Vikingology Podcast · The Art and Science of the Viking Age

Myth and belief in the Viking Age and beyond

·1 hr 10 min·4 clips

Myths pass on information by turning it into a story with consequences.

1. Vikingology Podcast talks with Professor Carolyn Larrington about myth, belief, and the Viking Age. 2. Larrington appears as a scholar of Old English and Old Norse, a research fellow at St. John's College, Oxford, and an author of books including The Little Book of Dragons, A Little Book of Trolls, and Little Book of Fairies. 3. The episode asks what myth is for, why humans tell stories, and how those stories relate to religion and history. 4. Larrington says myth is one of the most efficient ways of passing information from one generation to another. 5. She explains that a story's point can be encoded in a chain of events, such as a bewitched prince being disenchantedin the end. 6. She says myths often address death, loss, and the human desire to bring loved ones back from the next world. 7. The hosts raise the common classroom confusion between myth and religion. 8. Larrington answers that most religions have a mythic core, naming the Old Testament, the New Testament, and saints' lives in Christianity. 9. She also says myths explain creation, death, animals, and landforms, including a Norse explanation for condensation linked to Baldr. 10. She contrasts myth with folktale by saying mythic figures are usually named, while folktales often use generic roles like the boy, the princess, or the old witch. 11. She says the word myth came to mean falsehood through a modern split between scientific fact and things that are not scientifically provable. 12. She compares fantasy audiences accepting dragons to readers accepting rules in a constructed story world. 13. She points to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's report of dragons in the sky before the Viking attack on Lindisfarne. 14. She suggests that the dragons could have been an astronomical event or a literary sign of disaster. 15. The discussion turns to Satan, Revelation, and medieval manuscript images that portray evil in dragon-like forms. 16. Larrington says the uncanny often comes from a familiar creature turning dangerous, like a dog that suddenly shows its teeth. 17. The tone is conversational and classroom-like, with the hosts interrupting, comparing examples, and asking follow-up questions. 18. The format is an interview with two hosts and one guest, moving from broad theory to Norse examples and back again. 19. Listeners interested in myth, medieval religion, and Norse storytelling. 20. Listeners wanting a pure saga recap or a fast entertainment segment.

As heard by us

Ragnarok becomes a question of whether repeated cosmic patterns still leave room for choice.

This Vikingology episode frames Ragnarok as a story about time as well as cosmic collapse. C.J. Adrian and Terry Barnes speak with Professor Carolyn Larrington, a scholar of Old English and Old Norse and a research fellow at St.

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