Nik Gunn
@nikgunn.bsky.social
Pinned
New post!
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
Bad for culture, bad for heritage, bad for the north east.
My partner trained as a glassblower here. At the time, studying at the NGC via Sunderland Uni was the only way she could figure out how to get into glass (apprenticeships being few and far between).
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
My partner trained as a glassblower here. At the time, studying at the NGC via Sunderland Uni was the only way she could figure out how to get into glass (apprenticeships being few and far between).
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Shattered dreams: Why the battle for Sunderland’s glass centre has turned into a political flashpoint
Custodian University of Sunderland says renovation costs of £45m are too high and building must be pulled down. Not without a fight, say locals, who believe they’re being taken for fools
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:03 AM
Bad for culture, bad for heritage, bad for the north east.
My partner trained as a glassblower here. At the time, studying at the NGC via Sunderland Uni was the only way she could figure out how to get into glass (apprenticeships being few and far between).
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
My partner trained as a glassblower here. At the time, studying at the NGC via Sunderland Uni was the only way she could figure out how to get into glass (apprenticeships being few and far between).
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
🧪🏺 Update - authors have new paper showing how useless gen- #AI is for archaeological illustration.
All 400 images were multiply inaccurate (physically, socially, technologically, environmentally), even with improved prompts.
JUST USE HUMAN EXPERTS & ARTISTS
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
All 400 images were multiply inaccurate (physically, socially, technologically, environmentally), even with improved prompts.
JUST USE HUMAN EXPERTS & ARTISTS
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
February 13, 2026 at 6:09 PM
🧪🏺 Update - authors have new paper showing how useless gen- #AI is for archaeological illustration.
All 400 images were multiply inaccurate (physically, socially, technologically, environmentally), even with improved prompts.
JUST USE HUMAN EXPERTS & ARTISTS
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
All 400 images were multiply inaccurate (physically, socially, technologically, environmentally), even with improved prompts.
JUST USE HUMAN EXPERTS & ARTISTS
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Beautiful line drawing of a Scottish gold torc (Netherurd, @tessmachling.bsky.social ??) by Keith Henderson in Piggott’s 1958 Scotland Before History (thanks to @gjmichaelson.bsky.social for reminding me of this book!)
#FindsFriday
#FindsFriday
February 13, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Beautiful line drawing of a Scottish gold torc (Netherurd, @tessmachling.bsky.social ??) by Keith Henderson in Piggott’s 1958 Scotland Before History (thanks to @gjmichaelson.bsky.social for reminding me of this book!)
#FindsFriday
#FindsFriday
Reposted by Nik Gunn
"everyone has to get back to the office because the important thing about business is human interaction" is dying, but "white collar jobs will be replaced by AI agents within 18 months" cannot yet be born; in this interregnum a variety of morbid symptoms appear.
February 13, 2026 at 9:52 AM
"everyone has to get back to the office because the important thing about business is human interaction" is dying, but "white collar jobs will be replaced by AI agents within 18 months" cannot yet be born; in this interregnum a variety of morbid symptoms appear.
Reposted by Nik Gunn
The study points to using libraries and visiting museums as bringing these enormous brain health benefits ... who would have thought? Well, librarians and museum folk for a start ... www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study finds
Cognitive health in later life is ‘strongly influenced’ by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:57 AM
The study points to using libraries and visiting museums as bringing these enormous brain health benefits ... who would have thought? Well, librarians and museum folk for a start ... www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Colonoscopy is the gold standard for diagnosing bowel cancer, but a very helpful home test is also available — the FIT test is normally done as part of screening after age 50, but you can ask your GP for it if you have any changes in your bowel movements
www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-bowel-...
www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-bowel-...
Bowel cancer screening | Bowel Cancer UK
Learn about the different screening programmes currently in use across the UK and what tests are available.
www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk
February 11, 2026 at 8:27 PM
Colonoscopy is the gold standard for diagnosing bowel cancer, but a very helpful home test is also available — the FIT test is normally done as part of screening after age 50, but you can ask your GP for it if you have any changes in your bowel movements
www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-bowel-...
www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-bowel-...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
More ramblings about Radbod! This time I delve into the later traditions surrounding him.
longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/r...
longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/r...
Radbod from the Middle Ages to Modernity
Introduction Last time on “Project Radbod” I provided a brief overview of what we do and don’t know about Radbod based on the earliest sources that mention him. My intention was to continue by look…
longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com
February 11, 2026 at 11:23 AM
More ramblings about Radbod! This time I delve into the later traditions surrounding him.
longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/r...
longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/r...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Rain hammering down. What a winter it has been! If this carries on much longer we may need an ark. It is peak snowdrop season here & the 'Candlemas bells' wear their water droplets well 🌱
February 11, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Rain hammering down. What a winter it has been! If this carries on much longer we may need an ark. It is peak snowdrop season here & the 'Candlemas bells' wear their water droplets well 🌱
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Just a reminder that I’ve taken to recording all my blog posts.
So if you’re doing the dishes and want to listen to me recite Beowulf in rhyming couplets, well, have I got just the thing for you:
So if you’re doing the dishes and want to listen to me recite Beowulf in rhyming couplets, well, have I got just the thing for you:
New post!
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
February 10, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Just a reminder that I’ve taken to recording all my blog posts.
So if you’re doing the dishes and want to listen to me recite Beowulf in rhyming couplets, well, have I got just the thing for you:
So if you’re doing the dishes and want to listen to me recite Beowulf in rhyming couplets, well, have I got just the thing for you:
Reposted by Nik Gunn
i heard both of these today:
"what are we solutioning here"
"we don't have a solve for that"
nouns and verbs, two ships passing in the night
"what are we solutioning here"
"we don't have a solve for that"
nouns and verbs, two ships passing in the night
February 5, 2026 at 2:58 AM
i heard both of these today:
"what are we solutioning here"
"we don't have a solve for that"
nouns and verbs, two ships passing in the night
"what are we solutioning here"
"we don't have a solve for that"
nouns and verbs, two ships passing in the night
Just a reminder that I’ve taken to recording all my blog posts.
So if you’re doing the dishes and want to listen to me recite Beowulf in rhyming couplets, well, have I got just the thing for you:
So if you’re doing the dishes and want to listen to me recite Beowulf in rhyming couplets, well, have I got just the thing for you:
New post!
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
February 10, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Just a reminder that I’ve taken to recording all my blog posts.
So if you’re doing the dishes and want to listen to me recite Beowulf in rhyming couplets, well, have I got just the thing for you:
So if you’re doing the dishes and want to listen to me recite Beowulf in rhyming couplets, well, have I got just the thing for you:
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Available Oslo PhD positions – heritage conservation, archaeological & paleoenvironmental geochemistry, & on the POLYCHROME project (concerning historical sources on changing attitudes to medieval objects after the Reformations in the Scandinavian countries) #jobfairy
www.hf.uio.no/iakh/english...
www.hf.uio.no/iakh/english...
Vacancies - Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History
Read this story on the University of Oslo's website.
www.hf.uio.no
February 10, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Available Oslo PhD positions – heritage conservation, archaeological & paleoenvironmental geochemistry, & on the POLYCHROME project (concerning historical sources on changing attitudes to medieval objects after the Reformations in the Scandinavian countries) #jobfairy
www.hf.uio.no/iakh/english...
www.hf.uio.no/iakh/english...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
“Does being in a landscape automatically imbue us with a greater understanding of it?
…
We all find our own way, and notice different things as we go.”
@markhailwood.bsky.social
manyheadedmonster.com/2026/02/10/i...
🗃️
…
We all find our own way, and notice different things as we go.”
@markhailwood.bsky.social
manyheadedmonster.com/2026/02/10/i...
🗃️
Is Walking Research? A Methodological Ramble
Mark HailwoodI needed to try something to get me writing again. Blessed with a period of research leave to resume work on my book – Everyday Life in the Seventeenth Century English Village &#…
manyheadedmonster.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:58 AM
“Does being in a landscape automatically imbue us with a greater understanding of it?
…
We all find our own way, and notice different things as we go.”
@markhailwood.bsky.social
manyheadedmonster.com/2026/02/10/i...
🗃️
…
We all find our own way, and notice different things as we go.”
@markhailwood.bsky.social
manyheadedmonster.com/2026/02/10/i...
🗃️
New post!
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
February 9, 2026 at 7:16 PM
New post!
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
I take an in-depth look at Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, alongside forays into Victorian translations by William Morris and the brilliantly named Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth.
This is based on an undergraduate lecture I gave at Oxford in 2020.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2026/02/09/o...
If nothing else, this map at least partly explains why engagement about anything that isn't politics is so hard on here.
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Bluesky Map
Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.
bluesky-map.theo.io
February 9, 2026 at 2:10 PM
If nothing else, this map at least partly explains why engagement about anything that isn't politics is so hard on here.
Reposted by Nik Gunn
I would never argue all self-publishing is bad, but I realized years ago that Amazon designed KDP for exactly this purpose: to incentivize people to adopt new tech to churn out more slop titles in a clear attack on the publishing industry with little regard for readers or even the writers themselves
“If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?” God this is bleak
The New Fabio Is Claude
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 6:06 PM
I would never argue all self-publishing is bad, but I realized years ago that Amazon designed KDP for exactly this purpose: to incentivize people to adopt new tech to churn out more slop titles in a clear attack on the publishing industry with little regard for readers or even the writers themselves
Reposted by Nik Gunn
One of the key points I have presented to students is that they have to understand the difference between information & knowledge. Only then can they actually start analysing & making sense of things.
"Data in itself is not knowledge. Even the greatest concentration of data will not on its own bring us closer to getting to know the past. Concentrating data does not write history." I wrote this five years ago and it is more relevant then ever in the age of AI.
academic.oup.com/dsh/article-...
academic.oup.com/dsh/article-...
Facsimile narratives: Researching the past in the age of digital reproduction
Abstract. Taking a cue from the reflections and contributions made by manuscript, archival and historical studies, this paper proposes a new approach to th
academic.oup.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:51 PM
One of the key points I have presented to students is that they have to understand the difference between information & knowledge. Only then can they actually start analysing & making sense of things.
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Jeremy Noel-Tod on RF Langley, a writer I also knew a bit and whose writing has likewise had quite a deep effect on how I think about poetry. I put him on once at a literary festival in Bath, with Tom Raworth. Both poets were paid (in money). Read their poems, & pay the poets when you can.
On the fifteenth anniversary of his death, I wrote about one of my favourite poets, R.F. Langley, who I was lucky enough to know for ten years someflowerssoon.substack.com/p/we-speak-f...
We Speak From Out There
Remembering R.F. Langley, 1938-2011
someflowerssoon.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Jeremy Noel-Tod on RF Langley, a writer I also knew a bit and whose writing has likewise had quite a deep effect on how I think about poetry. I put him on once at a literary festival in Bath, with Tom Raworth. Both poets were paid (in money). Read their poems, & pay the poets when you can.
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Trilingualism in action: Latin book on herbs & their uses gets translation annotations of some head words to French & English
Things I learned: 'haus' (Middle French) is a (rare) plural form of 'allia' (Latin), aka 'garlec' (Middle English)
CCCC MS 438, f. 21v
parker.stanford.edu/parker/catal...
Things I learned: 'haus' (Middle French) is a (rare) plural form of 'allia' (Latin), aka 'garlec' (Middle English)
CCCC MS 438, f. 21v
parker.stanford.edu/parker/catal...
January 26, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Trilingualism in action: Latin book on herbs & their uses gets translation annotations of some head words to French & English
Things I learned: 'haus' (Middle French) is a (rare) plural form of 'allia' (Latin), aka 'garlec' (Middle English)
CCCC MS 438, f. 21v
parker.stanford.edu/parker/catal...
Things I learned: 'haus' (Middle French) is a (rare) plural form of 'allia' (Latin), aka 'garlec' (Middle English)
CCCC MS 438, f. 21v
parker.stanford.edu/parker/catal...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
On the fifteenth anniversary of his death, I wrote about one of my favourite poets, R.F. Langley, who I was lucky enough to know for ten years someflowerssoon.substack.com/p/we-speak-f...
We Speak From Out There
Remembering R.F. Langley, 1938-2011
someflowerssoon.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 9:08 AM
On the fifteenth anniversary of his death, I wrote about one of my favourite poets, R.F. Langley, who I was lucky enough to know for ten years someflowerssoon.substack.com/p/we-speak-f...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
work with me and @drdaveobrien.bsky.social as part of @creativepec.bsky.social! we're recruiting a postdoc to work on the arts, culture and heritage sectors using quantitative methods. please share, please feel free to email me directly with any Qs! jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Sheffiel...
Research Associate in Creative Industries (Quantitative)
Research Associate in Creative Industries (Quantitative)
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk
January 23, 2026 at 10:25 AM
work with me and @drdaveobrien.bsky.social as part of @creativepec.bsky.social! we're recruiting a postdoc to work on the arts, culture and heritage sectors using quantitative methods. please share, please feel free to email me directly with any Qs! jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Sheffiel...
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Some Old Norse terms for the sea show perceptions of it as an alternate reality. Here are some favourites #medievalsky
The glistening world
The swan plain
The road of eels
The gull’s land
The whale country
The cold island rim
The trembling ground
The field of fish
The ship roads
The glistening world
The swan plain
The road of eels
The gull’s land
The whale country
The cold island rim
The trembling ground
The field of fish
The ship roads
January 24, 2026 at 7:16 AM
Some Old Norse terms for the sea show perceptions of it as an alternate reality. Here are some favourites #medievalsky
The glistening world
The swan plain
The road of eels
The gull’s land
The whale country
The cold island rim
The trembling ground
The field of fish
The ship roads
The glistening world
The swan plain
The road of eels
The gull’s land
The whale country
The cold island rim
The trembling ground
The field of fish
The ship roads
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
January 21, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Reposted by Nik Gunn
Inspired by a colleague saying she’d like a lesson on how to read a runic inscription, here’s a lesson!
open.substack.com/pub/jasminhi...
open.substack.com/pub/jasminhi...
January 21, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Inspired by a colleague saying she’d like a lesson on how to read a runic inscription, here’s a lesson!
open.substack.com/pub/jasminhi...
open.substack.com/pub/jasminhi...
Awful news. She leaves an amazing legacy for the field and her work on language and gender will remain a staple of reading lists on the topic a hundred years from now.
Desperately sad news about Deborah Cameron today. She was such a brilliant, incisive presence in the world of linguistics and particularly language and gender. Don't know what else to say but I'm sure there will be many tributes paid to her and her work in the days to come.
January 21, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Awful news. She leaves an amazing legacy for the field and her work on language and gender will remain a staple of reading lists on the topic a hundred years from now.