History-Makers: Iceland's #1 Menace, Snorri Sturluson

"Snorri Sturluson: Threat or Menace?"

SOURCES & Further Reading:
“Meeting the Norse Gods of the Viking Age” from “Norse Mythology” by Jackson Crawford.
“Skaldic Poetry and Sagas” from “The Vikings” by Kenneth W. Harl
“Snorri Sturluson and the Construction of Norse Mythography” by Margaret Clunies Ross, from “Writing Down the Myths” (2013) edited by Joseph Falaky Nagy

MUSIC:
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.

[mrmackinac]

Oh god, he finally did it. He actually talked about Snorri. Blue, blink twice if you need help.

[KianaWolf]

"This man is the equivalent of if William Shakespeare personally started the War of the Roses."
That's an evocative analogy. Also: _Yikes._

[unnarthorthorisson]

Icelander here: It's also OUR swagony. We've built like half our culture from that book. Whether that's a GOOD idea is questionable, but we damn done did it.

[elizaripper]

He’s not the insane Icelandic historian we deserved but he’s the one we…have.💙

[twojuiceman]

The fact that the Völuspá can be dated to the pre-Christian 900s based on vowel stress patterns is almost the coolest fact in here. Linguists are so cool.

[thedukeofchutney]

You know someone’s either crazy or brilliant when he’s described as: “The one who makes Diogenes seem tame.”

[hansoskar]

The "Aesir are Trojans" is almost Assassins Creed level of storyteling fuckery.

[merrittanimation]

Norse myth consists of:
Poems by (error not found)
Various offhand references elsewhere
And a book by THE MOST UNHINGED MAN IN NORWEGIAN AND ICELANDIC HISTORY

[mikewinans]

I saw Snorri Sturluson in the title and expected Red’s voice. Then I realized it was a History-Makers video and realized we were in for a treat today.

[parkerdixon-word]

"Grima Wormtongue Grindset" is a phrase I did not know I needed in my vocabulary.

[annekeener]

Now the complete and utter disdain Blue, Red, and Yellow have for Snorri makes perfect sense. Snorri has the troublemaking skills of Alcibiades while being a legitimate poet, running around until he got smacked in the face with the consequences of his actions.

[Rutgerman]

Its says a lot when even the title comes out the gate with "This man is nuts"

[KynaTiona]

Blue: "Here's why you shouldn't despise Snorri's writing so much."
Me: "Whoa?! Awesome, tha- "
Blue: "And here's why you should despise Snorri himself way more."
Me: "...nks..."

[matthewcline]

The concept that the poetic Edda is like a DBZ abridged to the post Christianized versions of the myths is wild, but less surprising than I expected.

[cheezemonkeyeater]

I love how straightforward Norse-based terms are.
"We need a name for a thing that represents all of us."
"ALLTHING!"

[tombouric]

The thought of William Shakespeare causing the War of the Roses just so he could have material for his plays is a blursed one.

[cycloneabsol]

OSP be like "Get me pictures of Sturluson!"

[minetieplays]

"iceland's agony is our swagony" is one hell of a quote

[bubbisvali]

Good to see my 32nd or something great-grandfather get the props he deserves.

[shadowldrago]

Not sure what makes me laugh harder, “Loki-brained”, “Horri Sturlson” or “Swagony”.