Between Two Ravens podcaster

A solo episode by David, where I have re-translated the Skaldic poem Haustlong which was featured in Episode 10 - Thor's Journey Part 1. Shawn and I found the poem really difficult to understand when we read it during episode 10, and I got a bit obsessed with trying to understand what they were actually going for in the Old Norse poem. As I started…

Part 2 of our recap on the god, Thor. In this episode we discuss a few of the stories where Thor may have shown personal growth and reflection in his action. Where Thor, without his hammer Mjollnir, relies on the help of others and potentially his own previous experiences to succeed. We also discuss his death at Ragnarök where he initially stands s…

Part 1 of 2 on Thor’s Hero’s Journey. Shawn recaps the myths where Thor learns painful lessons along his journey, either from his father Odin, Loki, or other powerful Giants. David reads the Skaldic poem Haustlong, which is a ‘chock-full-of-kennings’ rendition of Thor’s battle with Hrungnir. Thor’s early hero’s journey reinforces the importance of …

Shawn discusses the life of Penda: Last Pagan King of Mercia, as told in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" and Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of the English People". 7th Century England saw many of the Petty Kingdoms converting to Christianity. However, King Penda of Mercia (626-655ce) remained a staunch pagan up until his death. During his reign he rava…

Shawn and David wrap up their series on the journey of Odin, from his birth to his death at Ragnarök. This week they focus primarily on what they consider to be an older Odin contemplating his life and mortality, and ask the question "Did Odin die a good death?" when swallowed by the wolf, Fenrir. The pair also discuss the idea of meditating on one…

Shawn and David continue part 2 of 3: The Journey of Odin. We continue with Odin’s stories of meddling in the affairs of mortals and gods. Odin, the King of the Gods, struggles to understand the ‘Good Father’ Archetype. We get a bit deep talking about the structure of the human psyche, whether God(s) exist or not, and whether immortality is really …

Shawn and David recap the journey of Odin in a 3 part series. Part one is Odin’s younger years. Odin’s origin and the birth of the gods. Odin’s adventures to gain wisdom, poetry, and magic spells. David and Shawn muse on the idea of why Odin is seeking Wisdom from The Feminine, what Odin has to sacrifice, and why it all has to do with learning to f…

In this episode, Shawn discusses the figure of Cerdic, the supposed first king of Wessex as told in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Cerdic and his son Cynric formed the kingdom in the year 519 ce. 400 years later, his house and descendants would form the Kingdom of England, a kingdom which still stands today in 2023 with King Charles III. The chronicle …

In this episode, Shawn and David discuss chapters 52 and 53 of Gylfaginning from the Prose Edda, which details the aftermath and rebirth of Ragnarök. They also further discuss the similarities with this story and Revelations from the Holy Bible. Shawn also talks about how he was the original "Shawn the Valet" and hints that Marvel owes him some mon…

In this episode Shawn and David discuss the battle of Ragnarök. We see the deaths of many of our favorite characters of Norse Mythology. ....It uhhhh, does NOT go well for the gods. David also is very excited that he watched a movie this century and was keen to discuss Thor: Love and Thunder. Ways to support us: If you have been enjoying our show, …

Our first ever live Fireside Chat! In this episode the hosts (Shawn and David obviously) and fans discuss (over drinks) the poem Vǫlundarkviða from the Poetic Edda. The poem details the story of a talented elf's fall into a corrupted sole as he takes revenge on a king of men, Nithuth... We thank everyone for taking there time to join us for the eve…

To kick off Season 3 Shawn and David are talking about Ragnarok. Loki is freed from his bonds and he is joined by his children Fenrir, Jormungandr, Hel and her army of the dead, The sons of Muspell (an army of Fire Giants), and an army of Frost Giants for good measure. It's a wild scene, but as David points out, not quite as wild as the book of Rev…

David interviews Simon Drew, Poet, Podcaster, and Founder of The Walled Garden Philosophical Society. In our conversation, we talk about the founding of The Walled Garden, and it's mission of "finding Wisdom, wherever it might be found". How poetry and mysticism contribute to the mission of a philosophical society. We discuss pathways to initiation…

David brings a both light hearted and serious look at the celebration of Yule. A completely non-comprehensive take on the idea of celebrating the Winter Solstice from an archetypal perspective and reflecting on our modern traditions that reflect back to a much earlier time before the Christianization of the season. The Recipe for Wassail: https://t…

"The Wanderer" - A poem by Shawn Gaich to celebrate the Winter Solstice and the Holiday Season. 4 years ago, Shawn's colleagues at work asked him to write a holiday poem. So of course he writes a poem where Odin (The Wanderer) toys with the souls of mortals. Though the poem was lost, Shawn was able to remember enough of it and fill in the blanks ev…

Season 2, Episode 26. Shawn and David conclude the season long series on Loki: the cause of and solution to all of life's problems. Shawn recaps the adventures of Loki up to this point, and we explore the sections of Lokasenna and Gylfaginning Chapter 50 which provide the story of Loki fleeing from the Aesir after his involvement in the death of Ba…

S2 Episode 25: B2R Short Norse Mythology and Exploring the Shadow. David shares his ideas on why there is a connection between Stoic Philosophy, Jungian Psychology, and Norse Mythology. They are all methods of seeking wisdom and healing the human soul. I share my personal take on why Norse Mythology is the ideal mythology for understanding the arch…

S2 Episode 24: The Vikings of North America II: The Saga of the Greenlanders In this episode, Shawn discusses another version of the Norse discovery and settlement of Greenland, along with the settlement of North America, as told in "The Saga of The Greenlanders", a source written in the early to mid 13th Century. This story shows a similar but dif…

S2 Episode 23: The Vikings of North America: Eirik the Red's Saga In this episode, Shawn discusses the tale of the Norse discovery and settlement of Greenland, along with the accidental discovery by Leif Erikson of North America, as told in "Eirik the Red's Saga", a source written in the early 13th century. Although the story details the lives of t…

S2 Episode 22: B2R Short: The "Historical" Sons of Freyr In this episode, Shawn discusses the family line of the Ynglings. According to Snorri Sturlason's work "Ynglinga Saga", this family line supposedely started with a humanized version of the Vanir god, Njord (and his son, Freyr). The story states that Njord was a king in Uppsala, Sweden. Over t…

Season 2 Episode 2: Freyr’s “Courtship” of Gerder (Part 2) This week Shawn and David wrap up the 2 part series on the story of how Freyr sends his servant, Skirnir, to propose to the giantess Gerdr on his behalf. Last week with them discussing Chapter 37 of Gylfaginning from the Prose Edda; however, this week them discussing its Poetic Edda counter…

Shawn and David present "Lokasenna - A Radio Drama" In celebration of releasing our 50th episode. Share your vote for your favorite God/Goddess/Voice Actor on Twitter @TwoRavenPodcast Loki - The Trickster with a big mouth. Odin - King of the gods and Loki’s blood brother who swore an oath to listen to Loki’s bullshit. Bragi - The God of poetry and …

Season 2 Episode 19 Part 1 of 2 Frey's "Courtship" of Gerdr Shawn and David tell the story of Frey the lovesick lover from Snori’s Prose Edda Frey shows up in relatively few stories, besides his arrival with the Aesir in a hostage exchange with the Vanir, Lokasenna, and Skirnismal - the story of Frey gaining the hand of the giantess Gerd, through t…

Season 2, Episode 18. Part 3 of 3 for Lokasenna (Loki’s Quarrel). We complete Loki’s comedy roast of the Aesir Gods, with insults against Heimdall, Skadi, Sif (Poor Sif, what did she ever do wrong?) and Byggvir’s wife Beyla. Thor shows up and puts a bit of fear in Loki, but not before previews that the end of the Gods is nigh. Look forward to our f…

Season 2, Episode 17. Lokasenna (Part 2 of 3). Loki’s Quarrel. In this episode, Shawn and David continue their series on Loki with part 2 of 3 of the Poetic Edda poem, Lokasenna (Specifically stanzas 29-46). Loki continues his efforts to insult nearly every god present, adding Njorth, Frey, Freya, Byggvir, and Tyr to his already large list. Loki se…

This week we improvise a short “bonus” episode, as we were inspired to really answer the question of what evidence supports the idea of Odin and Loki being “blood brothers” or even possibly actual brothers. There are certainly interesting parallels between Loki and Odin and inconsistent sources as to whether Loki and Odin could be long time traveli…

Season 2, Episode 15. Lokasenna (Part 1 of 3). Loki’s Quarrel. David and Shawn return from break and continue the series on Loki: the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems. Loki is in rare form and decides to provoke a fight while the Gods are having a party at Aegir’s hall. Loki roasts the gods one by one, as they make weak attempts to c…

David presents a short solo episode on the definition of the Archetype of the Psychopath based on Adolph Guggenbühl-Craig’s book “The Emptied Soul”. What does a psychopath have to do with Norse Mythology? Well apparently a lot, as Guggenbühl-Craig explicitly compares Norse Mythology to a state of “psychopathic depression” and nihilism. David critiq…

David put together a bonus short episode this week, talking more about the mythological idea of a Walled Garden and more practically what The Walled Garden Philosophical Society is all about. There will be a regular short episode to be released on Friday. The Walled Garden: https://thewalledgarden.com/ The Philosophers: https://thewalledgarden.com/…

Shawn presents a short solo episode during our brief mid-season break. Shawn talks about the history of Snori Sturluson’s Prose Edda and the book Gylfaggining. Outlining the chapters where King Gylfi visits Asgard to question the gods, creating a literary device for Snorri to share mythological lore. Shawn gives a summary of the sections of Gylfagg…

Season 2, Episode 11. The third and final installment in our series on the Ominous Dreams of the Beautiful Balder. Continuing Chapter 49 of Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda. A funeral pyre boat is prepared for Balder. Many of the gifts of the gods are sent along with Balder for his trip down the river Gjoll (again, not a river in Switzerland). Odin’s…

Season 2, Episode 10. Continuing our series on the Ominous Dreams of the Beautiful Balder. Chapter 49 of Gylfaganing in the Prose Edda. Odin fears that his son’s premonitions of death will come true and Balder’s mother, Frigg, obtains the oaths of all the dangers of the natural world so that they will not harm her son. Loki returns and wants to pla…

In this episode, Shawn and David discuss Balder's Draumar, a poem that is typically found in copies of the Poetic Edda, though not found in the Codex Regius Manuscript. In this short poem, Odin travels to Hel (Niflheim) to find out why his son Balder is having ominous dreams foretelling his own death. Of course the only way to do this (It is Odin, …

Continuing with the “Monstrous Children of Loki”, This week we discuss Fenrir the Wolf and his particular connection with the god Tyr. Shawn discusses once again the idea of fate in this myth, as the gods take action on Fenrir to prevent his role in Ragnarök, are they actually helping to expedite it? David includes some interpretations on Tyr the K…

Season 2, Episode 7, We return to the stories of Loki, “The cause of and solution to all of life’s problems.” This week Loki settles down and becomes a family man. Raising one or two children with the goddess Sigyn and he has three legendary children with the Giant Angrboda of Jotunheim: Fenrir the Wolf, Jormungandr the World Serpent, and Hel the g…

We are taking a bit of a break this week and releasing a short episode. David had some interpretations on S2 Episode 4 that came to him a few days after the episode was released and clarifying his explanation of how to make sense of Loki's "sacrifice". We will be back next week continuing the series on Loki. Shawn is also working on another solo sh…

Our third guest interview. Kyle Kuypers is a friend/co-worker of Shawn and a generally eclectic individual who is passionate about Mythology, Story Telling, Dungeons & Dragons, and he co-hosts a fan podcast about the TV series Vanderpump Rules. We talk about Hero’s Journey, the flawed, “very human” Norse Gods. Kyle explains the history of Dungeons …

In this episode, Shawn and David discuss the myth about how Loki offers a set of ungivable gifts to a giant who was tasked to build (or repair?) the walls of Asgard. The catch being that the giant would need to finish the wall within a certain thought to be impossible timeframe. However, due to the giants trusty horse, Svadilfari, the giant seems o…

Continuing our series on “Loki - The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” Loki has pissed off Skadi, the giant goddess of hunting and skiing, by getting her father Thjazi killed. Loki solves problems the only way he knows how. By tricking her into marrying Njord rather than her preferred groom, the beautiful Baldur, and then Loki tri…

Season 2 Episode 2. Continuing our series on “Loki - The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” Loki gets himself in a pickle and the only solution is to sell out the goddess Idunn to the giant Thjazi. The only problem is, all of the Aesir are dependent on Idunn to supply them with magic apples that give the gift of eternal youth. Unde…

Episode description: The start of Season 2! Shawn and David discuss the myth of Sif’s Golden Hair and Loki’s gifts for the gods from The Prose Edda, Skaldskaparmal. Loki creates one problem after another, but it all pays off for the gods in the end. Shawn provides some context on sources outside of Prose Edda relating to the gifts of the gods and t…

In this episode Shawn discusses Viking Age England from 787-878 CE in part 1 of the series as told by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. He briefly discusses the first centuries of Anglo-Saxon England in the lead up to the Viking Age. He then goes on to discuss the Viking Age itself along with the early raids, and the lead up to the arrival of the Great He…

This week David is interviewing Ashley McKenna, a seeker of Wisdom with education in Transformational Psychology and experience related to Shamanism. David and Ashley look at the myth Voluspa and get Ashley’s interpretation; not only what does the myth mean, but what does it make you feel? We talk about phenomenology in psychology and Ashley shares…

Season 0 "Episode 0.2". This is the first episode we recorded December 9, 2021. In the initial planning episode we talk about what we think our podcast might be about and testing how bad our recording equipment is. Feel free to skip this episode, unless you are interested in our brainstorming process. In this episode David and Shawn describe how we…

This week David is sharing his thoughts on the psychological significance of divination, using the I Ching, the ancient Chinese “book of changes,” as an example. I discuss the chapter written by Carl Jung on his interpretation of what is happening when someone does divination. I connect this back to what might be learned about the process of divina…

Episode 21 is our first guest interview. Our good friend Chuck Sebian-Lander is a poet, Master of Fine Arts, and published poetry translator. He helps us understand how poetry and the English language works. What decisions have to be made when translating poetry across languages, cultures, and The Ages? We spend a little time going deep on understa…

This week it is David's turn to do a short solo episode. I am reading a blog post I wrote on the topic of Fate versus Free Will, as it relates to the poem Grimnismal. I connect ideas of Stoic and other Philosophy to the existential questions of how do we choose to act, when fate may appear to be predetermined? What does it mean to love your fate (A…

This week is part 2 of our episode on the Poetic Edda poem, Grímnismál . This week we discuss stanzas 21-54 of the poem, and how often Odin seems to take a brake in delivering his cosmic lore in order to ask the Valkyries and other gods for a little help (or a drink). Odin eventually reveals who he is and delivers the list of names he has been call…

In this episode, Shawn discusses the Prologue of "The Prose Edda", and supposed historical family line of Odin, and their similarities with the fiction stories, "The Saga of the Volsungs", "The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok", but more interestingly, its similarities with the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" which is primarily a historical work. In looking at these…

This week is part 1 of our episode on the Poetic Edda poem, Grímnismál . This week we discuss the prologue, featuring two princes, Agnar and Geirroth. Agnar gains the favor of the goddess Frigg and Geirroth is favored by Frigg's husband Odin. Odin is up to his usual shenanigans and this time it catches up to him. We discuss the similarities with ot…