PODCAST · history
Viking Lives
by Viking Lives
The great arc of Viking history told through a chain of life stories, presented by broadcaster Richard Fidler and author Kári Gíslason. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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The Draugur
For this final episode of series 3, Richard & Kári have a collection of Viking Ghost stories, recorded at a special event at the Byron Writers’ Festival with a live audience. These are tales taken from the sagas, from Icelandic folklore, and from an incident that occurred while making this series...
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Gudrid the Far Traveller: Part 2
In this episode, Gudrid sets out with her husband Karlsefni on an expedition to make a new Viking settlement in North America, the land they know as Vinland. Three ships, with 65 people, livestock and provisions, cross the North Atlantic and eventually find their way to the rich, temperate land...
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Gudrid the Far Traveller: Part 1
Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir was the daughter of an Icelandic chieftain, who was very likely the most well-travelled human being of her time. In this first episode, Gudrid’s family settles in the new Viking colony on Greenland. The settlement is struggling, and a seer named Thorbjorg comes to…
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Leif the Lucky
Richard has the story of the epic voyage of Leif Erickson, son of Erik the Red, who sailed west out of Greenland and travelled across the North Atlantic all the way to North America. Known as Leif the Lucky, he became the first European to set foot in the Americas, some five centuries before...
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Erik the Red
This is the first in a series of episodes following the Viking explorers and settlers who sailed west into the unknown and formed settlements in the New World. We begin with Erik the Red, who was sent into exile from Iceland for his crimes, and sailed all the way to the island of Greenland, where...
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Thorgeir the Lawspeaker
At the turn of the first millennium, the Viking kingdoms of Scandinavia were abandoning the old Norse religion and officially adopting Christianity. Norway sent missionaries into Iceland and in the year 1000 AD, a meeting was held at Iceland’s open-air parliament, the Althing, to decide whether...
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Hallgerd Longlegs: Part 2
This is the second part of the story of Hallgerd Hoskuldsdottir, known as Hallgerd Longlegs. Hallgerd, already widowed twice, went to the annual assembly at Thingvellir, where she met the handsome and charismatic Gunnar of Hlidarendi, who had just returned to Iceland after finding great success…
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Hallgerd Longlegs: Part 1
This is the first of two episodes on the life of Hallgerd Hoskuldsdottir: the most dangerous woman in tenth century Iceland. Hallgerd was a striking figure; she was tall, with hair so long it could cloak her whole body. She was married three times, and was both a victim and an instigator of...
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Hrafnkel the Priest of Frey
This episode tells the story of a Viking named Hrafnkel, a powerful chieftan who lived in an isolated part of Iceland. Hrafnkel was rich and arrogant. One day he killed a shepherd for mishandling his most prized horse, which he associated with a Norse god. The result was a bitter feud between…
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The Lost Brother
The first episode of series three of Viking Lives comes to you from Oxford in the UK. Our Viking is an unknown man, killed in the St. Brice’s Day massacre that took place there in the year 1002 AD. This was a murderous attack on a community of Norse settlers in Oxfordshire, incited by the English...
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Snorri the Priest
For the final episode of series 2, Kári has the story of an Icelandic chieftain who came to be known as Snorri Goði - Snorri the Priest of Thor: a manipulative and shrewd leader who devised a cunning plan to lure two extremely violent Swedish berserker warriors to their death. Viking Lives will...
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Thordis the Wronged
This episode features the life of Thordis Sursdottir, a Viking woman from the tenth century. Thordis’s family was forced to escape Norway after her brother Gisli killed two men who wanted to marry her. The family set up a farm in the northwest fjords of Iceland, where she married her husband...
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The Prague Castle Warrior
Today’s episode comes from forecourt of Prague Castle in the Czech Republic, recorded while Richard and Kári were in Europe. It was here, under the pavement, that the bones of a medieval warrior were excavated in 1928 … with a Viking sword buried beside him. The discovery set off a fierce…
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Gunnlaug Serpent Tongue
Gunnlaug Serpent Tongue was an arrogant and impetuous Viking, famed for his ability to compose brilliant poetry spontaneously for the kings of medieval Sweden and England. But in doing so, he became the deadly rival of another poet, who spitefully married the woman Gunnlaug had known since...
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Egill the Broken
Egill Skallagrimsson was both a vicious, murderous Viking raider and a poet of great sensitivity and feeling. He fought on behalf of an English king who rewarded him handsomely, but the queen of Norway detested him and tried to kill him. Eventually Egill retired to his family farm in Iceland…
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Gudrun of the Springs (with Hannah Kent)
Hannah Kent, author of the international bestseller ‘Burial Rites’ joins Richard and Kári to tell the story of our favourite Viking woman: Gudrun Osvifsdottir. Gudrun was an Icelander of the tenth century, who was famous for her high-mindedness and fine manners. But when her honour was slighted,...
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Aud the Deep Minded
The Vikings came to Ireland at the end of the eighth century, first as raiders, then as settlers, and they founded the cities of Dublin, Wexford and Limerick as slave trading centres. In this episode, Kári and Richard tell the story of a Viking queen of Dublin known as Auð the Deep-Minded, who…
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Melkorka the Silent
Melkorka was an Irish woman who was enslaved by Vikings in the ninth century AD. She was brought to Scandinavia, where she was bought by an Icelandic farmer named Hoskuld, who made her his concubine. But Melkorka was mute, and so Hoskuld knew nothing of her origins, until he caught her talking by…
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Ingolf the Icelander
In this episode, Kári tells the story of the foundation of Iceland as a new kind of Viking society on the rim of the Arctic Circle, and of Ingolf, the man who led a party of settlers to the smoky bay he named Reykjavik. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Harald Finehair
In the first episode of series 2 of Viking Lives, Richard has the story of Harald Finehair, the Norwegian chieftain who swore he would not cut his hair or beard until he became king of all of Norway. But his heavy-handed rule goaded people to board their longships and establish new Viking…
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Sol the Charioteer
To conclude our first series of Viking Lives, Richard & Kári are bringing you a special episode: we’re tracking the strange ride of the goddess Sól across the skies of the Norse world. The Vikings of Scandinavia lived through unimaginably harsh and dark winters, confined to their cramped…
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Bjorn Ironside
In this episode we follow the fleets of the Viking raiders as they break into Muslim Spain, North Africa and Italy for the first time. Richard and Kári present the story of Bjorn Ironside, famed for his brutal skill as a warrior that made him virtually invulnerable to the weapons of his enemies.…
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Lagertha the Shield Maiden
Lagertha the Shield Maiden appears only briefly in the medieval Viking stories, but she retains a powerful hold on the modern imagination. In this episode, Richard and Kári are joined by Dr. Lisa Bennett, author of Viking Women, to explore the concept of the Norse shield maiden, and to examine…
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Ragnar the Raider
Last time we brought you the mythic tale of Ragnar Lodbrok.In this episode, Richard and Kari go on the trail of the real-life, flesh-and-blood Ragnar, whose life is recorded in the chronicles of medieval Europe.This Ragnar is remembered as a ruthless chieftain, hated by the kings of Christendom,...
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Ragnar the Legend
This is the first of two episodes on the life of Ragnar Lodbrok.Richard and Kári begin with the story of the legendary Ragnar taken from the mythic saga that bears his name. In this telling, Ragnar is an impossibly strong Viking warrior who kills a dragon, marries the princess Aslaug, and becomes…
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Mad Amleth
Kári and Richard present the strange tale of Amleth the Mad: the Danish prince whose uncle murders his father and then marries his mother in unseemly haste. Amleth, alone and in great danger, pretends to be mad until he can figure out how to take his revenge. This was the original story that...
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Yngvar the Helmsman
Richard and Kári dig up the remains of a Viking king named Yngvar. Yngvar was long thought to have been a figure of legend. But in 2008, a ship-grave was excavated on a Baltic island that was dated to the year 750 AD. Inside the ship were the remains of 34 wounded warriors and their mysterious...
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Beowulf the Strong
Kári and Richard plunge into the tale of Beowulf, the legendary Norseman who sets out to kill a murderous creature named Grendel, and then must face an even more dangerous monster: Grendel’s mother. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Gudrun the Vengeful
Richard and Kári delve into the semi-mythic tale of the Viking heroine Gudrun the Vengeful, and her destruction of Attila the Hun. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Dawn on Lindisfarne
Introducing a new podcast by Richard Fidler and Kári Gislason, in which they travel to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in England where Viking plunderers stepped ashore in 793 AD, generating a shockwave that rippled across Christian Europe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Odin the One-Eyed
Kári and Richard go to Oxford to speak with Professor Carolyne Larrington on the mythic origins of Odin, the doomed chieftain of the Norse gods, who makes a sacrifice of himself to himself in the pursuit of wisdom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Viking Lives have?
Viking Lives currently has 31 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Viking Lives about?
The great arc of Viking history told through a chain of life stories, presented by broadcaster Richard Fidler and author Kári Gíslason. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How often does Viking Lives release new episodes?
Viking Lives has 31 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Viking Lives?
You can listen to Viking Lives on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Viking Lives?
Viking Lives is created and hosted by Viking Lives.
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