Episode 1

Available for over a year

Gudrun, a young woman in 11th century Iceland, forges her path through a world of unearthly beauty yet uncompromising harshness. Left reeling from the part she played in her lover's death she's determined to rebuild her family and win back the trust of her husband. Starring Kate Phillips. Lucy Catherine’s re-telling of the epic Icelander classic, The Laxdoela Saga. Gudrun ….. Kate Phillips Freija ….. Samantha Dakin Bolli ….. Gavi Singh Chera Sigrid ….. Rosie Boore Olaf ….. Philip Fox Hrefna/Gaddja ….. Kerry Gooderson Director: Gemma Jenkins The first series ended with the death of Gudrun's lover, Kjartan, killed by his best friend and brother, Bolli. Bolli is married to Gudrun. He suspects his wife was behind the blood feud that led to Kjartan's death. Kjartan married into Norwegian royalty and when his wife returns to Iceland with plans to convert the country to Christianity it becomes clear her motives are far from pious. Gudrun is under the protection of Freija, the Norse Goddess of love and war. She can sometimes be as slippery a customer as her protégée. Freija's voice cries out for a new kind of leadership. Is she really on Gudrun's side or does she have an agenda of her own? Suspicious of how power and ambition are wielded by men Gudrun's left feeling increasingly isolated. She longs for the freedom to live her life according to her own rules, beholden to no-one. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2017.