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b'As we have mentioned recently on social media, the great Matt Smith has agreed to join the Saga Thing team and provide us with an original drawing for each saga episode. We\\u2019re excited to be working with him. You\\u2019ll get a fuller appreciation of each image he creates for us by listening to the episode. I don\\u2019t think you\\u2019ll be surprised to hear that this image was inspired by one of the climaxes of the saga. One of the climaxes? Yes. Just one of many.\\xa0 Thanks again to Matt for donating his time and talents. Matt wrote and illustrated Barbarian Lord, a graphic novel heavily inspired by the Icelandic Sagas.\\xa0 You can see more of his work here: matt-illustrations.com. Welcome to the team, Matt! If you like what he\'s doing for Saga Thing, drop him a line and express your appreciation on Twitter, where he\'s @barbarianlord.\\nIn this episode, we discuss the first half of Kjalnesinga saga (The Saga of the People of Kjalarnes). You\\u2019re not alone if the name doesn\\u2019t ring a bell. This saga isn\\u2019t widely read or commented upon, despite being full of interesting tidbits for further discussion. For example, Kjalnesinga saga is the only saga whose action takes place within the modern boundaries of Reykjav\\xedk.\\xa0 If you\\u2019ve been to Iceland\\u2019s capital, then you\\u2019ve no doubt seen the impressive Mount Esja (Esjan) looming across the bay. This saga offers some clues about where the mountain and the places around it got their names, at least according to the saga author.\\xa0 In addition to some fascinating toponomy, Kjalnesinga saga looks into the lives of the first two generations of settlers in Kjalarnes, starting with Helgi Bjolan and a group of Irish immigrants that he graciously welcomes into his land. The majority of the action concerns the children of these initial settlers.\\xa0 Here\\u2019s a quick key for those of you who have trouble keeping track of all the names.\\n\\nAs if a genealogical tree wasn\\u2019t enough, we\\u2019ve also got a map of Kjalarnes for you, generously prepared for us by Rob from Totalus Rankium podcast, using Emily Lethbridge\'s Icelandic Saga Map.\\xa0 to get a sense of the region and who lives where. Rob is an unofficial/official member of the Saga Thing team. We look forward to more awesome maps from Rob for future episodes. If you find these maps helpful, let Rob know on Twitter, where he\'s @TotalusRankium.\\n\\nWhen you\'ve finished digesting all this great info, give the episode a listen. Kjalnesinga saga features a vivid description of a pagan temple, rising tensions between Irish Christian immigrants and the just-a-little-less-recently-immigrated pagan Icelanders, one of our more violent slayings (which is really saying something), an official holmgang, and our first ever love quadrangle\\u2026or square, if you will. There\\u2019s plenty here for everyone.\\nBecause we promised a link to our Saga Brief on the holmgang, as if you haven\'t already heard it, I\'m providing it. John put no effort or time into providing this link, just as I suspected.\\nMusic Credits:\\nIntro Music\\xa0-\\xa0"Prelude and Action" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)\\nSummary Music - "Galway" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)\\nOutro Music\\xa0-\\xa0"Stormfront"\\xa0by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)\\nSelections from music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/'