Ragman’s Harbour

Harbour's Reader d- Wyman Manderly

In this episode, we talk about one of our absolute favourite characters: Wyman Manderly.
We analyse where he and his family stand in the North, how he is perceived and how he uses that, his sense of ethics, why we love him in spite of some... less savoury bits and we finally get to share artwork by the fantastic Hanieh @dr3adlady.bsky.social‬ (We'll share it on social media and on our Patreon, on a public post like all our public episodes)
We also talk about some of the cast around him and we have a great time doing all that!
Tell your friends and your favourite rat cook (Remy or otherwise) about it, and if you like what you hear, leave us a firework of stars and rave about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where you can become a subscriber and get our bonus episodes at the Boots level and up! Virginie reads LOTR for the first time ever, and we hear from our patrons that she's keen eyed for *stuff*
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Instagram
Thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
Sources/further reading:
“’To Be Cocky Is to Challenge the Norms’: The Impact of Bodynormativity on Bodily and Sexual Attraction in Relation to Being a Cripple.” -  Denise Malmberg
“Men and masculinities” - Stephen M Whitehead
“Masculinity, Competence, and Health: The Influence of Weight and Race on Social Perceptions of Men.” - Nell Mary Trautner, Samantha Kwan & Scott V Savage
“Lords Too Fat to Sit a Horse: Body Normativity and Masculinity in ASOIAF” - Lo

20 - A Storm of Cultures - feat Ray

In this episode, your hosts and guest Ray, discuss what happens when different cultures meet, in ASOIAF and irl.
We discuss migration, culture clashes, prejudice, racism, colonialism, and more! Along the way we conclude that both Viserys Targaryen and Jorah Mormont are the worst (albeit in different ways), and that the Free Folk makes a good parallel to climate refugees. 
We also chat with our guest about his journey through both the ASOIAF fandom and life in general! 
Tell your friends and fandom acquintances about this episode, and if you liked what you hear, leave us a bunch of stars and write a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where we publish exclusive bonus episodes for our beloved patrons: Virginie reads LOTR for the first time, and we just finished "The Fellowship of the Ring"!
 
You can contact Ray at:
@untitledray (on Instagram)
@untitledray.bsky.social (on Bluesky
 
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Instagram
 
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
 
Content, sources and ressources that are not our own experiences:
Lo
”The Free Folk and Colonialism” (essay by Lo)
”Herrarna satte oss hit: om tvångsförflyttningarna i Sverige” / ”The Rocks Will Echo our Sorrow: The forced displacement of the Northern Sámi” - Elin Anna Labba
Map of Meänmaa
”Meänkieli – Grammatik, lärobok, historik, texter” - Bengt Pohjanen
"Tornedalingar i Sverige" - Forum för levande historia
”Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset.”
The song ”Donkey Kong” by Hooja.
 
Virginie
"The Great Replacement Theory Explained" - National Immigration Forum
"Forced migration or displacement" - Migration Data Portal
"Migration and human mobility - key figures" - Migration Data Portal
"Key migration terms" - IOM
"Climate change and displacement" - UNHCR
"Climate change and human mobility" - IOM
Climate change (search on IOM's website)

Harbour's reader c -sigils as storytelling

In this third episode of our series looking at the books, actually, we look at a neat trick GRRM uses for subtle storytelling: the blasons/sigils of the main Houses of the North, through the prism of semiotics -and specifically, the tools developed by the researcher, Greimas.
You don't know what semiotics are? Fair enough! Let us explain that it's the study of signs and symbols, and how they are used to create meaning, tell stories, communicate ideas. And that GRRM provides the keen-eyed reader with a prime example of how to use images well <3
We hope you like this episode as much as we enjoyed nerding out and making it!
Tell your friends and even your barista about it, and if you like what you hear, leave us a firework of stars and rave about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where you can become a member and get cool rewards such as our bonus episodes at the Boots level and up! Virginie reads LOTR for the first time ever, and has a lot of correct opinions (or so she has been told).
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
Sources and further reading:
http://www.signosemio.com/greimas/canonical-narrative-schema.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actantial_model
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotic_square

19 - Valar Morghulis

All men - and people in general - must die, but what happens afterwards? In this episode we discuss understandings of death, burial rituals, and the afterlife in ASOIAF and real life! Join us to learn about how the pop culture understanding of "Viking funerals" is somewhat inaccurate, but also how funeral processions for kings and nobles in ASOIAF are far less extra than they were in real-life France. 
 
Tell your friends and even your enemies about this episode, and if you liked what you hear, leave us a firework of stars and rave about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where we publish exclusive bonus episodes for our beloved patrons: Virginie reads LOTR for the first time!
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Instagram
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
 
Content, sources and ressources:
Lo:
Norse funeral (Wikipedia)
Kult och ritualer (Historiska museet)
Levande och döda (Historiska museet)
Hästen i den fornnordiska tron (SO-rummet)
Fornnordisk tro och asatro (SO-rummet)
Valhalla & Other Afterlives in Norse Mythology (Jessica Suess)
“The Queerly Departed: Narratives of Veneration in the Burials of Late Iron Age Scandinavia” (Lee Colwill, in “Trans and Genderqueer Subjects of Medieval Hagiography” eds. Alicia Spencer-Hall & Blake Gutt)
 
Virginie:
Dictionnaire du Moyen Âge (C. Gauvard, A. de Libera, M. Zink)
Passionnément Moyen Âge -plaidoyer pour le petit peuple (Claude Gauvard)
Jean-Claude Schmitt in La Mort et ses au-delà, sous la direction de Maurice Godelier
Les Funérailles royales de Henri IV (1610) (Gillet) 
Conclave : comment se déroule l’élection d’un Pape ?
Tongan funerals (Wikipedia)
 

Harbour's Reader b- Brienne of Tarth

In this second episode of our series looking at the books, in an extremely shocking twist of event (not), we are analysing Brienne!
We're talking gender, the patriarchy, transphobia, toxic gender norms, heresy and Podrick Payne, Hyle Hunt and Jaime Lannister get a mention. So do Cercei and Catelyn, for different reasons.
We hope you like this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!
Tell your friends and even your barista about it, and if you like what you hear, leave us a firework of stars and rave about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where you can become a member and get cool rewards such as our bonus episodes at the Boots level and up! Virginie reads LOTR for the first time ever, and everything is WWI (except when it's Star Wars) (something like that)
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
Sources/further reading:
-”A Brief Trans History” by Lohttps://lothelynx.wordpress.com/2021/11/24/a-brief-trans-history/ -“Were there Transgender People in the Middle Ages?” - M.W Bychowski-“Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography” - Alicia Spencer-Hall & Blake Gutt-“Transgender Warriors” - Leslie Feinberg-“My words to Victor Frankenstein above the village of Chamounix: Performing transgender rage” - Susan Stryker-“Bodies that Matter. On the Discursive Limits of “Sex” - Judith Butler -“Them Goon Rules: Fugitive Essays on Radical Black Feminism.” - Marquis Bey  -”Kollektivtrafikens könstyranni” - Signe Bremer Gagnesjö (in ”(O)tryggt?: Makt, plats och motstånd”, edited by Malin Rönnblom, Ida Linander, and Linda Sandberg)

Ep 18_a Feast of Food- feat Abi

Your hosts and guest Abi ( @szegfu.bsky.social ) take you on a trip around the world and across time to learn more about George's favourite topic, probably: food!
We discuss having to adapt to a new food culture in real life, like Catelyn and Tyrion as well as Areo Hotah and Ser Arys do in the books, what people eat in the North(s), what spices were found in medieval European kitchens, how to preserve food when you don't have a fridge or an ice cell (or even if you have one), how to recreate Joffrey's wedding feast but make it actually extravagant and how amazing it is to learn Hungarian with curses.
Tell your friends and your favourite chef about this episode, and if you liked what you hear, leave us an oodle of stars and sing an ode about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where we publish exclusive bonus episodes for our beloved patrons: Virginie reads LOTR for the first time, you do not* want to miss it! (*or maybe you do) (up to you!). She has thoughts on foods there, too.
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Instagram
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
Content, sources and ressources that are not our own experiences:
Lo:
-  https://www.samer.se/mat
 
Virginie
- Dictionnaire du Moyen Âge, C. Gauvard, A. de Libera, M. Zink
- Les Plaisir au Moyen Âge, Jean Verdon
 
 

17_a Game of Games

Who wants to play? Swedish games the Ironborn would not shy from or French games Tyrion approves?
Tell your friends and even your enemies about this episode, and if you liked what you hear, leave us a firework of stars and rave about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where we publish exclusive bonus episodes for our beloved patrons: Virginie reads LOTR for the first time, you do not* want to miss it! (*or maybe you do) (up to you!)
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
 
Content, sources and ressources:
Lo:
- "Kropp, Känslor och Relationer - Om sexualitet, samtycke och rättigheter för förskola  och grundskolans tidigare år" - Johanna Ivarsson, Loui Larsson, Sofie Olovsson, RM Ratesregn & Karin Salmson
- "Så utvecklas barn av att leka" -Jenny Magnusson Österberg
- "Längdåkningens historia i Sverige" - Jonas Cederquist
- "Pepparkakskull"
Virginie
for images of better quality than my own:
- Charlemagne chess game that was made in 11th C southern Italy, sculpted in ivory
- https://gallica.bnf.fr/accueil/fr/html/lelephant-de-charlemagne?mode=desktop
For words:
- Dictionnaire du Moyen Âge, C. Gauvard, A. de Libera, M. Zink
- Les Plaisir au Moyen Âge, Jean Verdon
- Pieces of Power: Medieval Chess and the Male Homosocial Desire, Jenny Adams, University of North Texas
-
Mark Anthony Hall (2013) Magia Gry: Sztuka rywalizacji (The Magic ofthe Game: The Art of the Contest)Échecs et Trictrac: Fabrication et u des jeux de tables au Moyen Âge. Catalogue de l'exposition présentée du 23 juin au 18 novembre 2012 au Musée du château de MayenneArt du jeu, jeu dans l'art de Babylone à l'occident médiéval. Catalogue de l'exposition présentée du 28 novembre 2012 au 4 mars 2013 au Musée de Cluny — Musée national du Moyen Âge, ParisKõrts keskaegses linnas: Näituse ‘Poriveski Kõrts’. Kataloog/Inn in a Medieval Town, Catalogue of the Exhibition ‘Poriveski Kõrts’ 13 May to 11 November 2011Religions in Play: Games, Rituals and Virtual Worlds, European Journal of Archaeology, 16:3, 574-580, DOI: 10.1179/146195713X13721616775755
https://doi.org/10.1179/146195713X13721616775755
 
 

the Harbour's reader -a: Tormund

We debute a new episode series, all about, who could have predicted: ASOIAF. Like, actually, the books/ shows and not historical parallels.
In this first episode, we talk about the greatest leader possibly ever, and certainly, a speaker for GRRM's pet project (to finish off the work JRR Tolkien left pending, something something genocide of baby orcs and tax policy): Tormund. If you've only watched the show and are confused about the previous statement (or if you have read the books and are confused about the previous statement), worry not: we contextualise everything we analyse.
As this is the first episode of this kind for us, please let us know what you think, it's quite precious!
Tell your friends and even your enemies about this episode, and if you liked what you hear, leave us a firework of stars and rave about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where you can become a member and get cool rewards such as our bonus episodes at the Boots level and up! Virginie reads the first chapters of LOTR for the first time, you do not* want to miss it! (*or maybe you do) (up to you!)
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!

16- Make Westeros Great Again --political recuperation of medievalism

We take you on a trip to discover how fascists in our world and Westeros use what they like in the Middle Ages, pick and choose and lump it all together and bam! have lovely (or not) symbols to show and things to say to justify their hatred and actions. We mostly only look at our world, and how Vikings and the Crusades are used, and look at what GRRM uses and doesn't use.
Tell your friends and even your enemies about this episode, and if you liked what you hear, leave us a firework of stars and rave about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where you can find out how to get bonus episodes and other cool things (such as shoot outs at the Sea Pounce level -who doesn't dream of a positive review of their person?). Also, we've just introduced our brand new super very special tier: Stannis the cat that was promised <3
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
 
Resources:
Lo: 
Expo (in general) but specifically:
https://expo.se/lar-dig-mer/symbollexikon/ 
https://expo.se/nyhet/soldiers-odin-blev-balder-cruisers-demonstrerar-med-nazister/ 
https://expo.se/nyhet/soldiers-odin-bakom-fasaden-rasism-och-valdsromantik/
https://expo.se/lar-dig-mer/wiki/nordiska-motstandsrorelsen-nmr/ 
“Embodying ‘the Nordic race’: imaginaries of Viking heritage in the online communications of the Nordic Resistance Movement” - Christoffer Kølveraa 
“Freyja: Rape, Immigration, and the Medieval in Alt-Right Discourse” - Ali Frauman
“Anti-refugee Mobilization in Social Media: The Case of Soldiers of Odin” - Mattias Ekman
“Magic, Genderfluidity, and queer Vikings ca. 750-1050” by Jacob Bell
Virginie:
https://www.lavie.fr/idees/histoire/leglise-doit-elle-avoir-honte-des-croisades-15718.php
https://orientxxi.info/magazine/islamophobie-un-mot-un-mal-plus-que-centenaires,1155
https://orientxxi.info/magazine/saint-louis-un-roi-prisonnier-des-cliches,0601
https://orientxxi.info/magazine/une-compassion-tres-politique-pour-les-chretiens-d-orient,1300
https://orientxxi.info/magazine/l-extreme-droite-francaise-le-proche-orient-et-l-obsession-islamiste,7440
https://journals.openedition.org/questionsdecommunication/33623
https://www.nonfiction.fr/article-9560-actuel-moyen-age-eric-zemmour-et-les-croisades-fact-checking.htm
https://www.ina.fr/ina-eclaire-actu/video/i06334668/jm-le-pen-sur-l-islam-et-l-espace-chretien
https://www.persee.fr/doc/rfsoc_0035-2969_1961_num_2_2_5933
https://bsky.app/profile/hmedievaliste.bsky.social/post/3lfoudwouwk2c

Ep 15 - Queens: they want to break free

In this episode, your hosts take you on a trip all the way to the Early Middle Ages and back, to discuss queens of France and Sweden -a couple each, no one is jealous! And also Cercei, a lot. Somehow. And ask the real question: is Catelyn the most medieval character of ASOIAF?
Tell your friends and even your enemies about this episode, and if you liked what you hear, leave us a firework of stars and rave about us in a review on your podcast app of choice.
Also, check out our Patreon where our first actual bonus episode drops in a couple of days! Virginie reads the first chapters of LOTR for the first time, you do not* want to miss it! (*or maybe you do) (up to you!)
You can contact us at:
ragmanspod@gmail.com
BlueSky
Thank you LittleWolfBird for the sound engineering, and thank you to Matt Graham for the theme music with sounds from zapsplat.com!
 
Content, sources and ressources:
Lo tells us about Margareta Eriksdotter aka Margareta Leijonhufvud:
https://www.skbl.se/sv/artikel/Margaretadrottning
https://popularhistoria.se/sveriges-historia/kungar-drottningar/margareta-leijonhufvud-vasadrottningen 
and about someone never mentioned on this podcast ever yet (jokes), Kristina:
“Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography” - Alicia Spencer-Hall & Blake 
https://lothelynx.wordpress.com/2021/10/17/a-most-uncommon-woman-cersei-lannisters-gender-trouble/ 
“Fenixelden: Drottning Kristina som alkemist” - Susanna Åkerman
https://livrustkammaren.se/press/pridevisningar-kung-kristina-en-queer-queen-i-bilder-av-kristina-under-prideveckan/ 
Virginie feels right at home, after a whole episode 14 without Middle Ages and talks about Queen (Sainte) Radegonde:
https://books.openedition.org/septentrion/55169
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radegund
and Jeanne de Bourgogne/ Joan the Lame:
https://siefar.org/dictionnaire/fr/Jeanne_de_Bourgogne_(1295-1348)
https://passionmedievistes.fr/super-joute-royale-9-rois-xiveme-siecle/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_the_Lame
(and then she makes light of Macron killing democracy because Lo inspired her and it takes away some of the pain)