Barbarian Warlords of Free Germania (Pt.1) - The Brute Norse Podcast Ep.3

Archaeologist Aksel Klausen came knocking to discuss the ecstacy of gold in the Nordic Iron Age, weapon sacrifices, and the emergence of ancient Germanic warrior kleptocrats. A royal mind germ that would only grow as Rome's power grew weaker, giving birth to powerful empires - and eventually the nation state. This is the first half of my two-part interview with a man who will no doubt visit us again in the future. The episode is available through Youtube, iTunes, Soundcloud, and any podcast app worth mentioning. If you want a head start on all future episodes, or hear Aksel and I yack on about ancient booze (recipes included), then pledge your support over at the Brute Norse Patreon page today. The gods will be most pleased. 

For those who want to go beyond:

• Curious to know more about Aksel's research and the princely burial at Avaldsnes? Check out his Master's Thesis here.
• We also mentioned the research of our friend Håkon Reiersen, who just released his PhD on Roman and Migration Era Central places in  West Norway. Check it out.

The Brute Norse Podcast ep. 2: What the Romans Did for Us

It's been an indecent while since the last episode of the Brute Norse podcast hit the web. Now that autumn is in the air and I awake from the slothful haze of summer it's time to pick up the speed, and thus I bring you this hour long retreat into the Germanic tribal hinterlands.

The Germanic tribes are often credited with the destruction of the Western Roman Empire. There are no Roman roads in Scandinavia, still the empire resonated in the cultural memory of the Vikings. From Teutoburger Wald to the Taliban, Brute Norse joins forces with Krister Vasshus, PhD student in onomastic sciences at the University of Bergen, to discuss just how far the Roman shadow fell beyond its Northern border.

The episode is now available on Soundcloud and all podcast apps worth their salt. Image courtesy the University of Bergen.

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Brute Norse Podcast Ep.1: The Archaeology of Emotion with Leszek Gardeła

It is my supreme pleasure to reveal the next chapter in the Brute Norse saga, namely the spanking new Brute Norse Podcast. Keeping up with the public can be a difficult task. I guess it's all about meeting your audience where they are at. While articles have their charm, they lack the versatility and perks of the podcast format. My readers have been suggesting I try it out for some time, and I admit that I've shied away from certain topics in the past, thinking they deserved something more sparkly than my usual article format. With the recent revamp of the blog I think the time is ripe to try something fresh and new.

A podcast allows me to let someone else do the talking for a change, and lets me invite people with talents and knowledge I may not possess. This episode was a treat to produce for that exact reason. I the had pleasure of meeting up with Leszek Gardeła, who is an assistant professor of archaeology at the University of Rzeszów, Poland. A rising star of viking scholarship, his vast body of work includes magical staffs, ritual specialists, the viking diaspora in Poland, and the spooky world of "atypical burials". We sat down for a discussion about the ambiguity of magic, morbid viking burials, and the ethics of studying the dead. He recently published his doctoral thesis about magic staffs in the viking era. I've featured his work previously in my article on the magical practice of seiðr.

Leszek frequently works with the Polish artist and illustrator Mirosław Kuźma to reconstruct the various graves he studies, adding imagination and color to the dark past. I highly recommend you check out his work.

As for the podcast itself: It is now available through Soundcloud, iTunes, and any podcast app worth it's salt, so be sure to subscribe!

Trekroner-Gryderhöj A 505, by Mirosław Kuźma