Ragna's Islands

The Saga of the Earls of Orkney with Judith Jesch | If It Ain't Baroque... Historical Spotlight

Is there no end to podcasts with me rabbiting on about the #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney? Well, I'm not good at saying no and I particularly enjoyed this one with Natalie of @ifitaintbaroquepod.bsky.social - she asked some good questions! shows.acast.com/if-it-aint-b...

And if you still haven't had your fill of #Orkneyingasaga #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney (who has?), I'm doing a webinar on 4th March: www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/history-scot... (see also Niall Sharples on #Vikings in the #Hebrides on Thursday)

Sheena and I will be on Radio Orkney this evening talking about the Fields of Time project
fieldsoftime.cmackenzie.net

Balaclava Sevastapol Cronstadt Inkerman

An interesting wee cluster of Crimean War field-names from South Ronaldsay

Delighted to have this project out there for people to read! I'm very grateful to all the contributors and the team at @apardjon1.bsky.social. A special thanks goes to @medivalist.bsky.social for all her hard work in turning our Bishop Adam conference into this special volume! #MedievalSky

Just one week until UHI Institute for Northern Studies Mapping Identities Conference hosted at UHI Perth and online 10/02/2026. Full programme now confirmed. Still time to register www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-...

Some great place-names too! Courtesy of Marwick: Hassings ON hálsa m. 'neck', for the isthmus joining the Holm to Cairn Head... the route from the island... to an island (at low tide) & Tide o' Hest m. 'stallion' somewhere off the south end there.

Special offer on #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney extended to the end of this month! shop.orcadian.co.uk/product/sign...

The Sagas of the Earls of Orkney | Gone Medieval

I did a podcast with @goingmedieval.bsky.social shows.acast.com/gone-medieva...

Reading runes in Orkney: the 36th Fieldrunologist Meeting I had the pleasure of being invited to the 36th Field Runologists Meeting.

open.substack.com/pub/jasminhi...

Moving my runes blog over to Substack to see if it’s a better platform. If you’ve got Substack and want to learn about runes, then go give me a follow!

This a good listen! And a great intro before delving into the new translation!

My translation there:
You're fair and fit to wield
the power of good people's kings;
the Shetlanders are known
to you as your subjects.
No battle-swift king
who subjugated western islands
had arisen in the eastern land,
before it got you.
2/2

This stanza from a poem in praise of Norwegian king (later saint) Óláfr Haraldsson is widely cited in ON texts, including ch. 19 of the Saga of the Earls of #Orkney / #Orkneyingasaga. 1/2

More #skaldic good news!

Or ornithonymics? We have some stuff in the @ragnasislands.bsky.social blog...

The Saga of the Earls of Orkney | Birlinn Ltd - Independent Scottish Publisher - buy books online This fascinating history of the Earldom of Orkney, which was established in the Viking Age, records the adventures, feuds and battles of powerful Norsemen during its first three centuries. The medieva...

Getting my copy of the new translation of #OrkneyingaSaga this week too birlinn.co.uk/product/the-... Not a bad combo for anyone interested in #Orkney in the #Norse period... #ShouldYouBeAtALossForChristmasPresentIdeas...

Cover of Colleen's book (The Earl’s Bu, Orphir: Feasting, Farming and Commerce at the Heart of the Orkney Norse Earldom) showing a colourful drawing of a Norse mill building.

Love the cover picture!

Just ordered this! Will wrap it for #Christmas I reckon... since lots of feasting took place in the Bu too! shop.orcadian.co.uk/product/pre-...

Poster for a talk called Twisted Ribbons of Song: The Saga of the Earls of Orkney and poetry from or inspired by northern Scotland. Date: Tuesday 9 December, 5.30 pm, Baines Wing G36 (and online) Speakers Judith Jesch and Charlotte Eichler. Text: The medieval Icelandic Saga of the Earls of Orkney contains 82 stanzas composed from the tenth to the twelfth century by residents of and visitors to Orkney and Shetland. At this event, Judith Jesch, Professor of Viking Studies at Nottingham, will introduce the saga and its poetry and read selected examples in both Old Norse and her English versions. Award-winning Leeds-based poet Charlotte Eichler will read some of her published and unpublished poems inspired by the Saga and by visits to Orkney and Shetland as part of Judith’s Ragna’s Islands project. Photos of book cover of Judith's translation of the saga (which includes four Lewis chessmen) and picture of Charlotte on Fair Isle writing amidst stones and grass

If you are into sagas and poetry our next seminar is for you. Sign up to attend online: forms.office.com/e/ngg1zukWH3 More details at ahc.leeds.ac.uk/medieval/eve... #medievalsky #poetry #sagas #orkney #shetland #icelandic #northernisles #vikings @judithjesch.bsky.social @ragnasislands.bsky.social

How we compare

That us up to 300 South Ronaldsay fields plotted

Whirl Pool occasioned by many Tides meeting but not so Dangerous as is Reported

George Eunson (1795) 'A chart of the islands of Orkney... with the coast of Scotland'

maps.nls.uk/view/74401125

November and December is a busy month for seminars @thinkuhi.bsky.social On Thursday 27th November 2025 at 7pm, Tom Fairfax discusses 'Families, Networks and Informants: The Making of the Orkneyinga Saga' in our free online Public Seminar Series.

tinyurl.com/yc5ave7f

Less than a month to go for submission of abstracts! Papers invited for the Life and Landscape Research Showcase at the University of Nottingham.

ON hestr occurs in many #NorthernIsles #PlaceNames including Hestivall #Rousay where it is compounded with ON vǫllr m. ‘plain, meadow, pasture’; Hesti Geo #FairIsle compounded with gjá f. ‘inlet, coastal gully’ & Marwick notes the #Papay fishing mark Hest as well as a tide so-names S. of the Holm.

And you can explore many of the #PlaceNames of the #Saga here! storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e91b...

Colour photo of Judith on a boat setting off to explore places featuring in The Saga of the Earls of Orkney.

Colour photo of the cover of the new translation of The Saga of the Earls of Orkney.

'University academic translates Norse saga to uncover Viking history of northern Scotland'! Find out more: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/norse-s...

Research Seminar: Twisted Ribbons of Song: The Saga of the Earls of Orkney and poetry from or inspired by northern Scotland Judith Jesch and Charlotte Eichler present a seminar for the Institute for Medieval Studies.

Looking forward to getting together with Charlotte Eichler to share some old and new poetry with interested folk. Hybrid event in Leeds on 9th December. #Poetry #Saga #OrkneyingaSaga @ragnasislands.bsky.social ahc.leeds.ac.uk/medieval/eve...

A reminder that I'll be presenting some findings from my PhD research on 27 November as part of the @insuhi.bsky.social seminar series! Click the link below to book onto the event.

www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-...

Thanks to @insuhi.bsky.social for this honour - look forward to working with you!