This is the discussion post for episode 31A, that tells the first half of the story of Arrow-Odd, a legendary Viking.

Summary:

The saga of the legendary Viking Arrow-Odd contains trolls, ogres, giants, magic arrows, and a sorceress getting smacked in the nose. The mistakes of one Viking's past...or just a Viking being a Viking, haunt him. There's a dangerous Viking teddy bear, and if an angry, famed warrior offers to show you his arrows up close, do not take him up on that offer.

On the creature of the week, you'll see that when you're at the supermarket, someone might just secretly be a giant purple blob that lives in the river.

 

Odd Man Out

This is one of those stories that surprised even me. I went digging because I wanted to do another Viking story. I am moving this week, so I figured it would be a relatively quick and easy story. If I have anything close to a specialty, it is the Vikings. This was supposed to be an easy one...and then I read the story.

It is fantastic, and next week is even better. It has all the supernatural craziness that I love in these old legends, but it is also a very grounded, human story. Odd is simultaneously the hero and a villain, and his continuing attempt to escape his past is a compelling tale. Because of the move, I've already recorded next week. The end of the story is crushing.

Elaborations and Errata

Permia

Also known as Bjarmaland, it is in northern Russia. It's highlighted in red in the map below, from Wikipedia.

1181px-Arkhangelsk_in_Russia_(+Nenets_hatched).svg

Things I left out

So many things. This is a shaggy dog tale. Hjalmar, for one, had a whole love story with a princess in Sweden. We might tell it someday, and it's a fairly famous story. Hjalmar, Thord, and Asmund fight several other Viking warriors, which are described in painstaking detail. Odd also fought a giant vulture and its children and helped the giant out with his dog fight for the throne. Really, it was a literal dog fight. How did Odd help him win? He brought the prince  a bear to fight the dogs. Spoiler alert, when bears fight dogs, bears win. I'll list more of Odd's exploits next week, but I am guilty of streamlining some of it this week. If you're interested in learning more and reading the actual story, check out this book. It's not an affiliate link because I'm tired and I can't remember the Amazon login.

 

Music:

"Theme I" by Steve Combs and Delta Is | "Sirian Star" by Ars Sonor  | "Casual Uncertainties" by Gurdonark | "Words Fall Apart (Instrumental)" by Josh Woodward | "Scale-Free" by Oorlab | "Buffering" by Quiet Music for Tiny Robots | "Polar Vortex" by Quiet Music for Tiny Robots | "Peekdoor Quest" by Rolemusic