Welcome back to Hidden Compass: The Podcast, where we venture to the frontiers of courage and curiosity and ask the question of season two’s theme: “What Have I Done?”

On today’s episode, co-hosts Sabine K. Bergmann and Sivani Babu sit with author Keith Skinner to discuss reading poetry written in battle, finding humanity in a blood-thirsty conqueror, and facing the impermanence of it all. But first, journey with us, as Keith takes us to the Orkney archipelago off the northeastern coast of Scotland and delves into the life and legacy of a brutal Viking earl.

Story
“The Raven-Feeder’s Island” first appeared in the spring 2018 issue of Hidden Compass: The Magazine as a feature in our Chasing Demons department. See the full story and photos here: https://hiddencompass.net/story/the-raven-feeders-island/.

Storyteller
Keith Skinner is a writer of fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and travel narratives who constantly probes for the hidden or forgotten stories of the places he visits and the people he meets. Read more of Keith’s stories at his website, https://keith-skinner.com/. Check out his Hidden Compass profile at https://hiddencompass.net/journalist/keith-skinner. And, you can learn more about Orkney (and vikings) at http://www.orkneyjar.com/ and the Orkney storytelling festival at https://orkneystorytellingfestival.co.uk/main/.

Hidden Compass
Hidden Compass is an award-winning, women-led media company that’s forging an Alliance to turn storytellers and explorers into heroes and champion a new age of discovery.

To learn more about us and support storytellers like Keith, visit https://hiddencompass.net and contribute to our fundraising campaigns. We split campaign proceeds 50/50 with the writer of each story, and storytellers receive their cut on top of their article pay.

To support Hidden Compass, recommend us to someone who’s looking to stand up for journalism, science, history, and hope. You can also buy tickets to our virtual events at https://hiddencompass.net/events, and learn more about becoming an Ally at https://hiddencompass.net/alliance. Sign up for our newsletter at https://bit.ly/2Yc2HH1.

See you next week, when we’ll go to Laysan, an atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and speak with Russell Bradley about the wandering gooney birds to which he once sang “You Should Be Dancing.”