Wednesday 8 May 2013

In Our (Saga) Time

Tomorrow -- Thursday 9th May -- is 'Climbing up day' (Uppstigingadagur, Ascension Day), a public holiday in Iceland and one which, a year ago, I spent engaged in the worldly ascent of the volcano/glacier Snæfellsjökull.

This time round I'm in London (an ascent of Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnjúkur, is scheduled for next weekend) but I'll be sending something of the spirit of Iceland up and out into the atmosphere live via BBC Radio 4 since the Icelandic sagas are the subject of tomorrow's episode of 'In Our Time' with presenter Melvyn Bragg. A link to information about the programme (and the podcast of it which will be available to download after the episode's gone out) is here. Saga manuscripts, saga landscapes, and sagas of outlaws are my primary remit though Melvyn has a reputation for liking to keep his guests on their toes so anything could happen...