Between Two Ravens: A Norse Mythology Podcast

In this episode, Shawn and David continue their series on Loki with part 2 of 3 of the Poetic Edda poem, Lokasenna (Specifically stanzas 29-46). Loki continues his efforts to insult nearly every god present, adding Njorth, Frey, Freya, Byggvir, and Tyr to his already large list. Loki seems to have specific attacks implying that some of the Vanir gods, (Njorth, Frey, and Freya) have a tendency to b...

This week we improvise a short “bonus” episode, as we were inspired to really answer the question of what evidence supports the idea of Odin and Loki being “blood brothers” or even possibly actual brothers.  There are certainly interesting parallels between Loki and Odin and inconsistent sources as to whether Loki and Odin could be long time traveling companions or even brothers.  David gives some...

David and Shawn return from break and continue the series on Loki: the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems. Loki is in rare form and decides to provoke a fight while the Gods are having a party at Aegir’s hall. Loki roasts the gods one by one, as they make weak attempts to clap back at him. We discuss Stanzas 1 through 29, breaking where Loki reveals to Frigg that he was responsible fo...

David presents a short solo episode on the definition of the Archetype of the Psychopath based on Adolph Guggenbühl-Craig’s book “The Emptied Soul”. What does a psychopath have to do with Norse Mythology? Well apparently a lot, as Guggenbühl-Craig explicitly compares Norse Mythology to a state of “psychopathic depression” and nihilism. David critiques Guggenbühl-Craig’s understanding of Nordic Myt...

David put together a bonus short episode this week, talking more about the mythological idea of a Walled Garden and more practically what The Walled Garden Philosophical Society is all about. There will be a regular short episode to be released on Friday. The Walled Garden: https://thewalledgarden.com/  The Philosophers: https://thewalledgarden.com/philosophers Simon Drew: Poet and host of The Pra...

Shawn presents a short solo episode during our brief mid-season break. Shawn talks about the history of Snori Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the book Gylfaggining. Outlining the chapters where King Gylfi visits Asgard to question the gods, creating a literary device for Snorri to share mythological lore.  Shawn gives a summary of the sections of Gylfaggining which roughly parallel our journey on the p...

The third and final installment in our series on the Ominous Dreams of the Beautiful Balder. Continuing Chapter 49 of Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda. A funeral pyre boat is prepared for Balder. Many of the gifts of the gods are sent along with Balder for his trip down the river Gjoll (again, not a river in Switzerland). Odin’s lad, Hermod, is tasked with traveling to the underworld in order to ask...

Continuing our series on the Ominous Dreams of the Beautiful Balder.  Chapter 49 of Gylfaganing in the Prose Edda.  Odin fears that his son’s premonitions of death will come true and Balder’s mother, Frigg, obtains the oaths of all the dangers of the natural world so that they will not harm her son.  Loki returns and wants to play a little game. The gods attempt to injure Balder to prove that the...

In this episode, Shawn and David discuss Balder's Draumar, a poem that is typically found in copies of the Poetic Edda, though not found in the Codex Regius Manuscript. In this short poem, Odin travels to Hel (Niflheim) to find out why his son Balder is having ominous dreams foretelling his own death. Of course the only way to do this (It is Odin, after all), is to wake a witch from the dead and a...

Continuing with the “Monstrous Children of Loki”, This week we discuss Fenrir the Wolf and his particular connection with the god Tyr. Shawn discusses once again the idea of fate in this myth, as the gods take action on Fenrir to prevent his role in Ragnarök, are they actually helping to expedite it? David includes some interpretations on Tyr the King, the Warrior, and the Judge and how some Greek...

We return to the stories of Loki, “The cause of and solution to all of life’s problems.” This week Loki settles down and becomes a family man. Raising one or two children with the goddess Sigyn and he has three legendary children with the Giant Angrboda of Jotunheim: Fenrir the Wolf, Jormungandr the World Serpent, and Hel the goddess of the underworld. The Aesir are not amused and fear the harm th...

We are taking a bit of a break this week and releasing a short episode. David had some interpretations on S2 Episode 4 that came to him a few days after the episode was released and clarifying his explanation of how to make sense of Loki's "sacrifice". We will be back next week continuing the series on Loki. Shawn is also working on another solo short episode coming soon. David's blog post associa...

Our third guest interview. Kyle Kuypers is a friend/co-worker of Shawn and a generally eclectic individual who is passionate about Mythology, Story Telling, Dungeons & Dragons, and he co-hosts a fan podcast about the TV series Vanderpump Rules. We talk about Hero’s Journey, the flawed, “very human” Norse Gods. Kyle explains the history of Dungeons & Dragons, the table top role playing game...

In this episode, Shawn and David discuss the myth about how Loki offers a set of ungivable gifts to a giant who was tasked to build (or repair?) the walls of Asgard. The catch being that the giant would need to finish the wall within a certain thought to be impossible timeframe. However, due to the giants trusty horse, Svadilfari, the giant seems on pace to finish in time. The gods, once again pis...

Continuing our series on “Loki - The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” Loki has pissed off Skadi, the giant goddess of hunting and skiing, by getting her father Thjazi killed. Loki solves problems the only way he knows how. By tricking her into marrying Njord rather than her preferred groom, the beautiful Baldur, and then Loki tries to make Skadi laugh by tying one half of a cord...

Continuing our series on “Loki - The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” Loki gets himself in a pickle and the only solution is to sell out the goddess Idunn to the giant Thjazi. The only problem is, all of the Aesir are dependent on Idunn to supply them with magic apples that give the gift of eternal youth.  Under threat of torture and execution, Loki once again has to finish what...

The start of Season 2! Shawn and David discuss the myth of Sif’s Golden Hair and Loki’s gifts for the gods from The Prose Edda, Skaldskaparmal. Loki creates one problem after another, but it all pays off for the gods in the end.  Shawn provides some context on sources outside of Prose Edda relating to the gifts of the gods and the dwarven smiths. David interprets potential meanings of the symbols...

In this episode Shawn discusses Viking Age England from 787-878 CE in part 1 of the series as told by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. He briefly discusses the first centuries of Anglo-Saxon England in the lead up to the Viking Age. He then goes on to discuss the Viking Age itself along with the early raids, and the lead up to the arrival of the Great Heathen Army in 866. One by one the kingdoms fell, u...

This week David is interviewing Ashley McKenna, a seeker of Wisdom with education in Transformational Psychology and experience related to Shamanism. David and Ashley look at the myth Voluspa and get Ashley’s interpretation; not only what does the myth mean, but what does it make you feel? We talk about phenomenology in psychology and Ashley shares how the idea of mythological Origin Story can app...

Season 0 "Episode 0.2". This is the first episode we recorded December 9, 2021. In the initial planning episode we talk about what we think our podcast might be about and testing how bad our recording equipment is. Feel free to skip this episode, unless you are interested in our brainstorming process. In this episode David and Shawn describe how we got into this whole Norse Mythology idea, Shawn t...

This week David is sharing his thoughts on the psychological significance of divination, using the I Ching, the ancient Chinese “book of changes,” as an example. I discuss the chapter written by Carl Jung on his interpretation of what is happening when someone does divination. I connect this back to what might be learned about the process of divination using Nordic Runes, by examining the process...

Episode 21 is our first guest interview. Our good friend Chuck Sebian-Lander is a poet, Master of Fine Arts, and published poetry translator. He helps us understand how poetry and the English language works. What decisions have to be made when translating poetry across languages, cultures, and The Ages? We spend a little time going deep on understanding, from Chuck’s perspective, what decisions Ja...

This week it is David's turn to do a short solo episode. I am reading a blog post I wrote on the topic of Fate versus Free Will, as it relates to the poem Grimnismal. I connect ideas of Stoic and other Philosophy to the existential questions of how do we choose to act, when fate may appear to be predetermined?  What does it mean to love your fate (Amor Fati)? Between Two Ravens Blog: https://twora...

This week is part 2 of our episode on the Poetic Edda poem, Grímnismál . This week we discuss stanzas 21-54 of the poem, and how often Odin seems to take a brake in delivering his cosmic lore in order to ask the Valkyries and other gods for a little help (or a drink). Odin eventually reveals who he is and delivers the list of names he has been called. Do we all want to be remembered by all of our...

In this episode, Shawn discusses the Prologue of "The Prose Edda", and supposed historical family line of Odin, and their similarities with the fiction stories, "The Saga of the Volsungs", "The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok", but more interestingly, its similarities with the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" which is primarily a historical work. In looking at these family lineages, Shawn discusses his fascination...