Hello fellow Viking enthusiasts. I'm Lantern Jack, host of the ancient Greece declassified podcast. Like the Vikings,

the ancient Greeks were a seafaring people who sent forth explorers to navigate beyond the limits of the known world.

Also like the Vikings, their maritime odyses inspired epic sagas that continue to fuel our imagination today.

If you're curious to learn more about the ancient Greeks, their mythology, philosophy, and technology,

then tune in from your podcast app to Ancient Greece Declassified and join me as I explore all those issues in conversation with expert

historians and now brace yourselves for another mind-blowing episode of the

history of Vikings Hello and welcome to the history of Vikings.

Before I introduce today's guest, I have two important things to tell you.

If you enjoy the history of Vikings, then do me a favor and write me a review.

I would love to hear your feedback.

Secondly, if you have any

good episode ideas, questions, or you know of someone who you think that I should have on the show,

feel free to contact me, as I would be truly delighted to hear from you. You can contact me via my

email address, which is Noah at the History of Vikings.com. Again, that's Noah at the history of Vikings.com. Today I'm

joined by Tom Shippey, a British scholar who is taught at six universities in Britain and America,

including both Oxford and Harvard, and who has succeeded Tolkien many years later in the chair

of medieval literature at Leeds University. He is widely considered

one of the world's leading academic scholars on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, about whom he has written

several books, as well as many books and articles on Old English, Old Norse, and medieval

literature generally. Tom Shippey, thank you so much for joining me today. Well, thanks for inviting

me, Noah, and hi to everyone who's listening. I'm very pleased to be able to talk to you. Yes, well,

we're certainly excited to have you. Now, in your introduction, perhaps I forgot to mention the most

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