Kormak's Saga (Part 2)
We continue with Kormak's Saga as a new lead character is introduced, Holmgang Bersi, who soon becomes ensnared in the drama of the cursed r...
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Medieval Death Trip
A podcast exploring the wit and weirdness of medieval texts
Episodes
20 of 130 episodesKormak's Saga (Part 1)
We inaugurate our first "Saga Summer" a bit late this year, but starting with an early poet's saga, a tale of love and betrayal, duels and m...
Concerning a Voyage to India via the Strait of Hormuz
As vacation season kicks off, we revisit 14th-century traveler Friar Odoric at the very start of his journey, as he crosses from the Black S...
Concerning Seizure and Possession (Part 2): Medieval Methods
We complete our look at epilepsy in the Middle Ages by considering how religion and medicine intersect in surviving medical texts and how cl...
Concerning Seizure and Possession (Part 1): The Greek Tradition
This episode we begin a two-part exploration into the understanding and treatment of epilepsy in the middle ages. But to get to the medieval...
Concerning the Life and Miracles of St. Winefred
As a follow-up to our 2025 saint's-life generating Advent Calendar game, we hear an actual medieval saint's life and discuss how we get some...
Appendix to Ep. 120: Some Sts. Valentines' Lives
In this prelude appendix to our episode on saint's lives, we hear versions of the life of St. Valentine from three different medieval source...
Concerning Hinzelmann the Kobold
As we enter the season of elves and Christmas spirits, we follow up on our fairy theme from last episode with a look at the famous 16th-cent...
Concerning Redcaps
For our eleventh anniversary episode, we follow the fairy path of the redcap, from recent cinema through tabletop gaming, into Victorian fol...
Concerning More 8th-Century Visions of Hell
This episode we continue further with Bede as he relates two more afterlife visions of a more infernal nature, and then we hear Gregory the...
Concerning the Near-Death Visions of Fursa and Dryhthelm
This episode we explore two glimpses of the afterlife presented by the Venerable Bede and consider how they relate to the modern conception...
The Voyage of the Uí Corra (Part 2)
This episode we finally enter the open ocean with the Uí Corra and their fellow pilgrims as they explore strange new lands, seek out new aft...
The Voyage of the Uí Corra (Part 1)
In this episode, we embark on another Irish adventure with the first part (of two) of "The Voyage of the Uí Corra," in which we don't actual...
St. Patrick's Letter to Coroticus
For this St. Patrick's Day, we finally present the last canonical text written by St. Patrick, his letter to Coroticus, completing the serie...
Concerning the Murder and Miracles of Kenelm of Mercia
This episode, we go into more depth with the legend of St. Kenelm (Cynehelm) and his jealous sister Quendrida (Cwenthryth). We also learn wh...
Concerning Conjoined Twins, Some Incorruptibles, and Royal Murders
We continue on from last episode's look at the Green Children of Woolpit with a further consideration of what it meant to wonder at a marvel...
Concerning the Green Children of Woolpit and Other Prodigies
This Halloween marks our 10th anniversary, and we observe it by hearing the earliest written accounts of one of the most well-known pieces o...
Concerning the Miseries of the Flesh according to Pope Innocent III
In this episode, we explore the tradition of contemptus mundi with a text all about how horrible it is to be a human being, On the Misery of...
MDT Ep. 108: Concerning the End of the Interdict and a Vexatious Prophet
We continue from our last episode into the years 1212-1214 in the Melrose Chronicle, where we come to the end of the interdict, and perhaps...
MDT Ep. 107: Concerning Portents, an Interdiction, Persecutions, Heresy, and a Year of Bloodshed
We return to the Melrose Chronicle with a notably nasty run of years from 1205 to 1211. We also consider why people -- medieval and modern -...