Let me listen to vikings

March 7, 2014 7:58 AM

Does anyone know of any good podcasts or audio books covering viking history, Norse mythology or both? I'd very much like to learn about Vikings through my ears. Bonus points for series rather than one offs.
posted by merocet to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Best answer: If you can find a copy at your library (it's not cheap), the Teaching Company has a good set of video and audio lectures: The Vikings. The least-expensive purchase option is an audio download, which is $50, but you can often find the dvds at public and college libraries.
posted by bibliowench at 8:07 AM on March 7, 2014 [2 favorites]

Adding to bibliowench's answer above: the Teaching Company puts every course on sale for a steep discount at least once during the year. Best way to find sales, in my experience, is to just get on their mailing list.
posted by telophase at 8:42 AM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I find for topics like that, In Our Time from the BBC is a great resource. Looking at their archive page, it seems there are at least three episodes that would suit your fancy.
posted by General Malaise at 8:45 AM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Was also going to recommend In Our Time.
posted by Jahaza at 9:18 AM on March 7, 2014

Apologies for the one-off, but I like Stuff You Should Know for a general overview on a topic I am not familiar with. However, these two guys have often surprised me with some new tidbits or theory about a topic I am extensively familiar with. I was a viking n00b, so perhaps it is old hat that vikings were (maybe) tripping balls in battle. I found the whole thing pretty interesting and not what I expected going in.
posted by Lardmitten at 9:38 AM on March 7, 2014

You might also ask this question to the Viking Answer Lady. She has a contact email on her webpage.
posted by gudrun at 10:26 AM on March 7, 2014

Response by poster: I should have mentioned that I've listened to the In Our Time episodes (This week, Spartacus for anyone interested!)

That Teaching Company series looks good. I was hoping that Mike Duncan had given the Vikings the Rome treatment.

Thanks all.
posted by merocet at 1:36 PM on March 7, 2014

A lot of The Teaching Company's lectures are available through Audible for one credit including the Vikings. It's showing that it's available to purchase for $42.00 (that might be in AUD) if you don't have a membership. You don't get the course book but they're still great to listen to.
posted by poxandplague at 3:23 PM on March 7, 2014 [1 favorite]