Between Two Ravens: A Norse Mythology Podcast

In this special crossover episode, Shawn brings an installment of his series Tales of Ireland from the podcast Sagas w/ Shawn – Gods and Kings over to Between Two Ravens. Since Ireland hasn’t yet made an appearance on BTR, this felt like the perfect excuse to totaly not "shamelessly" plug his other project. In this St. Patrick’s Day episode of Sagas w/ Shawn - Gods and Kings, we dive into one of t...

S6E2 David and Shawn are back for the first time since February 2025. We have a bunch of life updates. David presents his "explain it like I'm 5" (ELI5) version of the history of the isle of Britain prior to the fall of Rome. I want to give credit and encourage you to check out some podcasts that inspired my search to understand the history of England, Wales, and Scotland.  Welsh History Podcast:...

S6E1 David kicks off Season 6 with a story of Merlin. Why Merlin you ask? Isn't this a Norse Mythology Podcast? You'll have to listen to the episode to find out. David talks about what has been interesting him lately and trying to catch up with Shawn's understanding of Anglo-Saxon history. Hey you're reading the episode description. You must really enjoy our content. Do you ever listen all the way...

S5E21 Volsung Poems: The Last Sons of Gudrun (Part 7) The conclusion of this meant to be short series, deep diving into the poems that underlie the Saga of the Volsungs.  It has been quite a journey. If you have been following along, we have seen how the original sources are flawed. Some missing pages and stanzas. Some seem to be early poems, sometimes rearranged or reconstructed. Some are entirel...

S5E20 Volsung Poems: Two Poems of Atli (Part 5) David continues his series of not so short solo episodes, deep diving into the Poems of the Poetic Edda which inspired the Saga of the Volsungs. In this episode: The Lay of Atli The Greenlandic Lay of Atli These poems connect the legends of Atli the Hun, to his wife Gudrun and the poems of Sigurd and his decent from the Norse Gods.  Atli kills Gudrun...

Shawn has launched a solo podcast: Sagas w/Shawn – Gods and Kings. Don't worry, Between Two Ravens is not ending. This new series explores legendary and historical figures from Norse mythology and beyond, tracing the line between gods and kings, myth and history. Sort of like my solo episodes on "historical" figures with more of my stupid voice. I'll eventually discuss other world mythologies and...

In this episode, Shawn and David wrap up the series on Ragnar Lobrok (cue dozens of solo episodes where Shawn and David have not in fact wrapped up their series on Ragnar Lodbrok), discussing chapters 18 - 20. In tandem with "The Tale of Ragnars Sons", you find out about the fates of the sons of Ragnar, including their deaths. There are then a couple of chapters of some nameless characters (well o...

S5E17 Volsung Poems: The Children of Giuki and Budli (Part 5) David continues his series of not so short solo episodes, deep diving into the Poems of the Poetic Edda which inspired the Saga of the Volsungs. In this episode: The Second Poem of Gudrun. The Death of the Niflungs. Oddrun's Lament. These relatively late poems bridge The First Poem of Gudrun to the poems about Atli and the early poem La...

In this episode, Shawn and David explore the aftermath of Ragnar Lodbrok’s death at the hands of King Aela of Northumbria, which initially causes a rift between his sons. While most are consumed by raw fury and seek immediate vengeance, Ivar takes a more calculating approach. Yet, despite their differences, the brothers share a common purpose—King Ælla must pay for their father’s death. As events...

In this episode, Shawn and David discuss chapter 15 of "The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok". Despite his absence in the previous episode, Ragnar knows full well about the successful military campaigns of his sons. Despite his past of slaying a dragon/serpent and being a great king among men, Ragnar sees his son's exploits beginning to exceed his own. In what seems to be a dark age mid life crisis, Ragnar...

In this episode, the sons of Ragnar— Ivar, Bjorn, Hvitserk, and Sigurd—along with Ragnar's wife Aslaug, invade King Eystein’s land to avenge their fallen brothers, Eirik and Agnar. Facing yet another magical cow on the battlefield, Ivar the Boneless (if his ability to live without bones didn’t make it obvious) reveals his own magical abilities in taking on the cow. After the invasion, the sons (th...

S5E13 Volsung Poems: The Poems of Brynhild and Gudrun (Part 4)  David continues his series of not so short solo episodes, deep diving into the Poems of the Poetic Edda which inspired the Saga of the Volsungs. This is the story of the meeting of the hero with the beloved. The Valkyrie. I had to analyze the tragedy of Tristan and Iseult to find the archetypes which may be at play with the meeting of...

Shawn apologizes for his audio quality. He needed to switch to a headset last minute after already marking himself as using a speaker when he entered the recording room. He is an idiot. - Shawn In this episode, Shawn and David discuss chapters 9-11 of the "Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok". The duo discuss Ragnar playing politics with his vassals, specifically with a King Eystein, a man Ragnar gave much lan...

This is a short episode where David talks about why a person might want to study Norse Mythology, Poetry, and Archetypes. My hope is that this episode would be a good introduction for anyone who is not already following Shawn and I on our 2 year journey of exploring the myths of the Norse Gods and the hero Sagas of the Volsung family and Ragnar Lothbrook.  My takeaway is that archetypes help us fi...

In this episode, Shawn and David discuss chapters 5-8 of "The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok", which details a now adult Aslaug (still disguised as "Kraka", the daughter of a farmer) distracting the eyes of the men of Ragnar, then Ragnar himself.  They further go into their marriage and the birth of a few of their sons, including Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn, Hvitserk, and Rognvald.  The sons, ever aspiring t...

S5E9 - Tristant and Iseult: The Myth of Romantic Love. David presents a story that is a long time in the works. It is the story of Tristan and Iseult. The first European Romance story. It is a story I needed to explain to connect the Saga of Sigurd and the Dragon, with the love triangle drama of Sigurd, Brunhilde, and Gudrun.  This episode combines interpretations from Jungian authors Robert Johns...

Finally, Between Two Ravens starts their series on "The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok" after only saying they were going to start it 8,000 times. In this episode, Shawn and David discuss chapters 1-4 of the saga, which details the journey of Heimir and a 3 year old Aslaug, escaping the the chaos that resulted in the death of her parents (Sigurd the Dragon Slayer and Brynhild the Valkyrie) into a farm in...

S5E7 Volsung Poems: Sigurd the Dragon Slayer (Solo Short Part 3 of 5) David continues his series of shorts, deep diving into the Poems of the Poetic Edda which inspired the Saga of the Volsungs. Sigurd is the primary "hero's journey" story of Saga of the Volsungs. He is the dragon slayer, the man without fear, and he is destined to be the greatest of kings.  But Sigurd's story is a tragedy, he nev...

S5E6 Volsung Poems: Sinfjotli and Helgi (Solo Short Part 2 of 4)David continues his series of shorts, deep diving into the Poems of the Poetic Edda which inspired the Saga of the Volsungs. Sinfjotli and Helgi were the older half brothers of Sigurd the dragon slayer. They were Sigmund's first sons and set the stage for the fate which led Sigurd to become a hero. Helgi has three poems, The first Poe...

In this episode, Shawn discusses the kingdom of Kent, the first of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England post-Roman Britain as told by Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" and the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle".  Shawn delves into the legendary figures of Kent's inception, focusing on the brothers Hengest and Horsa, whose lineage traces back to the All-Father, Odin. He discusses King Aethe...

In this episode, Shawn and David delve deep into the immersive world of the Vikingverse with its creator and our special guest, Ian Sharpe. In this discussion, we uncover the alternate history where the norse religion and culture thrives, not succumbing to the influence of Christianity in the Dark Ages. Ian shares insights into his creation, spanning two books, a comic book series, and most recent...

S5E3 Volsung Poems: Ottar/Otter (Solo Short Part 1) David isn't quite ready to put the Saga of the Volsungs to rest. This is the first of a series of shorts on the Poems of the Poetic Edda which inspired the Saga of the Volsungs. As Shawn and I found in Season 4, Saga of the Volsungs has a few inconsistent parts, where the author appears to have tried to reconcile multiple sources into a coherent...

For our 100th episode (shit!!), Shawn discusses the origin of the sun and the moon, along with the origins of night and day in Norse Mythology, as told by Gylfaginning in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda. (Also with some stanzas from the Poetic Edda poems, Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál. In it Shawn also explores the idea of looking to the divine when humans cannot currently explain something, and compare...

In this episode, Shawn and David finally put the Volsung series behind them with and episode on,,,, the Volsungs. A recap of the series where we discuss the overall themes of the tragedy, and where we discuss what may seem to be the evilness of women, which seems to REALLY be the easy manipulation of men (gods we are stupid sometimes).... They also give a recap of the main players of the series. A...

Shawn and David finally wrap up the "The Saga of the Volsungs". Where Gudrun, fresh off of losing her 2 brothers, plots revenge on her husband Atli. After she takes care of him (and ugh her 2 sons with him), she then finds herself married for a 3rd time to a King Jonakr. Svanhild, daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun, also plays a part and does her fucked up duty as a princess in the dark ages and become...