An Oxford Historian Mar 28, 2021 3 min read Updated: Apr 26, 2021 Tengvik’s ‘Old English Bynames’ is a towering contribution to the study of early medieval nicknames, and is equally valuable to both the historian and the linguist. Although perhaps held back by its early date, and well in need of a new edition […]
Textiles – lost forever? How do we explore material culture that is lost to the past through decay and destruction? Is it a lost cause to try and reconstruct the textile world of history? If we can reconstruct it, what can it tell us about past societies and cultures? A History of Food Do we […]
An Oxford Historian Jan 3, 2021 2 min read Updated: Apr 26, 2021 The Story of Kullervo is a book of amazing scale and myth, and well worth a read to any fantasy fan. #ComissionsEarned. This post includes Amazon Affiliate links- as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. In honour of Professor Tolkien’s […]
The Complaint Tablet of Ea-nasir is a remarkable archaeological artefact, recounting a trade dispute over copper ingots. The British Museum is full of all sorts of things that shouldn’t be there. One less well-known example, beyond the Elgin Marbles and the Rosetta Stone, is an initially inconspious clay tablet, traditionally referred to as ‘The Complaint […]
Hello, my name is Tristan and I’m a first-year history PhD researcher at Oxford. The aim of this blog is to share my research and wider history on the early medieval world, help give any advice on applying to university and explaining about Oxford, and generally expanding engagement with the Humanities. So if you fall […]
An Oxford Historian Jun 4, 2022 5 min read 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 […]
Hello, my name is Tristan and I’m a first-year history PhD researcher at Oxford. The aim of this blog is to share my research and wider history on the early medieval world, help give any advice on applying to university and explaining about Oxford, and generally expanding engagement with the Humanities. So if you fall […]
An Oxford Historian Apr 19, 2021 4 min read Updated: May 28, 2021 A brief look into learning, understanding and translating four major early medieval languages – Latin, Old English, Old Norse, and Old French. Here you’ll find a list of beginners books and free online resources, including dictionaries. #ComissionsEarned (This post includes Amazon Affiliate […]
https://www.anoxfordhistorian.com/post/the-ashmolean-cast-galleryThe ideal resource for those interested in archaeology and history, the British Museum’s Online Collection allows quick easy (and free) access to a whole host of data about lots of their collection. There’s a lot in the British Museum that shouldn’t be there, ‘borrowed’ during England’s colonial past. One classic example is the Complaints Tablet […]
An Oxford Historian May 1, 2022 4 min read How did the Insular metalwork that we find in ‘Viking Age’ Scandinavia get there? What might the social and cultural significance of ‘alien’ metalwork reuse be among ‘Viking’ archaeology? There are relatively large quantities of ‘Insular’ (ie. from the various political kingdoms of the British Isles) […]
#ComissionsEarned (This post includes Amazon Affiliate links) – As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I thought I’d take everyone through a walkthrough of my bookshelf, and the books that have helped me on my academic journey so far. Here you’ll find a wide range of recommendations to help you out to start […]
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, […]
This week, in a repurposing of my Masters Degree dissertation, we have a look at the trade weights used by the Vikings. Often found by metal-detectorists and amateur archaeologists, these are often considered as diagnostic of the presence of Vikings within England. But what were they used for, and what can they tell us about […]
An Oxford Historian Jun 9, 2021 4 min read In my line of study, you end up coming across a broad range of very unpalatable opinions. The ‘Anglo-Saxons’ and ‘Vikings’ are tied up within a toxic popular imagination of Nationalism and White Supremacy, built partially on deliberate misinterpretation of history and mythology. Archaeology has been […]