OLD HALFDAN

A search for history as it was recorded

[old-halfdan]

A reading including commentary on my translation of the viking saga collection Heimskringla. This is part 15 of the Ynglinga Saga, which is the first saga of Heimskringla.

00:00 Introduction 00:27 Explanation of the term mág 02:34 Hjörvard's marriage 06:27 War with King Ingjald

In this video I first explain the concept of mág in Heimskringla, an important concept to understand the relations between the different factions. We then go into the details of the viking Hjörvard's marriage to King Granmarr's daughter Hildegunn. Thereafter, King Ingjald wages an unsuccessful war on King Granmarr and king Hjörvard.

Here is a link to the Heimskringla geneologies

[old-halfdan]

Part 15 of Ynglinga Saga is live!

In this video I first explain the concept of mág in Heimskringla, an important concept to understand the relations between the different factions. We then go into the details of the viking Hjörvard's marriage to King Granmarr's daughter Hildegunn. Thereafter, King Ingjald wages an unsuccessful war on King Granmarr and king Hjörvard.

The full series can be found in this playlist  

You can also SUBSCRIBE to my youtube channel to get more insightful videos on nordic history.

[old-halfdan]

The first episode of ‘Honorable Death’ is live. This is a video series looking at the shining examples of meeting death with composure and honor throughout history. In this episode we look at the death of St. Olaf's warrior-poet, the icelandic viking Tormod Kolbrunarskald.

00:00 Introduction 01:40 Tormod Kolbrunarskald's early years 02:45 Jödur kills Hávarr 05:08 Torgeir kills Jödur 06:45 Tormod commits murder on Greenland 06:55 On redemption 09:56 Tormod's service with King Olaf Haraldsson 12:12 Stiklestad battle 16:15 Tormod in the hall of wounded and dying 18:44 Tormod's death

Tormod Kolbrunarskald won fame both through the icelandic saga Fóstbræðra saga, chronicling him and his foster brother Torgeir's lives, as well as his last stand alongside King Olaf Haraldsson at the famous battle of Stiklestad in Norway as told in both the Saga of St. Olaf and Fóstbræðra saga. Tormod suffered deadly wounds while defending the king's banner after the king fell, and met his death as befits a warrior poet. I take a look at both the stories surrounding especially his death, and what messeages are conveyed through it.

The full series can be found in this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZVTg90XAFv9NnS_EqVku3rmhfcOGa0qu

FOLLOW me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/old_halfdan/

SUBSCRIBE to get more insightful videos on nordic history:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-3TwYrQLIgNuqku3UAw8cA

[old-halfdan]

A reading including commentary on my translation of the viking saga collection Heimskringla. This is part 14 of the Ynglinga Saga, which is the first saga of Heimskringla.

00:00 Introduction 02:30 On Ingjald Ill-ruler 07:03 Önund's death 13:38 Burning at Uppsala

In this video we learn more of Ingjald Ill-ruler's childhood, we learn of king Önund's death in Gautland as well as the devastating burning of the six kings at Uppsala. Also, I go into some detail concerning the geography of the events, and some select terms in my translation.

Here is a link to the Heimskringla geneologies: https://old-halfdan.com/post/644675403388174336/lineages-of-the-norwegian-viking-kings

My background is as a Norwegian, but have I lived in Denmark many years as well, and have travelled extensively in Scandinavia and Europe and so I bring a lot of local knowledge of the places, geography and folkloristic history associated with the saga literature. I have a lifelong interest in nordic history, language and dialects. I think this will bring a lot of interesting commentary to the sagas that especially non-Scandinavians can find interesting and helpful in appreciating the saga literature.

The full series can be found in this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZVTg90XAFv_Dj_Nl_HWk6Ue72FZwzdBz

FOLLOW me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/old_halfdan/

SUBSCRIBE to get more insightful videos on nordic history:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-3TwYrQLIgNuqku3UAw8cA

[old-halfdan]

The latest episode of my reading including commentary on my translation of the viking saga collection Heimskringla is live. This is part 13 of the Ynglinga Saga, which is the first saga of Heimskringla. 

00:00 Introduction 01:04 On Rolf Krake's fall 04:05 On Eysteinn and Sölve Jut-king 07:30 The killing of King Yngvarr 10:49 On King Plow-Önund

In this video we go into king Eysteinn's strife with Sölve Jut-king, as well as king Yngvarr and king Plow-Önund's campaigns in Estland (Estonia). We are also told of the large-scale expansions into wilderness areas in Sweden, organized  by king Plow-Önund.

My background is as a Norwegian, but have I lived in Denmark many years as well, and have travelled extensively in Scandinavia and Europe and so I bring a lot of local knowledge of the places, geography and folkloristic history associated with the saga literature. I have a lifelong interest in nordic history, language and dialects. I think this will bring a lot of interesting commentary to the sagas that especially non-Scandinavians can find interesting and helpful in appreciating the saga literature.

The full series can be found in this playlist

FOLLOW me on instagram

SUBSCRIBE on youtube to get more insightful videos on nordic history

[old-halfdan]

And part 12 of Ynglinga Saga is live! In this one I take a closer look at king Adil’s marriage and death, and go off on a slight rant concerning viking pre-history.

[old-halfdan]

I’m announcing and introducing my new series at my youtube channel, ‘Honorable Death’. It will be a deeper look into selected honorable deaths in history, both in nordic tradition and other traditions, and we’ll try to glean what is to be learned, both morally and historically, from these examples. 

Anyway - this is the intro video just published on youtube!

[old-halfdan]

Part 11 of my reading and commentary on Ynglinga Saga is out - were I cover King Egill Audsson’s death as well as King Ottar Vendel-Crow’s death.

[old-halfdan]

Related to the blog post the other day on viking lineages. A little more in -depth.

[old-halfdan]

Some research that made a bit of waves in 2015 is making the rounds on the internet again. Basically the theory is that we human's just recently acquired the ability to sort out blue in our vision. The proponents base this theory off, among other things, the lack of references to the actual color blue in historical sources from ancient times. But does this hold water?

Here’s my take on it.

[old-halfdan]

And then the tenth part of Ynglina Saga with commentary is out. This one covers more on King Hake, Jörund’s death and the death of King Aun. I also have some comments on iron age geography in Scandinavia. Enjoy!

[old-halfdan]

Lineages of the Norwegian Viking kings

So in connection with my ongoing translation of Heimskringla that you can follow on youtube here, I’ve been noting down the names in genealogic order as they occur in the Sagas of Heimskringla. I did this by hand the first time I read Heimskringla in order to keep track of all the names and relations, and it was a big help to understand the dynamics of conflict that saturate the sagas. So this time I thought I would do it digitally and make it available. 

As far as I can see, no one has done it comprehensively with all names for Heimskringla and published it online. Many people make lineages that are adjusted to accord with Saxo’s Gesta Danorum, Jordanes’ Getica, Beowulf, or other things etc.. But I think it is better to keep it strictly to the source, so people can compare lineages and draw their own conclusions without some historian’s bias obscuring the primary sources. 

Of course, I’m doing it as I go along, so if you follow my series it will fit that progression nicely. But if you want the full comprehensive genealogies for the complete Heimskringla, it will still take some time. But we’ll get there :)

The names are not in original Norse spelling, I follow a spelling harmonized to the Norwegian similar to the one used by Schjøtt in his translation to Norwegian in 1900 - for me the gold standard of translations to Norwegian as it really keeps the color and character from Norse, while keeping the names comfortably close to the original. So the spelling is free of the really special characters in Norse that can be confusing for some, but otherwise very close to the original.

Anyway, if you follow the link below you can have a look-see, and I hope it proves helpful!

Click Here

[old-halfdan]

Part 9 of Ynglinga Saga is now live, of the reading of my translation of Heimskringla with commentary. This episode covers King Hugleik of Sweden’s fall and King Gudlaug of Hålogoland’s death. Also a closer look at Hagbard and Signe’s tragic story, and some observations on what the actual placement could be of ‘straumeyarnes’ where King Gudlaug is hanged.

[old-halfdan]

Part 8 of the reading with commentary of Ynglinga Saga.

[old-halfdan]

Part 7 of the reading with commentary of Ynglinga Saga.

[old-halfdan]

Part 6 of my  of Ynglinga Saga in Heimskringla. This is a reading of my own translation, with commentary.

[old-halfdan]

Part 5 of the series on Ynglinga Saga from Heimskringla is live!