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The saga of the Volsongs is an old Norse saga made up of ill-fated romances,

dramatic murders, and larger-than-life characters.

In it, one reads of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer and Brynhild the Valkyrie, the magical ring

of power, and other themes that will be familiar to readers of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The saga of the Volsungs was first written in Iceland around 1250 AD by an anonymous author.

Of course, the stories within the saga would have been preserved orally for many years until they were eventually written down in the 13th century.

Our topic of discussion today is indeed the saga of the Volsungs, and I'm honored to be joined by Dr. Jesse Bayak,

Professor of Old Norse and Medieval Scandinavian Studies studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Bayak is also a translator of The Saga of the Volsongs, and I've included a link to his

translation in the description of this episode. Dr. Bayak directs the Mossfell Archaeological

Project in Iceland and received his Ph.D. Biak directs the Mossfell Archaeological Project in Iceland and received his

PhD from Harvard University. Before we get to my conversation with Jesse, I want to tell you that

we've recently partnered with Medieval Warfare Magazine as a way to support this podcast.

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If you've ever wanted to support the history of Vikings, you can now do so

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