Hey everyone. Before we get started on today's episode, I just wanted to make a quick note about the audio quality.

I am recording this while renovations are happening on the apartment right below me.

I was trying to wade out the

construction and noise but I couldn't quite do it with my schedule this week and I

wanted to get an episode out for you guys. So I'm going to do my best to edit out any of the noise and try and do some magic in post. But there might be some occasional

winning from hammers, and occasional whining from saws and other construction equipment.

I'm hoping to be able to deal with most of it in post,

but I just wanted to warn you in case some of that comes through.

I hope you enjoy. What you were about to listen to is part one of a multi-part mini-series exploring the portrayal of powerful women in Old Norse literature.

In particular, we'll be focusing on the life and legend of one woman, Queen

Gunhild of Norway, also known as Gunhild Canungas Mother, or Mother of Kings. This miniseries is not part of our Eastern Way series, despite where it is positioned on the episode feed.

And I do apologize for any confusion there.

That series will be continuing.

But going forward I'm going to be interspersing that broader narrative, with shorter,

mostly unrelated topical miniseries like this one.

This is largely to help me prevent burnout and get a chance to explore more diverse topics.

Everything is still going to be focused on the history of the Viking Age and Old Norse literature.

But I'm hoping that this approach will help to keep things fresh, both for me as a researcher and for you as a listener.

So with that explanation out of the way, I hope you'll forgive me the temporary shift in topic.

And even if you can forgive me, and that's all right.

I think that you might find that this topic is plenty fascinating enough to be well worth it.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this series as much as I've enjoyed doing the research for it.

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