Runes and Songs
Magic abounded in Viking Age Scandinavia, granted to humankind by Odin himself, but seiðr was gifted to women alone. Despite this, some men risked condemnation, shame, and even the loss of their masculinity to gain this power. What kind of magic tempts a man to surrender his manhood, and what does he stand to gain?
Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with the voice talent of Jack Krause and original music by Purple Planet.
Music
Purple Planet - Revelations
Purple Planet - Ecosphere
Purple Planet - Lost Souls
Purple Planet - Ascension
Purple Planet - Sense of Loss
Purple Planet - Shadowlands
Sources
Primary
Sturluson, Snorri. Ynglinga Saga. Sacred Texts.
Secondary
Andrén, Anders. “Behind ‘Heathendom’: Archaeological Studies of Old Norse Religion.” Scottish Archaeological Journal 27, no. 2 (2005): 105–38.
Bell, Jacob. “Magic, Genderfluidity, and Queer Vikings, ca. 750–1050.” History Compass 19, no. 5 (2021): 1–9.
Clover, Carol J. “Regardless of Sex: Men, Women, and Power in Early Northern Europe.” Representations 44 (1993): 1–28.
Friðriksdóttir, Jóhanna Katrín. Women in Old Norse Literature: Bodies, Words, and Power. The New Middle Ages. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Jochens, Jenny. “Old Norse Magic and Gender: Þáttr Þorvalds Ens Víðfǫrla.” Scandinavian Studies 63, no. 3 (1991): 305–17.
Jochens, Jenny. “The Prophetess/Sorceress.” In Old Norse Images of Women, 113–31. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996.
Price, Neil. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings. New York: Basic Books, 2020.
Price, Neil. The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2019.
Meylan, Nicolas. “Magic and Discourses of Magic in the Old Norse Sagas of the Apostles.” Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 7 (2011): 107–24.
Schnurbein, Stefanie v. “Shamanism in the Old Norse Tradition: A Theory between Ideological Camps.” History of Religions 43, no. 2 (2003): 116–38.
Turco, Jeffrey. “Gender, Violence, and the ‘Enigma’ of Gísla Saga.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 115, no. 3 (2016): 277–98.
Wanner, Kevin J. “Cunning Intelligence in Norse Myth: Loki, Óðinn, and the Limits of Sovereignty.” History of Religions 48, no. 3 (2009): 211–46.
