Beowulf’s fame in modern culture has led to its constant reinterpretation through the process of translation. Each translation is the unique product of its translator, telling a familiar story in a new and exciting way. Tolkien’s translation stresses the archaic feel that the original listeners would have got from the mead-hall recounting of the tale. […]
FAIR WARNING – there are some naughty words below. One of the remarkable features of Early Medieval nicknames is their shock factor. The frequency of names that modern audiences find offensive is outstanding, and we’re left questioning how these names fitted into normal contemporary life. Crucially, these names aren’t simply used within closed groups and […]
What can the writings of a traveller of the Caliphate tell us about the Rus, an elusive and largely invisible set of ‘Viking’ settlers in the east of Europe? Is his account to be taken seriously, or is it essentially a work of fiction? #ComissionsEarned (This post includes Amazon Affiliate links) – As an Amazon […]
In my continued attempts to introduce amateur historians to useful resources, I’d like to talk briefly about an amazing online resource available to all – the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), which can be found here https://finds.org.uk/. It acts as a massive (free) database of archaeological finds found throughout England. The scale here is huge – […]
#ComissionsEarned (This post includes Amazon Affiliate links)* As a continuation from my previous post about Anglo-Saxon nicknames, I thought I’d highlight a few contemporary Viking examples (if you’ve not read the previous post, check here). Viking nicknames are a generally more widely appreciated phenomenon, not least because of public familiarity with the Sagas. In fact, […]
Archaeology is about much more than treasure-hunting but, inevitably, popular attention tends to be drawn towards rich and magnificent finds. Within an early medieval context, the ‘Princely’ burials of the Mid Saxon period are particularly notable in this context. The Sutton Hoo Mound 1 ship-burial is deservedly famous and the most impressive example, but the […]
This week I’m launching a new project on the website, Alternative Curricula. The aim here is to provide a number of more structured teaching resources for free, tacklinging bigger and longer-term teaching objectives, and challenging the stagnated and outdated ways that history is often taught to the public. Each section will include a number of […]
Recently, St Cross College ran their yearly history prize. This involved, among other things, producing a plain English explanation of your current research. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share the result, and a little bit more about my research. How can we use nicknames for past societies to ask important questions about the […]
It’s time to stop suggesting the role of aliens in archaeology as light-hearted fun – it’s a dangerous idea built on serious problems. Archaeology attracts all types, which is a wonderful thing. What is less wonderful, however, is the consistent conspiracy-theory trend for alien intervention in ancient archaeology. I’m arguing here that this shouldn’t be […]
A wonderful resource for exploring the manuscript culture behind the single surviving version of the epic poem Beowulf. This week I wanted to highlight a great resource for the study of one of England’s most famous poems – the Electronic Beowulf, which you can find here. A plain text presentation of the text is matched […]
The Emporia represent an interesting set of archaeological evidence in the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ world, likely representing a return to urbanisation for the first time since the Romans. However, as is often the case with archaeological evidence, must about them is unclear. In the latest deep-dive, we take a brief look at the conflicting arguments around the […]
What do ‘Anglo-Saxon’ nicknames look like, and what sources do they appear in? What trends and themes emerge? My research focuses on nickname use among the ‘Anglo-Saxons’ – how the names change with time and space, what names are chosen, and whether this reflects social systems and groupings. Drawing on sources from the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ world, […]