Valhalla Conversations

To many the word Valhalla brings up images of Odin's great hall, a vast space full of the worthiest warriors who feast, drink and fight until Ragnarok. However, in reality it also represents a place for members of the Viking Age historical re-enactment, or living history society, to gather and share their research, theories and observations with eager and interested members of the public. This inc...

When we think of Norse myths in books today, popular 20th century writers like Neil Gaiman and Kevin Crossley-Holland, Joanne Harris and Rick Riordan, Louie Stowell and many more, and even the colourful world of Marvel Comics immediately come to mind. They are the giants of modern retelling—but what if I told you there’s a forgotten foundation of Norse myth storytelling that predates them all? The...

When we think of Viking 'treasure,' we usually think of stolen gold and silver hoards. But what if the real treasures were the items people touched and used every single day? Today, we’re joined by Dr. Tom Horne to go beyond the myths and explore a true 'Portrait of the Viking World.' We aren't just looking at wealth; we’re looking at the tools, the places, and the everyday objects that defined an...

We all have that iconic image of the Viking Age: a smoke-filled longhall and a horn overflowing with mead. But was it truly the 'nectar of the gods,' or is our modern obsession with it telling us more about ourselves than the actual Norse? Today, I’m sitting down with Dr. Simon Trafford to look past the drunken stereotypes and into the real politics of the mead bench. We’re exploring how mead evol...

To many people today, historical re-enactment is a hobby of passion and interest. Some progress to become modern living historians, bringing history to life for schools as well as crowds at public events. There are a special few who have transformed this niche blend of practical skills and historical research to even greater heights and have achieved the balance of making their living from history...

What does it take to embody a legendary Norse villain? I’m joined by OneVoice 2026 & 2025 award winning voice actor, ⁨@georgeweightman1331⁩ to discuss how he transformed into one of Norse: Oath of Blood’s most formidable foes - Steinar Far-Spear. We will be talking about the physicality of performance capture, the psychology of playing the 'bad guy,' and how you bring a Viking warrior to life...

Ever wondered what would happen if a Norse god had to survive school? Today, we’re joined by the brilliant ⁨@Loustow⁩ , author of the hilarious Loki: A Bad God's Guide series. Get ready for some mischief as we dive into the ironic world of 'Life Lessons with Loki' and find out why the ultimate trickster might just be the perfect guide to growing up. https://louiestowell.com/ https://louiestowell.c...

On a dark November night in 2023, the legendary epic poem, Beowulf, came to life with music and theatre in a unique promenade performance by @ProperJobTheatre set in the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield. Discover more about this special performance of which musician Howard Jacobs founded his viking band, Shield King/Skjöldr Konungr. Intro track - Healfdane's Lament (Skjöldr Konungr, 2023) Endin...

We know them as the winged choosers of the slain and the fierce female warriors of Valhalla—but who are the Valkyries, really? Are they divine escorts, mortal women with supernatural gifts, or something else entirely? Or perhaps all of the above? Today, we’re pulling back the veil on these enigmatic wish-maidens to explore how they evolved from the terrifying omens of Old Norse poetry into the com...

Enter Valhalla to join our conversation with ⁨@MayaGLeonard⁩ on time-travelling doors, the magic of music, the balance of history and danger in children's fiction, why she modelled a 'bad guy' on a Manchester fooball player, and how Maya discovered a genuine mystery involving two Viking age golden horns discovered in Denmark... and so much more! If you like Vikings, you are welcome in my Valhalla,...

Joining me on this episode is comic artist and writer, Kevin Wells, whom I discovered at Thought Bubble Comic Con in 2025. We will be taking a deep dive into his norse-inspired graphic novel, The Last Einherjar, exploring his inspiration, his creative process and sharing ideas on what makes Vikings and their mythology so popular and answering "What if Ragnarok didn't happen as intended?" "Ragnarok...

Joining me in Valhalla is returning guest, Joshua Gillingham from Little Hammer Games, as we discuss and officially launch his latest @kickstarter card game, Halls of Asgard! Join the Kickstarter by the link below: "HALLS OF ASGARD is a semi-cooperative social strategy game for 3-6 players (25-45 min) with absolutely stunning hand-painted art by celebrated Norse mythology artist Helena Rosova. Clo...

Joining me in this episode is Dr Roderick Dale, we will discuss his role in the former World Tree Project looking at observations of Viking representation in the modern world, and then dive deep into our misconceptions about Viking Berserkers. You can buy his book 'The Myths and Raelities of the Viking Berserkr' from Routledge - https://www.routledge.com/The-Myths-a ...

Joining me as our first guests into Valhalla for 2026, is historical fiction author and historian, ⁨@cjadrien⁩ - he also co-hosts the ⁨@vikingologypodcast⁩ too! Alongside his talented artist wife, Crystal Whithaus as we discuss and explore how they teamed up to create a very charming, entertaining and also engaging childrens book about Vikings as a people from a time long ago. It is available to b...

For our final podcast episode for 2025 I'm beyond thrilled to have invited not one but three of my favourite Viking Age historical fiction authors into Valhalla. Justin Hill, Giles Kristian and Theo Brun. So we can take a deep dive into their own connection and interest with viking history, what inspired them to write and so much more.

Joining me in the great mead hall of the gods is Terry, otherwise known as Bjarni the Cabbage Killer. Why? Because part of his day job is slaying cabbages with sword, axe and spear. Why? Because for many decades he was a science teacher BEFORE becoming a viking-age re-enactor. And then when he retired from formal education he discovered a way of combining his love of science and alchemy with the h...

Returning to the great mead hall of the gods with "glorious purpose" is ⁨@SamFlegalart⁩ of Fateful Signs, as his latest artistic translation of Old Norse poetics is now LIVE on Kickstarter and in this third edition, the focus is all on Loki and this most popular to many, but unknown to many more, manuscript, the Lokasenna. "Fateful Signs presents "The Illustrated Lokasenna,” a collection of art by...

In this episode, special guest Chris Tuckley (who is leading a million-pound project at Selby Abbey) joins me in Valhalla to share his experience and encounters of a piece of vikings in popular culture that is both overlooked and otherwise forgotten - Erik the Viking. And viewers/listeners may be surprised to learn that the late Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) actually wrote a children's book B...

This episode of Valhalla Conversations is dedicated to comic artist, Tim Odland who sadly passed away this summer of 2025. Tim's life long dream was to illustrate comics for ⁨@imagecomics⁩ and 'Beware The Eye Of Odin' is that comic, that dream. I will treasure my copy as an example of Tim's extraordinary talent. Thank you for your dream, Tim. Rest in Peace. After a hiatus over September and Octobe...

gcjshxi5 Regular followers/listeners may be wondering where Episode 19 is of our usual monthly Valhalla Conversations podcast series? Well - the answer is that due to a very important debut article which is consuming all my available time and energy I am pausing content creation, including podcast recording with several exciting new guests until November. Consider Valhalla closed for cleaning if y...

Behind every great man, is a great woman - and in the 11th century, there were many men claiming, taking or inheriting the throne of England, and thus there were also many great women. Following the debut of BBC's King & Conqueror historical drama - I invite historian Sharon Bennett Connolly onto the podcast to discuss the very real lives of these remarkable female figures, who all had their o...

Joining me in this month's episode is comic writer ⁨@Zackkaps⁩ , we will be discussing Kill All Immortals ( ⁨@darkhorsecomics⁩ ) with spoilers and exploring his creative and cleverly inspired choice to use a family of Vikings, and a particular famous family for those in the US, to grant them immortality and billionaire level wealth. We discuss greed, freedom, independence at what cost, the percept...

Joining me this month as my special guest, is author Kaitlin Felix as we discuss and explore her stereotype smashing historical fiction novel, Ran's Daughters, who feature a remarkable cast of Norse women and one heck of a historical adventure! If you like authors Bernard Cornwell, Giles Kristian, Justin Hill, then you will LOVE Kaitlin's book. I was an ARC reader for it before release and I read...

Join me in discovering a stunning set of special photographs and their talented photographer. We meet a very unique and talented photographer, Jenn Robinson, who is also a near decade long member of Regia Anglorum, and her amazing photographs that have captured moments from the legends of the Norse pantheon. See them in full glory at her website: https://jenniferpetersphoto.com/reenactment And fin...

Joining me for this month's episode is a good friend of mine, Genevieve Gornichec, due to our shared passion for all things Norse and I'm delighted to finally after years of talking online about her wonderful Norse Fantasy and Norse History books, 'The Witch's Heart' and 'The Weaver and the Witch Queen'. Learn what inspired both stories about remarkable female figures of mythology and history, her...