Sagas w/Shawn - Gods and Kings
“Sagas w/Shawn: Gods and Kings” is an ambitious (and probably doomed) attempt to build a shared world where every god, legendary king, and mythical hero across world history actually coexists.
Hosted by Shawn, this podcast bridges the gap between mythology and history, from Norse sagas and ancient folklore to medieval pseudo-history, global pantheons, and even the lore of fantasy worlds and video games. Expect dry humor, deep dives, and a sincere curiosity about what people believed, why it mattered, and how these stories still shape us today.
Sagas w/Shawn - Gods and Kings
E1: The Divine Ancestry of Harald Fairhair
The Divine Ancestry of Harald Fairhair.
In the first episode of "Sagas w/Shawn - Gods and Kings" Shawn dives into the ancestry of Harald Fairhair, the first King of a Unified Norway (872 ce). Was Harald truly descended from the Norse gods Freyr, Niord, and even the All-Father Odin himself? Or did later authors fabricate these supposed connections to elevate the status of their own culture and history?
Using the sources "Heimskringla", "The Saga of the Volsungs", and "The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok" (with some others as well), Shawn explore the House of Yngling and the House of Volsung in varying detail to bridge the gap between mythological gods and this historical figure.
Sources used:
- The Saga of the Volsungs: With the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok (Hackett Classics)
- The Poetic Edda (Hackett Publishing)
- The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)
- The Anglo-Saxon Chronical (Pantianos Classics)
- Heimskringla or The Lives of the Norse Kings (Dover Publications)
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