whatever of reality

03:11:46.860 contemplating this guy is really awesome he's one of my best guys

03:11:54.860 he's so awesome it'd be real easy for him to just off me and then take my spot

03:12:02.700 or he's my very best guy that stood by me and it's really it's this the stakes are so very very high

03:12:14.520 and in a play and so all of this when we go back to reading the eddas and other pieces of lore

03:12:25.280 keep this background in your mind when we read things in the have them all about how to behave

03:12:32.920 in the hall and behave in places where you don't know who you're dealing with this is the world

03:12:38.980 that that's written for and you're in a place where there's very few people we are so far

03:12:46.180 removed from consequence in the world that we live in most of us to where oh but somebody will

03:12:53.220 call the cops or there's somebody else who's going to deal with it.

03:12:56.880 You don't have that here.

03:12:58.720 You're surrounded by guys with swords and axes.

03:13:04.520 One minute they're your best friends, the next minute they may not be.

03:13:10.040 And you never know who's doing what because you just took the throne

03:13:13.900 after burning a guy in his hall with a whole bunch of his followers.

03:13:19.000 Like, you know about treachery because you've been treacherous.

03:13:23.220 It's really thinking about these people as three-dimensional, I mean, shoot, as four-dimensional beings and putting yourself as best you can in their shoes on this adds a layer of understanding that's really different when you read it like a story.

03:13:53.220 that's fictional it's you know i mentioned earlier about game of thrones yeah but

03:14:00.000 george martin can write whatever he wants these are real people coping with all of those things

03:14:08.740 minus the dragons um and that's one of the things that's so interesting and so just special and

03:14:17.640 awesome about these sagas they would be amazing if this in particular this saga would be amazing

03:14:26.200 if it was a work of fiction it would be fantastic the fact that these were real men and women like

03:14:34.360 yourself or like someone that you know makes it all the more just kind of amazing and in the

03:14:43.400 literal sense awesome to sit back and to kind of just comprehend the journeys these guys are going

03:14:49.240 on i don't know if anybody else is following along looking at the map this is really rough country

03:14:56.040 that we're talking about one of the reasons that they have to go on these viking raids all the time

03:15:02.360 this it's not fertile you're collecting tribute in bear skins seal hide and eggs

03:15:14.520 like this isn't fertile farmland you're not collecting tribute in gold or

03:15:20.840 other goods that you're used to in in an easier place this is cold rough rocky country and you're

03:15:28.760 You're having to go out and raid the people that have farms and vineyards and nice stuff.

03:15:35.660 This is a very hard time, and it gives rise to some very hard men.

03:15:41.040 And these are men like you and I.

03:15:42.840 These aren't fictional characters in some distant, you know, made-up place.

03:15:49.360 These are men and women who feel pain the way you and I do, who feel betrayal the way that you and I do,

03:15:56.340 who feel love and lust and anger and rage and desperation and feel these things the same way

03:16:06.740 that you and i process them so please always try to reinforce and keep that in mind because it's

03:16:12.740 important well and i think also too it's it's worth remembering that not only do hillary their

03:16:22.500 sons they thorolf has like two estates and they want claim on one of them so thorolf still has

03:16:32.100 another but yeah the ultimate tragedy of this is just that harold is bereft with with suspicion

03:16:45.700 and it kind of again the the grand tragedy of it all is heavy in the head that where's the crown

03:16:52.900 that's the thing gotta always wonder who's you know is that hand gonna be giving you

03:16:59.780 you know a hug or a slap does he got a knife or does he have you know a gift for you um

03:17:08.820 uh hamilowitz awesome to see you tonight glad you made it here sorry you had a rough day

03:17:13.940 the stream is still going this is one of those you kind of got these as they got a little bit less

03:17:20.580 i think svawn and i i know we had north of eight i don't remember what our record was

03:17:28.340 i'm not trying to set a record tonight i'm tired i'm hungry

03:17:38.180 don't try to push this one longer than it needs to be but i do love being here with you guys

03:17:42.740 but no you caught in midstream we are on chapter about start chapter 15 and we're going to cover

03:17:49.780 23 of them this evening so uh welcome we're glad that we have it was typically about seven

03:17:56.740 and a half hours was the record seven oh 7.5 all right so we're only about three and a quarter in

03:18:06.580 right now um but yeah we're this a lot but it's such a cool story and it's such a boon to have uh

03:18:23.940 one of my side projects here hold up

03:18:26.420 no it's a thing uh spawner in goose uh goose right me with us here this evening to uh

03:18:39.220 break this down for us and uh impart his uh special rotten shark wisdom on us

03:18:47.060 yeah i have trouble finding an actual etymology but it translates out to pious

03:18:54.660 all the time i just can't find the roots of how it does huh but it do um suddenly got a name

03:19:03.300 indeed and it's it's well deserved um and it came about in kind of a cool way so

03:19:12.520 yeah just kind of breaking for an intermission on that for a second i just want us to always

03:19:21.980 and as a mental exercise and i say this i even hear it as i say it sounding condescending

03:19:31.740 it's not it's stuff that i do myself so often when i say some of these things out loud

03:19:38.620 it's me reminding myself or it's me sharing something that i've had to work at myself

03:19:44.540 to internalize and to to do and that's why it stands out to me so much

03:19:51.260 When going through this and looking at our heroes, you know, and the people that populate the world they lived in, making them three-dimensional real people that they were and are is really important.

03:20:17.060 it so i love history and i think a lot of our audience does

03:20:24.260 but i don't like reading history i like reading history through biography

03:20:31.460 and it's hard the further you go back you get less of that so i mean i will take what i can get

03:20:38.500 but i would prefer any history as told through biography as opposed to as told through history

03:20:44.660 reading biographies is very much like reading the sagas you're reading the actual stories of

03:20:51.080 people and you're seeing the history that they were involved in through their eyes and through

03:20:58.180 their perspective and it's such a visceral experience that way when you're forced to

03:21:06.100 conceive of it in a three-dimensional living breathing feeling these are real people way

03:21:16.960 when somebody gets run through with a sword or a spear somebody's dad's not coming home

03:21:24.060 somebody's husband's not coming home somebody's son's not coming home somebody's friend um the

03:21:31.580 the uh issue previous with thoralf where you know his comrade in arms we went into battle with

03:21:38.920 you know bequeathed to him like you you know his his wife not only his fortune but like his wife

03:21:46.480 and the rearing of his children that's such a real thing and a poignant thing and i think we

03:21:54.620 Too often, if we're used to, unless we take the time and make the extra effort, we don't flesh these people out as the real, living, breathing people that they were and the lives that they had.

03:22:09.780 and we owe them that they look on from beyond the veil and we owe them fully conceiving of them

03:22:18.460 as people with the same compassion or the same vitriol we have when we hear their stories and

03:22:27.560 we hear of their deeds so fleshing that out is really important and if you can do that

03:22:32.760 But through the histories and through the sagas, it better prepares you to do that when you're conceiving of our gods and of things from our myth cycle that all too often we look at as concepts and in this detached way.

03:22:53.560 If you can put flesh on the bones of these heroes, then you can add depth of personality and a feeling to the Aesir, and I think that's where we ultimately want to go with this, for what is what.

03:23:11.100 This beer is strong, but no, I appreciate you reading stuff, I think it's, we're over

03:23:36.000 halfway and we have so we're over an eighth of the way through the saga and agil hasn't been born yet

03:23:45.120 background and the concept the context is everything and the context is what's beautiful

03:23:53.480 about lots of things beautiful about these sagas but the context in this one it's so

03:24:00.200 deep. It's such a immersive, um, tale. And it's one of the things that I'm extra excited because

03:24:10.180 it's kind of one of those first things that immersed me in this when I came home to House of

03:24:19.860 true um there was a lot going on at the time and i didn't have the context to process the eddas

03:24:31.140 in a way that was as meaningful as it should be but i did have a way to process the sagas

03:24:38.800 and that was my first step into this the very first saga i ever read was the saga of uh

03:24:48.620 retier the strong literally just on the name because i had nothing else to go by i'm like

03:24:57.420 let's look at sagas cool i'll go with that one that one is cool and we'll go over it at some

03:25:02.300 time and it's got draugr in it and it's fanciful it's not the best one but it's neat and we'll

03:25:09.420 definitely go through it at some point that was my first one but very quickly after that i bought

03:25:16.300 behind scrangla and i bought the sagas of the icelanders in that same thick

03:25:25.500 whoop somebody over the head with it if they do you wrong volume that swan has the same thing

03:25:31.500 it's cool because it's textured like the pages are rough on the outside when you throw thumb through

03:25:37.900 them it's it's gritty you can't really tell that looks super smooth it's not three-dimensionally

03:25:44.860 they're rough you will tell there you go looks crunchy there um

03:25:52.380 no but it's neat and this kind of takes me back to you know oh one when i think i was reading it

03:25:57.820 for the first time so yeah i i just love telling stories i've never told a saga before so this is

03:26:08.060 really cool like it gets me a chance to kind of see it from a whole nother perspective well i'm

03:26:13.820 glad you enjoy doing it because it is a special treat for all the rest of us so thank you

03:26:22.140 yeah this is this is awesome and i again i i don't remember i remember more the latter because

03:26:27.580 again the saga ends with ale i don't remember all of this in in great detail i kind of get it

03:26:35.660 but i was like all right we're moving to to ale and now this name

03:26:42.140 okay so don't try to hack me but up to this point my steam account name was uh

03:26:54.060 quoldo uh bjarfi's song uh after ale's grandfather because i thought at the time

03:27:02.940 when i created my steam account as a young man who got into this it was just super cool because

03:27:08.860 you know the idea of you know evening wolf was was just kind of a cool cool deal so i mean

03:27:18.700 my appreciation of the saga goes to the way back so uh it's been really but again

03:27:24.780 spawn and i've been doing this for you know whatever i've been doing this for

03:27:30.540 24 years now spawn's been doing it for you know at a decade longer than that maybe um

03:27:38.860 we've been doing this for a long time and a lot of this material we've covered and then once you

03:27:45.120 read it all the way through you reference it here and there you look for a thing um you may read a

03:27:51.200 portion but you don't go back through the same way that we're doing it when you're presenting

03:27:56.960 it to someone else when you're reading it to someone else and this is really a treat to get

03:28:01.620 to do so uh yeah i i'm thoroughly enjoying the experience i'm glad that you're enjoying going

03:28:10.100 back through it and i hope that you guys in the audience are um and i get not bombarding us with

03:28:16.860 questions because again we just want to listen to swan tell us a story uh right now we just want

03:28:22.080 matt to shut up so i'll get back to the story but realistically if you have questions that come up

03:28:27.240 And I think this is a good intermission time.

03:28:30.100 If you have questions that come up, victory never, VNS at runestone.org is where you can submit your questions anytime you want.

03:28:41.620 And we'll answer them later.

03:28:43.380 If you're going back and you're listening to this as a podcast, or if you're watching it after the fact, do remember those questions.

03:28:54.060 send them in or if you want just remember them and ask the next time you're here

03:28:59.420 as they come up we're very happy to address those when they do but i think all of us are

03:29:05.340 just kind of enjoying going through the story so it's fine if you will can you take us into chapter

03:29:11.740 15. yes chapter 15 king henry in eastland school i said femtown in eastland scoop yeah yeah actually

03:29:23.420 and there's i was reading some of the stuff in here there's mentions of of uh the numbers as

03:29:29.340 well and i was like oh yeah i saw it and i was like we nerd if if i'm doing cringy like nerd out

03:29:35.660 like inner position of icelandic stuff something we're working on really hard personal struggle of

03:29:42.620 mine i'm going through with it this time i've tried about five times since i came home to

03:29:47.100 to us are true, but we got a solid plan. But learning the language is really important.

03:29:52.920 And I've learned that even more so as we've gone through pieces of lore in this program.

03:29:58.000 Little differences in translation can really give you a different perspective or a different

03:30:05.920 angle on certain things. And so I've been finding that really beneficial, but that's

03:30:09.900 something that we're all working on. I'm not currently a paid advertiser for the Pimpsler

03:30:16.980 method but i strongly endorse it and appreciate it i'm on lesson 13 of ice the icelandic course

03:30:24.340 and it's awesome i've made more progress than i've ever made not saying i'm good at it but

03:30:29.860 i'm saying i'm a lot better at it than i was a couple of weeks ago and it's pretty exciting so

03:30:35.220 i would recommend that if anybody would like to learn icelandic or get closer to uh learning old

03:30:43.620 wars and these translations here are really cool to see um this is one of the first times in which

03:30:51.060 you know and i'm i'm like kind of piecing through them and seeing like when they say like you know

03:30:56.820 we'll bring you more wealth you know it says here like that we'll like my brother and i to your hand

03:31:04.100 will bring more wealth when we travel there so they do leave out some stuff but it's kind of

03:31:09.620 cool because it's not that far off they're just leaving out i think details that are already

03:31:15.860 established well i was mentioning earlier my translation like your translation was saying

03:31:21.220 so and so the courageous and mine said so and so the wicked but it's kind of halfway in between it

03:31:27.540 means like the the like aggressive beast yes it means without fear but it also means like a bestial

03:31:38.660 like ravenous kind of way as well unwilling kind of halfway between the two it's an interesting

03:31:46.100 kind of middle ground but um and again i wasn't this guy when i started out i wasn't this guy when

03:31:53.540 i came home down so true but it really doing this for the time that i have engaging with the gift

03:32:01.220 cycle with the icr in the way that i have over the time that i have i really come to learn and come

03:32:07.220 to appreciate how much trying to um internalize the linguistics adds to our appreciation our

03:32:18.740 understanding of the sources that we have so for what it's worth i would encourage that happening

03:32:28.020 well and to bring us back round thorolf is contesting against or well no he's finding

03:32:35.460 out that he's being slandered by these two brothers that feel that they are owed one of

03:32:42.020 the estates that thorolf won through his friend bard who gave it to him upon his deathbed so

03:32:49.140 and and the king is kind of in the middle of this and you know which way is the king going to go is

03:32:55.700 he going to have thorolf you know uh oft or and the brothers have kind of said they don't want

03:33:02.040 I'm killed. They just, they think that they, you know, you should bring Thorolf into your court

03:33:06.840 and have him with you, um, so that you can watch him. And this in effect would remove him

03:33:14.280 from that estate so that, and you know, then they're just happened to be conveniently ready to,

03:33:20.120 to take it all over. So from, from, from the outside, it's just so blatant, but you know,

03:33:27.560 I could kind of, like you said, you're internalizing these thoughts and thinking, you know,

03:33:32.580 but I mean, it's like, who are these guys? Like, why is Harald paying them any, any heat at all?

03:33:37.120 But, um, and their treachery goes even worse here. So Hildri the Sons had been that winter

03:33:47.900 with King Harald and in their company, 12 men of their own household and neighbors.

03:33:52.820 The brothers were often talking with the king, and they still spoke in the same way of Thorulf.

03:34:00.760 Herak asked, Didst thou like well, O king, the Finn's tribute that Thorulf got thee?

03:34:07.160 I did, said the king.

03:34:09.460 Then thou wouldst be very surprised if thou hadst received all that belonged to thee.

03:34:15.520 But it was far from being so.

03:34:18.440 Thorulf kept for himself the larger share.

03:34:20.960 he sent three bearskins but i know for certain that he kept back 30 that were by right thine

03:34:30.900 and i guess it was the same with other things this will prove true o king that if thou put

03:34:37.880 the stewardship into the hand of myself and my brother we will bring you more wealth

03:34:45.760 and all that they said about Thorolf their comrades bore witness wherefore the king

03:34:53.340 was exceedingly angry sorry I'm trying to read past something the camera's in the way

03:35:00.960 um in chapter 16 Thorolf and the king so in the summer Thorolf went south to King Harald at

03:35:12.200 Thronheim, taking with him all tribute and much wealth besides, and 90 men well arrayed. When he

03:35:20.560 came to the king, he and his were placed in the guest hall and entertained magnificently.

03:35:29.520 On the morrow, Alverhnuf, remember this is again the guardsman who's been at the right hand of the

03:35:36.720 king but also knows thorolf uh knew his father um and has kind of been running interference for

03:35:43.200 for them um as harold came into rise so alvar now is he's older and he's he's a statesman and um

03:35:52.880 and he's kind of thorolf's man if you will like on the inside of things

03:35:57.920 Alvnir Hnuf went to his kinsman Thorolf and they talked. Alvar said Thorolf was much slandered and

03:36:08.320 the king gave ear to such tales. Thorolf asked Alvar to plead his cause with the king. For said

03:36:16.920 he, I shall be short-spoken before the king if he choose rather to believe the lies of wicked men

03:36:22.920 than the truth and honesty which he will find in me.

03:36:28.060 The next day, Oliver came to see Thorolf and told him

03:36:31.880 he had spoken his business to the king,

03:36:34.420 but he said, I know no more than before what is it of his mind.

03:36:42.480 Then I must myself go to him, said Thorolf.

03:36:45.720 And he did so.

03:36:47.160 He went to the king where he sat at meat.

03:36:49.620 and it's worth noting too the usage of sitting at meat um meat wasn't again utilized as a word for

03:36:58.060 the substance of of flesh but it was instead the meal itself so he sat to meal and when he came

03:37:06.580 he greeted the king the king accepted his greeting and bade him bade that they serve him a drink

03:37:12.380 Thorolf said that he had there the tribute belonging to the king from Finnmark and yet

03:37:18.340 further portion of booty have i brought you as a present oh king and what i will what i bring

03:37:25.460 uh what what i bring will i know oh all it's worth to this that is given out of gratitude to thee

03:37:34.080 so he's saying i'm bringing already what i'm supposed to tribute to you but i got more

03:37:38.980 because of my uh my uh defeating of these raiders that were messing around with another king far

03:37:47.840 to the east and i i'm giving it to you out of gratitude the king said that he would accept not

03:37:55.600 but good from thorolf because said he i deserve not less or not else yet men tell me two tales of

03:38:03.280 thee as to thy being careful to win my approval so now he's saying you know i i accept it but

03:38:11.600 the reasonings behind it i'm told that you're trying to butter me up because

03:38:15.280 the other stuff I'm hearing. And Thoreau says, I am herein not justly charged. If any say that

03:38:25.520 I have shown disloyalty to thee, this I think with, and with truth, that they who speak such

03:38:31.740 lying slanders of me will prove to be in no wise thy friends. But it is quite clear that they are

03:38:40.000 my bitter enemies tis likely however that they will pay dearly for it is we for it if we come

03:38:48.640 to deal together so he's saying if we can make if we can put this to rest and we can join my troth

03:38:57.760 to you is still and you are you i've stood with you if you believe me they will be in trouble

03:39:03.840 the enemies, obviously, these two brothers, if you will. And then Thorolf went away.

03:39:13.860 But on the morrow, Thorolf counted out the tribute in the king's presence, and when it was all paid,

03:39:19.560 he then brought out some many bearskins and sables, which he begged the king to accept.

03:39:26.200 Many of the bystanders said that this was well done and deserved of friendship. The king said

03:39:31.440 that Thorolf had himself taken his own reward. Thorolf said that he had loyally done all he could

03:39:38.400 to please the king. But if the king likes it not, said he, I cannot help it. The king knows when I

03:39:45.460 was with him and his train, or at the battle, the group, how I bore myself. It is wonderful to me if

03:39:53.700 the king thinks me other now than he proved me to be then the king answered thou didst bear

03:40:02.800 thyself well thorolf when thou wert with us and this i think is best to do still

03:40:08.760 that you should join my guard and bear my banner and be captain over my guard then will no man

03:40:17.160 slander thee if i can oversee night and day what thou what thou conduct is so now you start to see

03:40:25.160 the king is transferring this he's gonna do what was kind of told to him by these two brother

03:40:32.120 nobodies and um at the same time i mean it's an insult but it's not aggressively an insult towards

03:40:41.800 Thorolf, because again, he's being accepted into the guard, but it's all kind of falling into place

03:40:49.540 where ultimately the king is kind of being led. Thorolf looked on either hand where stood his

03:41:01.520 housecarls, then said he, Loth were I to deliver up these, my followers, about thy titles and grants

03:41:09.480 to me, O king, thou wilt have thine own way, but my following I will not deliver up while I

03:41:16.980 means last. Though I manage at my own sole cost, my request and wish, O king, is this,

03:41:24.740 that thou come and visit me at my home and hear word of my men, whomst thou is truest,

03:41:31.000 what witness they bear to me in this matter. Thereafter, do as thou find proof to warrant.

03:41:37.880 So what he's saying is, at this point, I don't want to be leaving of these estates that I have, but I ask you to come and listen to the men that follow me and, you know, ask them questions, like, basically, you know, inquisit them as to if these slanders are true. 0.93

03:42:03.100 and you'll find that they're they're not but if you come and listen um and bear witness to them 0.88

03:42:07.740 but if you decide to do whatever you want to do i will follow along with it um

03:42:14.620 the king answered and said that he would not again accept entertainment from thorolf

03:42:20.380 so thorolf went out and made ready to return home but when he was gone the king put into the hands

03:42:28.220 hildrida's sons his business in halogaland which thorolf had before had and also the finmark

03:42:37.100 journey for tribute in finland the king claimed ownership of the estate at torgor and of all the

03:42:43.580 property that brynyolf had had and all this he gave into the keeping of hildrida's sons

03:42:50.060 the king sent messengers with tokens to thorolf to tell him of this arrangement whereupon thorolf

03:42:57.180 took the ships belonging to him and put on board all the chattels he could carry and with all his

03:43:03.080 men both freedmen and thralls and sailed northward to his farm in sandness so the king tells him

03:43:09.800 you're off your land um and so he goes to his his original estate um so he abides by the rules

03:43:18.000 of the lord uh his king um but again you know where does this go and how deep does this

03:43:27.180 create this fissure uh when he kept up no fewer and no less than the state before so he takes

03:43:34.040 everything that he could and he leaves the land and goes back to his original place um

03:43:39.980 In Hildre the Sons, chapter 17, Hildre the Sons are now doing the Finnmark tribute, and they also go to Herald's court, chapter 17.

03:43:54.540 Hildre the Sons took the business in Halogaland, and none gainsaid this because of the king's power, but Thorolf's kinsmen and friends were much displeased at the change.

03:44:08.660 the two brothers went on the fell in the winter taking with them 30 men to finmark there seemed

03:44:16.580 much less honor in these stewards than when thorolf came and the money due was far worse paid

03:44:23.140 that same winter thorolf went up on the fell with a hundred men he passed on at once eastward to

03:44:31.600 fenland and met the king farvid that he had met before they took counsel together and resolved

03:44:38.140 to go on the fell again as in the winter before and with 400 men they made a descent into

03:44:45.740 karealand or kareal laland i always forget that second law um and attacked those districts for

03:44:53.260 which they had thought themselves a match in numbers and harrying they took much booty and

03:44:58.860 returned back to finmark as the winter wore on and in the spring thorolf went home to his farm

03:45:05.100 and then employed his men at fishing in Valgar and some in heron fishing.

03:45:13.040 And they had to take of every kind brought to his farm.

03:45:17.840 So Thorolf kind of spends his winter, you know, building that friendship with the other king in the east.

03:45:24.620 And I don't think he's doing this out of disrespect.

03:45:26.260 I think he just saw an opportunity that they could go southward and, you know,

03:45:31.100 try their will against some armies and and and make a lot of um prosperity for the both of them

03:45:38.220 um and then after that he has all of the stocks of fish and meat um filled up at his farm and and

03:45:46.780 everything's good thorolf had a large ship which was waiting to put to sea it was elaborate in

03:45:55.340 everything it was beautifully painted down to the sea line the sails were carefully striped with blue

03:46:01.900 and red and all the tackling as elaborate as the ship itself the tackling of course is the um the

03:46:11.500 the flags the roping all of the the knotwork and binding the dragon head and all of those extra

03:46:19.420 accoutrements um so thorolf had his ship made ready he put aboard some of his house carls as

03:46:29.020 crew he he freighted it with dried fish hides ermine and gray furs to in abundance and other

03:46:38.860 peltry such as that he had gotten from the fell it was the most valuable cargo this ship he bade

03:46:45.820 sail westward for england to buy him clothes and other supplies that he needed and they first

03:46:53.980 steering southward along the coast then stretching across the main came to england there they found

03:47:00.300 a good market laded the ship with wheat and honey and wine and clothes and made sail back in autumn

03:47:08.060 with a fair wind to come back to hordaland that same autumn though hildri the sons carried tribute

03:47:16.780 to the king but when they paid the king himself he or the king himself was present and he saw

03:47:23.820 and he said this is this the tribute now paid all they took from finmark it is they answered

03:47:31.580 Less by far, said the king, and much worse paid is the tribute now

03:47:36.680 than when Thorolf gathered it, yet he said that he managed the business ill.

03:47:45.120 It is well, O king, said Herrick, that thou hast considered

03:47:49.020 how large a tribute shall usually come from Finmark,

03:47:53.440 because thus now knowest how much thou losest.

03:47:56.680 If Thorolf wastes all the tribute before thee,

03:48:01.580 Last winter, we were in Finnmark with 30 men, as had been the want of thy stewards heretofore.

03:48:10.980 Soon after came Thorolf with a hundred men, and we learned this, that he meant to take the lives of us two brothers and all of our followers,

03:48:20.320 his reasons being that thou, O king, handest thou over the land of business that he wished to have.

03:48:27.180 it was then that our best choice to shun the meeting hit a meeting of him and save ourselves

03:48:33.120 therefore we quickly left the settled districts and went on so now what they're basically trying

03:48:39.600 to say is Thorolf scared them off that Thorolf is a threat to the king and um that's the only

03:48:49.360 that's why they came back with such small amounts is that uh in essence Thorolf is threatening them

03:48:55.400 but he's also cutting in on the bounty of the king. Just absolute scum. But Thorulf went all 1.00

03:49:08.280 around Finnmark with his armed warriors. He had all the trade, and the Fids paid him tribute.

03:49:16.300 And he hindered thy stewards from entering Finnmark. He means to be made the king over the

03:49:22.980 north there, both over Finmark and Halogaland. And the wonder is that thou wilt listen to him

03:49:31.140 in anything whatever. Herein my true evidence be found that Thorolf's ill-gotten gains from Finmark,

03:49:39.420 for the largest merchant ship in Halogaland was made ready for sea and sandness in the spring,

03:49:45.640 and all the cargo board was said to be of Thorolf's. It was laden mostly, I think, with gray furs.

03:49:52.980 But there would be found bearskins and sables, more than Thorulf brought thee.

03:49:58.380 And with that ship went Thorgils the Yeller, and I believe he sailed westward to England.

03:50:04.140 But if thou wilt know the truth of this, set spies on the track of the ship in our days has carried much store of wealth.

03:50:13.820 And I am telling thee what is true, O king, when I say that to thee belongs every penny on board that ship.

03:50:22.980 So they're saying that the reason why they got less is because Thorolf was blocking them and taking tribute for himself.

03:50:32.660 When in reality, he was farther in the east of Finland and down south, most likely in what would be like Latvia and was fighting in wars there and taking bounty and had come back and laden the ship for goods.

03:50:48.280 um but here we have herrick just saying like oh no it's all belongs to you and

03:50:55.020 and he all those things he he kept from you now he's you know getting money in in england

03:51:01.180 um and all that herrick said his companions confirmed and none there ventured to gain say

03:51:10.440 against it. So, chapter 18, Thorolf's ship is taken. There were two brothers named Sigtrik

03:51:24.700 Swiftfarer and Halvard Hardfarer, kinsmen of King Harald on the mother's side. From their father,

03:51:34.020 a wealthy man, they had inherited the estate of Hising. Four brothers there were in all,

03:51:41.960 but Thord and Thorgir, the two younger, were still at home and managed the estate.

03:51:50.020 Sigtrig and Halvard carried all the king's messages both within and without the land

03:51:55.140 and had gone on many dangerous journeys, both for putting men out of the way and confiscating

03:52:00.900 goods of those whose homes the king ordered to be attacked they kept about them a large following

03:52:07.860 they were not generally in favor but the king prized them highly none could match them at

03:52:14.180 traveling either on foot or on snowshoe and in voyaging also they were speedier than others

03:52:21.300 valiant men they were and very wary so these are some some hard dudes in harold's family um

03:52:29.140 and used to kind of do his bidding, extending his reach beyond the land.

03:52:38.060 These two men were with the king when those things happened, and that have just been told to them,

03:52:45.740 in the autumn the king went to the banquet in Hordaland, and one day he summoned to him the brothers Halvard and Citrig,

03:52:52.460 And when they came, he bade them go with their following and spy after the ship in which Thorgil, the housecarl of Thorolf, had taken westward to England.

03:53:05.020 Bring me, said he, the ship and all that is in it.

03:53:09.580 Accept the men, let them go their way in peace, if they do not try to defend the ship.

03:53:14.660 The brothers made them ready for this, and taking each one of his longships, went to seek Thorgil's, and learnt that he had come from the west, and sailed northward along the coast.

03:53:27.580 Northwards after him went they, and found him in Firsoud.

03:53:32.080 They knew the ship at once, and laid one of their ships on the seaward side of her, while the other of them landed, and then went out on the ship by the gangways.

03:53:43.200 thorgill's crew apprehending no danger made no defense they found out nothing till many of the

03:53:51.260 armed men were aboard and so there they were all seized and afterwards put on shore weaponless

03:53:57.360 with nothing but the clothes that they wore but halver's men drew out gangways loosened cables

03:54:03.960 and towed the ship and then turned them about and sailed southwards along the coast till they met

03:54:10.480 the king to whom they brought the ship and all that was in it and when the cargo was unloaded

03:54:16.080 the king saw it was great with wealth and what herrick had said was no lie but thor gills and

03:54:24.560 his comrades on conveyance and went to kveldolf and his son so now thor gills is left there on

03:54:32.240 the shore he makes his way back um to kveldof and his son and told of the misadventure of their

03:54:41.600 voyage yet where they were they were well received kveldof said all was tending to

03:54:49.600 what had been foreboded so now kveldof is older and grim is running his lands

03:54:56.480 and he says i knew it my son is getting um

03:55:02.240 what, what Harold, you know, what he knew Harold would do is turn on him.

03:55:11.320 And that he would not have good luck in friendship with Harold.

03:55:16.880 And I care little, said he, for Thorolf's money's loss in this, if worse, does not come after.

03:55:24.920 But I misdoubt as before that Thorolf will not rightly rate his own means against the stronger

03:55:30.380 power with which he has to deal and he bade thor gills say this to thorolf my counsel is that you

03:55:39.820 go away out of the land for maybe you will do better for yourself if you serve under the kings

03:55:46.540 in maybe england or denmark or of sweden then he gave thor gills a rowing cutter and some tackling

03:55:53.660 to complete a tent also and provisions and all things needful for their journey they departed

03:56:00.420 and stayed not their journey till they came to Thorolf and they told him of all that had happened

03:56:06.480 and passed this message Thorolf took his loss cheerfully and said that he should not be short

03:56:14.600 of money it is good said he to be in partnership with the king he then bought meal and all that

03:56:22.400 he needed for the maintenance of his people, his housecarls must for a while, he said, be less

03:56:29.300 bravely attired than he had purposed. Some lands he sold, some he mortgaged off, but he kept all

03:56:37.980 expenses as before. He had no fewer men with him than last winter, nay, rather more, and as to the

03:56:46.540 feasts and friends entertained at his house, he had more means for all than before. He stayed at

03:56:52.240 home all winter. So despite all of this, he's not upset at the king, and he still entertains

03:57:01.840 all his guests despite the loss. Chapter 19, Thorolf Retaliates.

03:57:09.780 when spring came and the snow and the ice were loosened thorolf launched a large warship of his

03:57:16.900 own and he had it made ready and equipped his house carls taking with him more than a hundred

03:57:22.500 men and a goodly company there were and well weapons and when a fair wind blew thorolf steered

03:57:29.220 southward along the coast till he came to bearda then they held an outer course outside the islands

03:57:40.340 but at times though channels between hill slopes thus they coasted on southward and had no tidings

03:57:47.780 of men till they came eastward to vic there they heard that king harold was in vic meaning in the

03:57:56.020 summer to go to upland the people of the country knew nothing of thorold's voyage with a fair wind

03:58:02.900 he held south to denmark and thence into the baltic where he harried through the summer

03:58:09.780 but got no good booty.

03:58:12.240 And in the autumn, he steered back from east to Denmark at the time.

03:58:17.700 So he's traveling the Baltic, and he's now heading back to Denmark.

03:58:23.240 When the fleet at Aidar was breaking up,

03:58:28.520 in the summer, there had been, as was usual, many ships from Norway.

03:58:35.240 Thorolf let all these vessels sail past and did not show himself.

03:58:39.780 one day at eventide he sailed to most most rar sound where in the haven was a large ship of

03:58:47.460 burden that had come from air the steersman was named thorir thruma he was the steward of king

03:58:55.140 harold's manager of his farm at thruma a large farm in which the king used to make long stay

03:59:02.420 when he was in Vik. Much provision was needed for his farm, and Thorir had gone to Eirar

03:59:09.300 for this, to buy cargo, malt, wheat, honey, and much wealth of the king had he for that end.

03:59:18.660 Thorolf made for the ship and offered Thorir and his crew the choice to defend themselves,

03:59:25.920 But as they had no force to make defense against such numbers, they yielded.

03:59:31.400 The ship, with all its freight, Thorolf took.

03:59:35.240 But Throrir he put out on an island.

03:59:40.600 Then he sailed northward along the coast with both ships.

03:59:45.360 And when they came to the mouth of the Elbe, they lay there and waited for night.

03:59:52.040 and when it was dark they rode their long ship up the river and stood in for the farm buildings

03:59:58.200 belonging to halvar and sigtrig so by this time now thorolf has figured out who robbed him and

04:00:08.600 stuff is a brewing it's getting getting wild uh they came there before daybreak and formed a ring

04:00:16.520 of men around the place and then they raised a war whoop and wakened those within who quickly

04:00:22.760 leapt for their weapons thorgir at once fled from his bed chamber round the farmhouse with high

04:00:30.440 wooden pallings at at these thorgir leapt grasping with his hands the stakes and so swung himself

04:00:38.360 out of the yard thorgis yeller was standing near he made a sweep with his sword at thorgir

04:00:46.520 and cut off his hand along with the fence stake.

04:00:51.360 Then Thorgir escaped to the wood,

04:00:53.900 but Thord, his brother, fell slain there,

04:00:57.720 and more than 20 men.

04:01:00.220 Thorolf's band plundered and burnt the house,

04:01:03.520 then went back down the river to the sea.

04:01:06.680 With a fair wind, they sailed north to Vik.

04:01:09.680 There again they fell in with large merchant ship

04:01:12.840 belonging to the men of Vik, laden with malt and meal.

04:01:16.520 For this ship they made, but those on board, deeming that they had no defense, yielded and were disarmed and put on shore.

04:01:25.920 And Thorolf's men took the ship and its cargo and went on their way.

04:01:30.660 Thorolf had now three ships with which he sailed westward by fold.

04:01:34.800 Then they took to the high road of the sea in Lydandisnes, going with all dispatch, but making raid and lifting cattle on nests and shore, northwards towards Lydandis.

04:01:52.900 They held a course furthermore, but pillaged wherever they touched land.

04:01:58.680 But when Thorolf came over against the Firths, he then turned his course inward and went to see

04:02:05.000 his father, Kveldolf. And there they were made welcome, and Thorolf told his father what had

04:02:10.360 happened in the summer voyage. He stayed there but for a short time, and Kveldolf and his son Grinn

04:02:15.320 accompanied him to the ship. Before they parted, Thorolf and his father talked together, and Kveldolf

04:02:21.380 said, I was not far wrong, Thorolf, in telling thee, when thou wentst to join King Harald's

04:02:28.280 guard, that neither thou nor we, thy kindred, would be in long run with good fortune therefrom.

04:02:37.380 Now thou hast taken up the very counsel against which I warned thee. Now matchest thy force

04:02:43.800 against the king against king heralds but but thou are well endowed with valor and prowess thou

04:02:51.360 hast not luck enough for this though to ply on even terms with the king a thing whereon no one

04:02:59.340 here in the land has succeeded though others have had great power and large force of men

04:03:05.660 And by foreboding is that this is our last time meeting.

04:03:12.660 So Kaldorf is of the mindset, I think, of soothsaying.

04:03:21.560 He knows how, whether he's reading the runes or he just knows of augury,

04:03:27.140 but he says that, you know, I told you this would happen,

04:03:30.940 and now you've leveled against the king um in force but men with far more have done so and

04:03:39.500 fallen and i think that this has sealed your fate after this thorolf embarked and went his way

04:03:47.980 and no tidings are told of his voyage till he arrived home at sandness and caused to be

04:03:54.940 conveyed to his farm all the booty he had taken, and his ship set up upon the land. And there was

04:04:02.580 now no lack of provisions to keep his people through the winter. Thoreau stayed on at home

04:04:08.600 with no fewer men than the winter before. So he's maintaining his men by doing this. And this is

04:04:17.320 again another sign of that leveling of how well he's doing, is that nobody's leaving his charge

04:04:23.720 and he's, you know, doing what a house owner would do.

04:04:29.740 The problem is he's now done it against the king.

04:04:36.620 Chapter 20, Skala Grimm's Marriage.

04:04:42.660 There was a man named Ingvar, powerful and wealthy.

04:04:47.140 He had been a baron of the former kings,

04:04:50.780 But after Harald came to the throne,

04:04:53.500 Ingvar sat at home and served not the king.

04:04:56.840 Ingvar was married and had a daughter named Bera.

04:05:00.200 Ingvar dwelt in the Firths.

04:05:03.400 Bera was his only child and heir.

04:05:07.220 Grim, the son, asked Bera to wife,

04:05:12.240 and the match was arranged,

04:05:13.700 and Grim took Bera in the winter following the summer

04:05:17.260 when Thorolf had parted from him and his father. So while all of that was happening, and, you know,

04:05:24.460 again, he had made these arrangements, after his brother left, he went to continue his arrangements

04:05:29.700 of wedding bera with a landowner who, like Kveldolf, was not particularly loyal to the king

04:05:39.860 um in no way or form grim was then 25 years old and was now bald

04:05:49.300 wherefore he henceforth was called scala grim he had then the management of all the farms

04:05:58.880 belonging to his father and that's another thing worth knowing he's bald so the scala part comes

04:06:04.440 in but the grim part was since he was a baby so he was probably just um you know mean mugging his

04:06:09.960 parents as a baby and they were like oh a little grim so more than so much he's not ugly as he is

04:06:18.280 just balding early first flag on the play you don't know if he was ugly or not he could have

04:06:23.480 been hideous well that's true too they could have just called him grim because he was an ugly baby

04:06:27.480 I mean, his boy and the hero of our saga is noted as not being a good looking man.

04:06:34.560 Right.

04:06:34.940 So maybe that, you know, it passed on to him.

04:06:41.420 But I mean, at the same time, that grim countenance, I know, too, just has a lot of weighted word in the idea of just being mean looking and having that face of like intensity.

04:06:53.580 But I don't know.

04:06:55.660 It could be ugly as well.

04:06:56.860 both grumpy and ugly really one the one can lead to the other right i'm bald early and

04:07:07.580 now i'm pissed off and that's why i'm always yeah no um it's a thing but it's it's interesting to

04:07:16.700 note at 25 you know again these this also makes them uh again humanizes and makes people i think

04:07:26.300 realize too, like this was an account of situations even back then. Um, and, uh, you know,

04:07:34.400 I've, I've, I've met being a barber, I've met young men who have dealt with balding issues and

04:07:39.620 things of that nature at a very young age. And it just kind of makes them a little bit more

04:07:44.480 relatable, I think too. Um, and he, uh, Grim, uh, had the management of the farms belonging to his

04:07:55.040 father and all that they produced. Though Kveldof was yet a hale and strong man, so even though he's

04:08:04.340 old, he's strong, he's still in good health, but Grimm is taking over, and they had many freed men 0.62

04:08:12.220 about them, and many men who had grown up there at home and were about Scala Grimm's equal in age,

04:08:18.520 men of prowess and strength, were mostly for both father and son chose strong fellows to be their

04:08:26.020 followers and trained them after their mind. Skalagrim was like his father in stature and

04:08:33.440 strength, as also in face and temper. So, ugly and mean, but had stout men in their charge.

04:08:48.520 Chapter 21, Halvard and his brother go to Thorulf.

04:08:59.740 King Harald was in Vik while Thorulf was harrying, and in the autumn he went to Upland, and thence northward to Thrandheim, where he stayed through the winter with a large force.

04:09:12.220 Sigtryg and Halvard were there with him.

04:09:15.540 They had heard of what happened, what Thorolf had done at their house in Hesing, what scathe he had wrought on the men and their property.

04:09:25.840 They often reminded the king of this, and withal, how Thorolf had plundered the king and his subjects, and had gone about harrying within the land.

04:09:36.140 They begged the king to leave that they two brothers might go with their usual following and attack Thorolf for these grievances.

04:09:45.100 and the king answered thus ye me think he have good cause for taking thorolf's life but i doubt

04:09:53.180 your fortune falls far short of this work so i don't think even though he attacked

04:09:58.620 and he probably deserves um you're not taken aback from this loss thorolf is more your match 0.59

04:10:07.180 brave and dotty as ye may deem yourselves so he thinks you know it's a fool's errand to try to go 0.96

04:10:13.980 and kill him because he's probably going to win against you the brothers said that this would 0.95

04:10:21.420 would be put to proof if the king would just grant them to leave and they had often run great risk 0.99

04:10:27.500 against men on whom they had less to avenge and generally they won the day and when spring came

04:10:35.100 the men made ready for to go their several ways then did halvard and his brother again urge their

04:10:43.100 their request that they might go and take thoros life so the king gave them leave

04:10:51.100 and i know he said he will bring me his head and many costly things with all when ye come back

04:10:57.900 yet some do guess that if you sail north you will you will both sail and row south

04:11:06.380 they made they made them ready with all speed taking two ships and 200 men and when they were

04:11:16.420 ready they sailed with northeast wind out to the firth but that is that is a headwind for those

04:11:24.680 coasting northward

04:11:26.280 the death of thoralf kveldofson

04:11:34.520 chapter 22 king harold was at lada when the brothers went away immediately after this the

04:11:44.040 king made him ready with all haste and embarked his force on four ships and they rode up to the

04:11:50.380 Firth, and so by Beitisi, inwards in the isthmus of Elda. There he left his ships behind and crossed

04:12:01.660 the isthmus northward to Naumdal. The king there took ships belonging to the landowners and

04:12:07.260 embarked his force on them, having with him his guard and 400 men. Six ships he had well equipped,

04:12:15.780 both with weapons and men, they encountered a fresh headwind and rode night and day, making

04:12:22.380 what progress they could. The night was then lit, light enough for travel. On the evening of a day

04:12:31.740 after sunset, they came to Sandnes and saw laying there opposite the farm, a long ship with a tent

04:12:38.780 spread out which they knew to be thorolfs he was even then purposing to sail away

04:12:48.940 and had bitten them brew the ale for their parting carousal the king ordered his men to disembark

04:12:55.740 and then his standard to be raised it was but a short way to the farm and buildings thorolf's

04:13:03.100 watchmen sate within drinking and were not but were not gone to their posts not a man was without

04:13:10.940 all sate within drinking the king had a ring of men set around the hall so basically the brothers

04:13:18.020 did not make it there so thorolf went another direction to get there as i mean uh king harold

04:13:26.280 went there in another direction um because the two brothers didn't make it so now he's going there

04:13:32.940 and Thorolf is not the wiser because all his men are partying.

04:13:45.420 So the king had a ring of men set around the hall, then they shouted a war whoop and a war

04:13:51.780 blast was blown from the king's trumpet. On hearing which, Thorolf's men sprang for their

04:13:56.900 weapons, for each man's weapon hung above the seat. The king caused some to make proclamation

04:14:03.020 at the door, bidding women and children, old men, thralls, and bondmen come out.

04:14:09.440 Then came out Sigridr, the mistress, and with her the women that were within, and the others to whom

04:14:16.540 permission was given. Sigridr asked if the sons of Kari Berdla were there. They both came forward

04:14:24.200 and asked what she would of them she said lead me to the king so the the kingsmen surround and say

04:14:33.880 that all the women and the servants can come out this is not they don't need to die and she comes

04:14:41.240 out and says she wants to speak to the king and of course all the others are coming out um

04:14:48.600 They did so, but when she came to the king, she said,

04:14:54.300 Will anything, my lord, avail to reconcile thee with Thorolf?

04:14:58.660 The king answered, If Thorolf will yield him to my mercy,

04:15:05.620 then shall he have life and limb,

04:15:08.840 but his men shall undergo punishment according to the charges against them.

04:15:12.560 Upon this, Olvervnuf went to the room and had Thorolf called to speak with him and told him the terms of the king that were offered him.

04:15:24.840 Thorolf answered that he would not take of the king compulsory terms or reconciliation.

04:15:32.200 Bid thou the king allow us to go out and then leave we things to go their own course.

04:15:39.940 the king said set fire to the room i will not waste my men by doing battle with him outside

04:15:47.220 i know that thoroff will work great uh work us great man scathe so he will he will strike many

04:15:55.980 a man from my host if he come out though he has fewer men than we so fire was set to the room

04:16:03.100 and and it soon caught because the wood was dry and the walls were tarred and the roof was thatched

04:16:09.640 with birch bark. Thorolf bade his men break up the wainscoting and get and get gable beams

04:16:17.340 and so burst through the planking and when so they're just they're busting out of the

04:16:22.660 the building in all direction um and when they got to the beams then as many men as could hold

04:16:30.500 on to it took one beam and they rammed at the corner um with the other beam as hard as clap

04:16:37.580 the clasps flew out the wall started asunder and there was a wide outlet first went out thoralf

04:16:44.460 then thorges thorgill's yeller then the rest ones after another fierce then the was the fight

04:16:53.260 nor for a while could it be seen which had the better of it for the room guarded the rear of

04:16:58.380 thoralf's force so they couldn't be flanked or surrounded and the king lost many men before the

04:17:04.780 the room began to burn. Then the fire attacked Thorulf's side and many of them fell. Now Thorulf

04:17:12.300 bounded forward and hewed on either hand. Small need to bind the wounds of those who encountered

04:17:19.840 him. He made for where the king's standard were. So now he's fighting two-handed and moving towards

04:17:25.980 King Harald. But when Thorulf reached the shield wall, he pierced with a stroke the standard

04:17:32.680 bearer crying now am i but three feet short of my aim then bore at him both sword and spear but the

04:17:42.120 king himself dealt him the death wound and he fell forward at the king's feet the king called out then

04:17:49.400 and bade them cease further slaughter and they did so after this the king bade his men to go down to

04:17:56.760 the ships to alvar nuf and his brother he said take ye thorolf's kinsmen and give them honorable

04:18:04.600 burial bury also the other men who had fallen here and see to the binding of the wounds of

04:18:12.040 those that have hope for life but let none plunder here for all this is now my property

04:18:20.840 this said the king went down to the ships and most of his force with him

04:18:25.320 and when they were come on board men began to bind their wounds and the king went round the

04:18:30.680 ship and looked at his men's wounds and when he saw a man's binding a surface wound he said thorolf

04:18:36.840 gave not that wound his wound bites were were far otherwise few he thinks bind the wounds which he

04:18:44.120 gave and great loss have we in such men as soon as the day dawned the king had his sail hoisted

04:18:53.240 and he sailed south as fast as he could as the day wore on they came upon many rowing vessels

04:18:59.720 in all the sound between the islands the forces on board them had meant to join thorolf for spies

04:19:06.760 of his had been southward as far as naumdell the far and wide about the islands they had got to

04:19:14.520 know how halvard and his brother were come from the south with a large force meaning to attack

04:19:20.360 thorolf halvard's company was constantly met with headwind and had waited about in various havens

04:19:29.640 until news of them had gone to the upper way of of overland and thorough spies had become aware

04:19:36.440 of it and this gathered forces gathered of force what was on this account so these forces were

04:19:43.720 gathering because of the two brothers but they just couldn't make it there and so already

04:19:49.720 people loyal to thorolf were or building um the king sailed before a strong wind till he came to

04:19:58.120 naumdal where he left the ships behind and went by land to throndheim where he took his own ships

04:20:04.520 that he had left there and then stood out to lada these tidings were soon heard and reached halvard

04:20:12.120 and his men where they lay they then returned to the king and their voyage was much mocked at

04:20:18.760 so because they went to go kill um thorolf and the king ended up having to go there and do it himself

04:20:26.280 these two brothers were kind of like joked for not having any luck um at doing this

04:20:33.480 um the brothers alvernuf and ivan lambi remained a while at sandness and saw to the burial of the

04:20:41.560 slain to thorov's body they gave all the customary honors paid at burial of a man of wealth and

04:20:48.200 renown and set over him a memorial stone they saw also to the healing in the wounded and they

04:20:55.000 arranged all the house to sigrid his wife all the stock remained but most of the house furniture

04:21:02.840 and table service and clothing was burnt and when this was done they went south and came to the

04:21:09.480 king harold at throndheim and were with him for a while they were sad and spoke little with others

04:21:17.800 and it was so that one day the brothers went before the king and alvar said

04:21:24.920 this permission we brothers claim of the o king that we go home to our farms for such things have

04:21:32.280 happened here that we have no heart to share drink and seat with those who drew weapons against our

04:21:39.080 kinsmen thoralf the king looked at them and answered curtly i will not grant you this

04:21:46.520 you shall be here with me and they went back to their place next day as the king

04:21:52.760 sat in the audience hall he had the brothers call to him and said now shall ye know of that

04:22:00.520 your business which ye began with me craving to go home you have been some while here with me

04:22:07.720 and have bone I've borne you and and have borne you well and always done your duty I have thought

04:22:15.880 well of you in everything how will I now will I Ivan that thou go north to Halogaland

04:22:25.880 I will give thee in marriage Sigridir of Sandris so you now will marry um Thorolf's wife her that

04:22:37.000 Thorolf had to wife, and will bestow on thee all the wealth that belonged to Thorolf.

04:22:42.400 Thou shalt also have my friendship, if thou canst keep it. But Alvar shall remain with me,

04:22:48.680 for his skill as a scald I cannot spare him. The brothers thanked the king for the honor and

04:22:55.700 granted to them, and said that they would willingly accept it. Then Ivan made him ready

04:23:02.140 for the journey and getting good suitable ship the king gave him tokens for the matter

04:23:08.540 his voyage sped well and he came north to alost and then to sandness

04:23:13.100 sigridher welcomed him and ivan then showed her the king's tokens and declared the purpose of his

04:23:18.540 errand and asked her in marriage saying that it was the king's message that he should obtain that

04:23:24.940 such a match but sig sigridir saw that her only choice as things had had gone was to let the the

04:23:33.500 king rule it so the arrangement was made and ivan married sigridir receiving with him the farm and

04:23:42.140 sadness and all the property that had once been thorals thus ivan became a wealthy man

04:23:48.780 The children of Ivan and Sigridir were Fid the Squinter, father of Ivan Skaldspoiler, and Gerlau, whom Sigvat Red had to wife.

04:24:06.200 Fid Squinter married Gunnhilde, daughter of Earl Halfden.

04:24:11.660 Her mother was Ingeborg, daughter of the king Harold the Fairhair.

04:24:17.500 Ivan Lombi kept the king's friendship so long as they both lived.

04:24:22.760 So this kind of part is speaking in note of key figures.

04:24:30.080 But, in essence, it leaves and settles much except for one last part.

04:24:45.180 Chapter 3, the slaying of Hildrida's sons.

04:24:50.080 So, finally, perhaps just deserts coming to the treacherous against Thorolf.

04:24:55.280 um there was a man named kettle kettle haying son of thorkill earl of naumdell and of

04:25:05.800 up nilda's daughter of capital haying of of frappnista he was a man of wealth and renown

04:25:13.340 he had been a fast friend of thor thoralf koldov son and was his near kinsman he had been out on

04:25:21.460 that expedition when the forces gathered at Halogaland with the intent to join Thorolf as

04:25:27.300 had been written above. But when King Harald went south, the men knew of Thorolf's slaying,

04:25:34.420 and then they called a gathering. So Ketil was coming to defend Thorolf when he found out that

04:25:42.100 the two brothers were coming to kill him. But then they found out later that the king had also come

04:25:49.800 up, killed Thorolf, so then they stopped and gathered to meet. Haying took with him 60 men

04:25:57.020 and turned to Torgar. Hildroth's sons were there. So basically, Kettle Haying is like, you know,

04:26:06.420 Thorolf's dead. The king has killed him. The brothers, you know, they didn't make it. They're

04:26:13.900 getting laughed at, but there are two other brothers that really caused all of this. And so

04:26:19.500 now he's, he's going for revenge for, for Thorolf. Um, he went up to the farm and made an attack on

04:26:28.320 them and there fell Hildreth, uh, Hildreth's sons and most of those who were there and Haying and

04:26:35.800 his company took all the wealth they could lay hands on. After that, Haying took two ships of

04:26:41.740 burden, the largest he could get, and put on board all the wealth belonging to him that he could

04:26:46.620 carry, his wife, his children, he also took, and all the men that had been with him in the late

04:26:53.240 work, and when they were ready and the wind blew fair, they sailed out to sea. A man named Bao,

04:27:01.180 Haying's foster brother, of good family and wealth, steered the second ship. A few winters before,

04:27:08.180 Ingolver, and Hjörleiv had gone to settle in Iceland. Their voyage was much talked about,

04:27:17.480 and Twas said that there was good choice of land there. So Heng sailed west over the sea to seek

04:27:24.460 Iceland. So this is, Heng knew by killing these two treacherous backbiters that King Harald wasn't 0.87

04:27:34.780 going to allow that and because he was still showed great loyalty to thorolf he decided no

04:27:42.240 i'm going to gather all of my stuff and gather this you know these uh um in torgar all the stuff

04:27:50.240 i could grab and we're making our way towards iceland um so haying sailed west and uh over the

04:28:01.000 sea to seek Iceland, and when they saw land, they were approaching it from the south. But because

04:28:05.500 the wind was boisterous, the surf ran high on the shore. There was no haven. They sailed on westwards

04:28:12.740 along the sandy coast, and when the wind finally began to abate, the surf to calm down, there before

04:28:19.660 a wide river mouth. Up this river they steered their ships and lay close to the eastern shore

04:28:26.120 thereof. That river is now called Fjords River. Its stream was then much narrower and deeper

04:28:34.040 than it is now. They unloaded their ship and then searched the land eastward of the river,

04:28:40.640 bringing their cattle after them. Hanging remained for the first winter on the eastern bank of the

04:28:46.080 outer Rang River. But in the spring he searched land eastward and then took land between Fjords

04:28:53.260 river and mark fleet from fell to Firth and made his home at Hovi by this by

04:29:01.200 East Rang River. Ingyun, his wife, bear a son in the spring and after their first

04:29:10.600 winter and the boy was named Hrapn, which means raven. And though the house

04:29:16.760 there was pulled down, the place continued to be called Hraptoft.

04:29:23.260 uh hanging then gave bow land in fleet live down from mark river to the river outside of

04:29:32.620 braida bolstet and he dwelt there in leave end to his shipmates hein gave land or sold it for a

04:29:41.580 small price and their their first settlers are called were called land takers hanging had sons

04:29:50.540 He had Stor Ulf, Her Ulf, Helgi, and Vestar.

04:29:57.660 They all had land.

04:29:59.760 Hrapna was Haying's fifth son, and he was the first lawman in Iceland.

04:30:05.620 He dwelt at Hófi after his father and was most renowned of Haying's son.

04:30:11.540 So it's of belief that of the Ketelheying, that in the names of his sons, specifically Storolf and Herjolf, that this family in particular were descendants of the Heralds.

04:30:32.740 And that is why there is a theory that the heralds were, in essence, the first to start to settle Iceland.

04:30:42.940 And it was through Ketilhae and his sons.

04:30:50.900 But now comes Kveldos grief in chapter 24.

04:30:56.820 Negative. No, it does not. That comes a week from today.

04:31:00.060 oh oh oh sorry yeah it was 23 i'm sorry i thought it was 25. no it's all good um but yeah that's a

04:31:07.180 great place to stop too it really is fortuitous i just took 92 chapters and divided it by four

04:31:14.620 but here that was not planned out but that works out as a really good stopping point for this

04:31:19.340 evening about four and a half hours it's a good one of our earlier shows a little bit long for our

04:31:25.660 current uh current run but i think it's a really good stopping point and i hope you guys

04:31:34.780 are enjoying it and i think it's also worth noting we're one quarter in

04:31:41.980 ain't no a yo scala grimson yes so um so much of it is building the backstory in the context

04:31:50.140 um it's always called you know this is found in sagas of the Icelanders but we

04:31:58.060 are just now getting our first reference to Iceland

04:32:07.180 yeah so I'm very excited I'm thoroughly enjoying this I'm looking forward to next week

04:32:13.300 I appreciate you guys being here we have a few more questions that we're going to go ahead

04:32:17.380 and hit i appreciate everybody in the audience uh listening and this has been a really

04:32:26.980 it's been a really nice thing this evening i'm pretty excited about it and i'm

04:32:33.300 i'm really enjoying it and i'm looking through looking at it through you know

04:32:39.060 it takes me back to when i was brand new to this and it's kind of a neat thing in that way

04:32:47.380 got a couple of few questions stacked up not a lot though which is fine it is getting late

04:32:55.420 so uh from heathen man early on in the evening uh there are times i do pray to the gods

04:33:04.220 individually but more often i gift to and say a general prayer to them as a group i speak each

04:33:12.700 their names and say some words to each thanking them for their blessings possibly asking for

04:33:17.900 their blessings etc then leave an offering on the altar for them does it seem a bit impious to leave

04:33:25.660 an offering for the for all gods at once and to speak to each during a single prayer or do you

04:33:33.660 think it's quote unquote better to focus more on one god at a time

04:33:44.140 so what does better mean like i

04:33:54.460 first do i think it is impious no i do not at all think it is impious i think

04:34:00.940 I think there are, I don't want to math that I know somebody in the chat are probably really

04:34:10.500 good at demographics, but I think there is a billion or so people that ought to leave offerings

04:34:17.420 that have never once made an offering to one of our gods. That is impious. You stepping outside

04:34:24.000 of that and choosing to make an offering to one of our gods is the definition of being pious.

04:34:30.940 i think that's fantastic and beautiful that you do that

04:34:36.140 is it better i think it depends on what you're trying to do um

04:34:43.420 it depends there's often that i want to make an offering to a god or a goddess

04:34:52.940 most often when i do a bloat it is directed at one of the icer but

04:35:00.940 And often when I do the Yule bloat, it's to the Iser in general, it's a celebration of Yule.

04:35:08.320 Before I did this broadcast, I got before my altar and I said a prayer to the Aesir generally, asking for their blessings with wisdom and eloquence to present this program in a way that honors them and speaking words that our folk need to hear to bring our folk home.

04:35:34.580 um it really depends what your intention is i don't i don't think better comes into play i think

04:35:42.200 what's the point comes into play yes and as a side note that i think's referenced or that i

04:35:49.460 think's relevant to what you're asking yes i think when you have the time and the availability

04:35:56.640 you should seek to know the gods and interact with them individually

04:36:07.000 because I think that is the most respectful way.

04:36:13.320 I think that that's an important process

04:36:15.900 that doesn't make it inappropriate to address them as a unified body,

04:36:21.780 but it does open up your ability to relate and build a gift cycle relationship between them

04:36:30.260 individually and i think both have their time and their place but no i don't think that's

04:36:36.060 inappropriate at all and i you know the first step is making offerings to the gods beyond that

04:36:44.780 there are ways to grow in your piety but that's not impious at all that's that's a really nice

04:36:49.680 thing svondy any thoughts on it no i i think individually based on purpose but all all of

04:36:58.960 the gods together if you know need be and i think that's more prominent um especially

04:37:07.360 in larger gatherings and things i think it's um

04:37:11.680 i mean all at once too is to me it seems very um at tedium to say perhaps give gift in one moment

04:37:25.120 to each individual of of of the gods when in simple sense your your bounty is spread to all

04:37:33.960 of them you're not um you're giving unto the icier because you are a child of them but i yeah

04:37:43.640 i'm with you it's it's based on need and i think it's based on intention and i think it's based

04:37:48.680 off of function um but i don't think it's of offense or lesser to simply give to the icier

04:37:56.040 your troth um because you said it best it's leagues and bound more than many of the folk

04:38:04.680 who walk with their you know their breath and their blood in their veins who give nothing yeah 0.97

04:38:10.360 i think um the thing that i try to avoid out of a risk of impiety you don't want to include them all

04:38:20.840 but accidentally omit one like hail the icier generally fine hail odin specifically hail

04:38:32.680 tyr specifically fine hail oh then hail thor hair balder hail your there hail bragi all the way

04:38:44.600 but then you miss one that's where i feel i worry about impiety um

04:38:54.120 yeah that's where that's where somebody's left out like hey why not me um

04:39:03.160 but no i think hailing them as a group is completely appropriate hailing them individually

04:39:08.520 or maybe you know a couple of them individually if that's your purpose it really depends on what

04:39:15.720 you're doing but again making offerings to the gods is in and of itself pious it is the very

04:39:22.840 definition of piety um the wolf throne again asked this in the six o'clock hour do you stand well

04:39:35.640 Well, because he asked this before we even started.

04:39:37.880 He knew this.

04:39:39.900 He's a veteran listener of this program.

04:39:44.340 Where do you stand on moral relativism versus objective morality and why?

04:39:50.160 Also, do you think the lack of morality in today's age has a direct correlation to the lack of religion?

04:39:58.020 So last question first.

04:40:01.040 Certainly it does.

04:40:01.920 The complete ostracization and removal of piety from our society generally has absolutely led to a myriad of problems, one of which is the lack of moral compass and moral bearing.

04:40:26.880 Lots of things are linked directly to that.

04:40:31.920 one of

04:40:37.300 the juxtaposition of moral relativism versus objective morality

04:40:49.760 i think in a lot of ways is a false dichotomy and pits people needlessly against each other

04:41:00.600 in a silly way.

04:41:06.920 I think that inherently,

04:41:10.840 we, specifically our folk,

04:41:14.840 but maybe even broader than that,

04:41:18.560 understand some basic right and wrong things.

04:41:24.560 There is absolutely objective morality.

04:41:30.600 But there being objective morality does not prevent there also being subjective morality, just as subjective morality does not prevent the existence of objective morality.

04:41:46.840 i know that there becomes a perception that i am anti scholarship or anti philosophy

04:42:01.600 or anti any of those things it's not the case i'm just pro common sense and i'm anti delusion

04:42:11.560 you can't out think common sense we can try to

04:42:20.560 but it's hard there's a point where intellectualization becomes mental gymnastics

04:42:33.560 we all understand a certain degree of basic right and wrong way to behave

04:42:41.500 well who's to say what's right and who's to say what who's to people who have courage people who

04:42:48.660 have gumption people who you know have bearing as men and women are to say

04:42:55.400 we all have a varying degree of that but there are basic things that are just certainly true

04:43:03.860 cruelty towards innocence is inherently evil and wrong we all understand that

04:43:14.680 well but wait can you be cruel to people that deserve cruelty well cool there's a spectrum

04:43:21.420 there there's like a sliding scale we can figure that out on but cruelty to those who have not

04:43:28.160 warranted cruelty is wrong we all understand that to pretend otherwise is dishonest

04:43:38.400 to forsake the existence of black and white because you acknowledge the existence of gray

04:43:49.120 is buying into delusion um so i think that we all understand

04:43:53.920 basic right from wrong. There is certainly a fine-tuning where there's a gray area of what

04:44:04.080 is appropriate and what's not appropriate that also exists. Both of those things can function

04:44:09.540 together, and having a different standard of behavior towards different groups of people

04:44:17.100 based on different criteria is also a completely reasonable thing.

04:44:23.140 In Ausatru, one of the big deciders of that

04:44:27.920 is Utgard versus Inengard. 0.85

04:44:36.220 You have a certain...

04:44:39.280 And then there's people that are straight up your enemies.

04:44:42.100 your behavior towards your enemies is different than your behavior towards your friends

04:44:49.380 your behavior towards trusted friends and family between you and people who you are involved in a

04:45:01.380 feud with and people who just are objective neutral parties all of those things have a

04:45:09.540 different scale of what behavior is appropriate and what's not but we all get that there's some

04:45:18.500 things that are just objectively good and noble things and there's some things that are objectively

04:45:24.820 evil and bad things we all know that to be true and so i don't think it's a bad point of philosophy

04:45:33.460 to discuss what things are in what categories but i think it's dishonest to suggest that because

04:45:42.660 we don't have the perfect answer to all situations that well all morality suggest subjective no it's

04:45:51.460 not it's just not swan what say you want it i think that cosmic order and natural

04:46:03.220 law are objective um tenants of morality that kind of exude from the divine but it is man who

04:46:15.220 has a tendency of course to in that search to attain he is subjective and yeah like you said

04:46:22.580 that one does not cancel the other out um and again we could argue which one is better which

04:46:28.180 one is more attainable um but at the end of the day i think that subjective morality

04:46:37.060 um is more the note of humanity and we i think attain the blessings of the gods when we

04:46:47.460 um try to exude the the objective morality um but it's not that one is better or worse it's just

04:47:01.460 again it's like alignment towards um and in and of itself the fact that we have that option i

04:47:07.620 guess makes it subjective but i do believe that the morality of of the gods ultimately

04:47:13.940 um comes from these kind of standing points that are on unchanging or at least in particular to you

04:47:22.740 know uh object or uh cosmic order but um yeah i mean outside of that exactly what you said they

04:47:31.620 don't cancel each other out and it would be kind of foolish to say that mankind the folk live

04:47:38.500 in objective morality um but yet we can make these choices and some of these choices i think

04:47:47.980 do lend towards um attaining that that truth um and i think yeah there is there is choices that

04:47:56.380 we make that the gods um find of of a coming closer to that and then there are choices and

04:48:05.560 decisions and things that we make that fall short and and veer away and so um we should scrutinize

04:48:14.200 what we do but i don't think they cancel each other out well so this is one of the reasons

04:48:23.480 okay so this is a feature of aussitrew and i assume this is a feature of other ethnic faiths

04:48:32.040 we one of our touchstones

04:48:37.160 just because of history and how things have come about

04:48:42.080 we in the west often see religion through a abrahamic lens

04:48:51.240 and it does us a disservice because that's not the default position

04:48:57.380 And I don't think that's the position shared by most of religion on earth in the existence of humanity.

04:49:07.800 But it happens to be the popular thing in recent centuries and the one that we're probably most familiar with.

04:49:18.960 And, again, not my business what different races of people, how they relate to their ethnic gods.

04:49:27.380 the very prescribed thou shalt this thou shalt not this with like a weight and measure scale to

04:49:44.120 everything is very foreign to our faith and is kind of a cornerstone of Judaic Middle Eastern

04:49:54.200 religion i talk on here a lot about principle versus situational thou shalt thou shalt not

04:50:03.960 because you can apply principles to a variety of time place politics law condition and you can

04:50:15.320 still be advised by principle it's much harder to do that when everything is an exact science of

04:50:24.200 And this equals that, because that's very locked in a place. It's very locked in a time and in a context.

04:50:34.580 the other thing is

04:50:39.920 moral principles are often balanced against one another the world that we live in and this is

04:50:48.560 something that is not a sexy selling point for also true but it's part of the truth

04:50:55.940 that makes us noble men and women we are in position to make moral decisions on things

04:51:03.920 when morality collides against one another?

04:51:08.680 Would you do an act of immorality in a particular circumstance

04:51:14.760 in order to cause a massive boon and a greater moral win

04:51:23.160 for a mass amount of people?

04:51:25.880 You run into all those what-if scenarios.

04:51:30.560 I don't know if any of you guys and your friends did this, 0.99

04:51:33.680 but me and my stupid friends from high school would do this a lot in various scenarios. 0.98

04:51:38.920 The would you rather, would you rather this or that? 1.00

04:51:41.120 You come up with the most ridiculous juxtaposition of things.

04:51:48.040 But if we're honest, and especially on the principle that we do not believe in equality,

04:51:54.480 nothing is ever equal.

04:51:57.180 There's always a right answer to any of those questions,

04:52:00.320 even if it's the most absurd of choices.

04:52:03.680 The discernment to find the best course of morality in an unclear or murky scenario is important.

04:52:16.120 It's not because morality has no ability to be objective.

04:52:23.400 it's because objective morality can conflict with other objective morality when you factor in

04:52:35.420 um numbers and circumstance you know would you kill one innocent to save a million other innocents

04:52:47.840 well sure but is that morally right or wrong and philosophers can you know we can

04:52:55.500 we can be self-indulgent about that a lot but i think all of us know the right answer

04:53:02.120 i think when you come to you know stealing things isn't good well cool my family's my

04:53:10.020 kids are gonna starve or i can steal food from this dude over here that's not one of my kinfolk

04:53:17.880 i think we come to a point where we understand the objective morality

04:53:25.720 we because we have trouble defining a thing in a way that's universally accepted

04:53:33.080 doesn't negate our common sense and ingrained understanding of right and wrong

04:53:39.640 where i find moral relativity offensive is when people use it as an excuse for immorality

04:53:47.080 because they can't find perfect the lack of being able to find perfect doesn't negate

04:53:55.520 the clear and neon shining bright where good is just because you don't see where perfect is

04:54:08.080 doesn't negate that there's good things and bad things and we all know that

04:54:12.420 I think that's just a fundamental we all know that

04:54:16.920 um the other question and this has come up a number of times and sometimes from the same

04:54:28.180 questioner any thoughts on how Germans call Jewish people yetons how they say it and

04:54:38.280 Jotun's how it is pronounced do you think it's a coincidence I know it's hard to get into a

04:54:46.620 and a controversial question I've never heard that that's a thing that German speakers do

04:54:54.000 I'm unaware of that as a phenomenon I'll address the meat of the question but I

04:55:00.480 this is the first that I've heard that that's something German people do Spahn have you ever 0.90

04:55:06.300 heard that no and i think this is again another attempt to create like uh uh you know the the 0.75

04:55:16.300 gods versus the like a foreign uh race if you will but no i've never heard that well i'm

04:55:24.860 it's that but first assuming that that's a thing that people do which i'm not sure that it is

04:55:31.260 that's not a reflection of the lore it's an analogy to things that you don't like

04:55:39.420 I think that in a pejorative sense people use their own cultural context to portray

04:55:48.540 their foes within that context all the time for the purpose of

04:55:55.980 you know making a symbolism making a uh a comparison i think christians have a real

04:56:05.800 propensity to any group of people that are opposed to their version of christianity are the

04:56:13.340 amalekites or are the hittites or some you know band of people from biblical

04:56:20.040 text that are against the Hebrews. It doesn't mean that they really think these people are

04:56:29.580 descendant from these ancient races of people. It's to liken them to the foes of ancient Israel. 0.79

04:56:39.340 I think that if we're an ethnic group of people and we feel that another ethnicity is, 1.00

04:56:45.480 you know in the specific case of the yotnar are devouring are consuming our resources or consuming 1.00

04:56:54.860 our stuff or existing in a a chaotic or parasitic way to describe them as the etans 0.99

04:57:06.020 or the Jotunar, the consumers that way,

04:57:10.640 that's an analogy to liken them to something

04:57:17.420 from our cultural touchstone that has enmity

04:57:21.460 with our gods and what we do.

04:57:23.600 And that makes sense in that context.

04:57:26.120 I think that we all have a tendency to do that.

04:57:30.520 But I don't think there's any, you know,

04:57:33.660 again, there's a directionality.

04:57:36.020 we liken things to things that are real and legitimate we make analogy against that or

04:57:44.000 in reference to that to explain things or to draw pictures you don't take a current

04:57:50.420 political situation and suggest that ancient scholars prophesied this long ago when they

04:57:59.960 wrote down our lore but to describe you know

04:58:08.600 i don't know whatever whatever is restricting me if something out there is holding me back

04:58:14.200 from my destiny or something i'm trying to do you know man these coveted restrictions are

04:58:20.840 are this is jormungand restricting my ability to do things and to go out and make

04:58:27.160 my way in the world i don't think that's a bad like analogy i think it's a fine poetic way to

04:58:33.000 express something but no part of me thinks like oh clearly in the eddas the references to jormungand

04:58:41.960 were a prophecy that in 2020 we would experience covid lockdowns it's an expression and we use

04:58:50.120 expressions based on our cultural uh context all the time if that is the case and something that

04:58:57.800 you know german people do then that's surely where that comes from and not

04:59:05.720 you know back i i don't know retconning that to be what the lore meant

04:59:13.000 if that makes sense and i hope that it does

04:59:14.840 so that said i appreciate you guys being with us tonight been a long program been an awesome

04:59:30.640 program i've thoroughly enjoyed it um spawn thank you so much for reading all of that to us

04:59:38.900 for breaking it down

04:59:41.400 for folks.

04:59:51.260 Hail Svaner

04:59:52.600 Hinguth Rikni.

04:59:56.480 You're going to have to send me that

04:59:57.780 in the text so I can

04:59:58.800 read that. I already did.

05:00:01.440 I sent you that hours ago.

05:00:02.780 Oh, you did.

05:00:04.540 You're not multitasking.

05:00:06.620 No, no.

05:00:07.160 you spawn the pious not spawn the multitasker no that is definitely yeah that's true

05:00:13.880 but uh no appreciate you guys i am looking i'm genuinely like excited for next week

05:00:21.440 oh it gets good there's a lot of cool stuff about next go round there's lots of cool stuff

05:00:29.580 for the next three weeks i know i look forward to talking to y'all then in between now and then

05:00:36.860 we're going to be celebrating the day of remembrance for uh the hero of this saga

05:00:43.020 ale scally grimson um that falls on next monday

05:00:48.660 i would encourage all of you to uh take a moment raise a horn make an offering speak his name aloud

05:00:59.600 and uh to celebrate him and I think that a really good way of honoring him is continuing on this

05:01:09.620 journey with us as we read the account of his life and the life of his kinfolk

05:01:16.880 um but yeah I hope that you guys are off to an amazing month I'm excited for Yule I'm excited

05:01:24.260 for finishing off year 30 of the Ausitru Folk Assembly

05:01:28.300 and starting year 31 with all of you.

05:01:31.720 A lot of cool things going on this month.

05:01:33.960 Yule is a lot of our favorite time of the year.

05:01:38.700 And yeah, we've got really exciting things.

05:01:41.480 It's a really special time to be Ausitru.

05:01:46.620 It's a special time to be part of the Ausitru Folk Assembly.

05:01:50.340 And honored to be sharing that with you guys.

05:01:53.800 Until then, hail the Aesir, hail the folk, hail the AFA.

05:01:58.800 Remember, victory never sleeps.

05:02:23.800 Thank you.

05:02:53.800 Thank you.

05:03:23.800 Thank you.

05:03:53.800 Thank you.

05:04:23.800 Thank you.

05:04:53.800 Transcription by CastingWords

Asatru Folk Assembly - December 05, 2024

12⧸4⧸24 Victory Never Sleeps, Episode 126 - Egill's Saga, Part 1

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