Cover image: Detail from the painting The Funeral of a Viking by Frank Bernard Dicksee, 1893 (Manchester Art Gallery)

In this episode, we bring Kormak’s Saga to its conclusion and find out if one man’s unrelenting infatuation can triumph over a curse. We also talk about recognizing witches’ eyes and read between the lines on our protagonists’ relationship.

Today’s Text:

  • The Life and Death of Cormac the Skald. Translated by W.G. Collingwood and J. Stefansson. Viking Club Translation Series, no. 1., Wm Holmes, Ltd., 1902. Google Books.
  • Kormáks saga. Icelandic Saga Database, edited by Sveinbjörn Þórðarson, 2007. https://www.sagadb.org/kormaks_saga.is.

References:

  • Ármann Jakobsson. “The Trollish Acts of Þorgrímr the Witch: The Meanings of Troll and Ergi in Medieval Iceland.” Saga-Book, vol. 32, 2008, pp. 39-68. JSTOR.
  • Byock, Jesse. Viking Age Iceland. Penguin, 2001.
  • Finlay, Alison. “Níð, Adultery, and Feud in Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa.” Saga-Book, vol. 23, 1990-1993, pp. 158-178. JSTOR.
  • —. “Skalds, Troubadours and Sagas.” Saga-Book, vol. 24, 1994-1997, pp. 105-154. JSTOR.
  • Hollander, Lee. “The Case of the Skald Kormak.” Monatshefte für Deutschen Unterricht, vol. 35, no. 3/4, Mar.-Apr. 1943, pp. 107-115. JSTOR.
  • Jochens, Jenny. “The Illicit Love Visit: An Archaeology of Old Norse Sexuality.” Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 1, no. 3, Jan. 1991, pp. 357-392. JSTOR.
  • McDaniel, Walton Brooks. “The Pupula Duplex and Other Tokens of an ‘Evil Eye’ in the Light of Ophthalmology.” Classical Philology, vol. 13, no. 4, Oct. 1918, pp. 335-346. JSTOR.
  • Meylan, Nicholas. “The Magical Power of Poetry.” Saga-Book, vol. 37, 2013, pp. 43-60. JSTOR.
  • Raffield, Ben, Neil Price, and Mark Collard. “Polygyny, Concubinage, and the Social Lives of Women in Viking-Age Scandinavia.” Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, vol. 13, 2017, pp. 165-210. JSTOR.
  • Roesdahl, Else. The Vikings. Revised ed., translated by Susan M. Margeson and Kirsten Williams, Penguin, 1998.

Audio Credits:

  • Return of the Jedi. Directed by Richard Marquand. 20th Century-Fox, 1983.
  • Dylan, Bob. “I Shall Be Free No. 10.” Another Side of Bob Dylan, Columbia Records, 1964. YouTube.
  • The Princess Bride. Directed by Rob Reiner. 20th Century-Fox, 1987.
  • “Kormak’s Theme” and “Harpish Improvisations” composed and performed by Patrick Lane.

Image Credit: Detail from the painting The Funeral of a Viking by Frank Bernard Dicksee, 1893 (Manchester Art Gallery).