Ragna's Islands
@ragnasislands.bsky.social
A project researching the place-names of Orkney & Fair Isle built around a new translation of The Saga of the Earls of Orkney by @judithjesch.bsky.social
Find us at https://nott.ac/placenames
Find us at https://nott.ac/placenames
Pinned
'University academic translates Norse saga to uncover Viking history of northern Scotland'! Find out more: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/norse-s...
November 12, 2025 at 12:06 PM
'University academic translates Norse saga to uncover Viking history of northern Scotland'! Find out more: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/norse-s...
November 12, 2025 at 11:48 AM
'University academic translates Norse saga to uncover Viking history of northern Scotland'! Find out more: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/norse-s...
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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...
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.
ahc.leeds.ac.uk
November 11, 2025 at 5:45 PM
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...
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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-...
www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-...
Institute for Northern Studies - Public events and seminars - Public Seminar Series - Families, Networks and Informants: The Making of Orkneyinga saga
Seminars and Events at the Institute for Northern Studies, Orkneyinga saga, composed at the beginning of the thirteenth century, is one of the most important historical sources for the north of Scotla...
www.uhi.ac.uk
October 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM
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-...
www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-...
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Thanks to @insuhi.bsky.social for this honour - look forward to working with you!
The @thinkuhi.bsky.social Institute for Northern Studies is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Judith Jesch as Visiting Professor to the expanding team of research staff at the institute.
institutefornorthernstudies.com/2025/10/30/n...
institutefornorthernstudies.com/2025/10/30/n...
New Visiting Professor at the UHI Institute for Northern Studies Publishes a New Translation of the Orkneyinga Saga.
The University of the Highlands and Islands Institute for Northern Studies is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Judith Jesch as Visiting Professor to the expanding team of research…
institutefornorthernstudies.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Thanks to @insuhi.bsky.social for this honour - look forward to working with you!
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Stories, stories, stories, it's all stories in this week's Orcadian. Thanks to @tomrg.bsky.social for this nice piece
October 18, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Stories, stories, stories, it's all stories in this week's Orcadian. Thanks to @tomrg.bsky.social for this nice piece
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The good folk at BBC's Radio Orkney interviewed me last week about the #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney which will be available in bookshops here this coming week. You can listen to it here at 17'30" in www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Can I convert those who have never quite managed to get through it???
Around Orkney - 16/10/2025 - BBC Sounds
News, features and weather for Orkney, including the daily community diary.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 18, 2025 at 5:22 PM
The good folk at BBC's Radio Orkney interviewed me last week about the #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney which will be available in bookshops here this coming week. You can listen to it here at 17'30" in www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Can I convert those who have never quite managed to get through it???
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In #Thurso this morning, I checked out the site which is possibly that mentioned in the #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney ch. 111, where it says that 'The bishop was in the palace at Scrabster'. The word I translated as 'palace' is 'borg', which is also used of brochs, and the site may once have been a broch.
October 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
In #Thurso this morning, I checked out the site which is possibly that mentioned in the #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney ch. 111, where it says that 'The bishop was in the palace at Scrabster'. The word I translated as 'palace' is 'borg', which is also used of brochs, and the site may once have been a broch.
Reposted by Ragna's Islands
A backlit St Boniface, while the clouds are drawn in the blue.
The old kirk this evening, Papay, island of the Papar.
The old kirk this evening, Papay, island of the Papar.
September 24, 2025 at 6:11 PM
A backlit St Boniface, while the clouds are drawn in the blue.
The old kirk this evening, Papay, island of the Papar.
The old kirk this evening, Papay, island of the Papar.
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Having a lovely time in #Eday! First oral history interview today re places & their names. So nice to be invited into people's homes with such a warm welcome! Today, I focussed on the district of Westside/Seal Skerry tunship! #Orkney #PlaceNames
September 22, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Having a lovely time in #Eday! First oral history interview today re places & their names. So nice to be invited into people's homes with such a warm welcome! Today, I focussed on the district of Westside/Seal Skerry tunship! #Orkney #PlaceNames
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Our SurvØY show is up at Glasgow School of Arts Reid gallery until the 1st of November. Islands in time, space and fragments of flint.. SurvØY is a Papay based artist collaboration between Jonathan Ford and Saoirse Higgins.
September 22, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Our SurvØY show is up at Glasgow School of Arts Reid gallery until the 1st of November. Islands in time, space and fragments of flint.. SurvØY is a Papay based artist collaboration between Jonathan Ford and Saoirse Higgins.
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Not to mention the birds! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social 🐧🕊🦅🦆🦢🦉🦤
September 21, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Not to mention the birds! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social 🐧🕊🦅🦆🦢🦉🦤
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Gairsay, home of Sveinn Ásleifarson in the #Saga of the Earls of #Orkney!... Will we see the caves in which he hid from Earl Haraldr as we pass Greenholm!? open.substack.com/pub/uonengli...
September 21, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Gairsay, home of Sveinn Ásleifarson in the #Saga of the Earls of #Orkney!... Will we see the caves in which he hid from Earl Haraldr as we pass Greenholm!? open.substack.com/pub/uonengli...
Wonderful Open Country episode re Fair Isle! We remember Marie's knitting studio, Eileen's fantastic baking and lovely times in the Community Hall talking #placenames and #sagas! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Open Country - Fair Isle - BBC Sounds
Martha Kearney is on one of Britain's most isolated islands, famous for knitting and birds
www.bbc.co.uk
September 20, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Wonderful Open Country episode re Fair Isle! We remember Marie's knitting studio, Eileen's fantastic baking and lovely times in the Community Hall talking #placenames and #sagas! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Reposted by Ragna's Islands
We've just been to the preview of this wonderful exhibition by @papayranger.bsky.social and Saiorse Higgins, a must-see if you're in Glasgow, in fact a reason to go! #Papay #Orkney
gsaexhibitions.co.uk/exhibition/s...
gsaexhibitions.co.uk/exhibition/s...
Saoirse Higgins and Jonathan Ford – SurvØY | The Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions Department
gsaexhibitions.co.uk
September 19, 2025 at 6:55 PM
We've just been to the preview of this wonderful exhibition by @papayranger.bsky.social and Saiorse Higgins, a must-see if you're in Glasgow, in fact a reason to go! #Papay #Orkney
gsaexhibitions.co.uk/exhibition/s...
gsaexhibitions.co.uk/exhibition/s...
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Should you happen to be in Kirkwall on Saturday the 25th of October, do come and say hello in the Orcadian Bookshop!
September 16, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Should you happen to be in Kirkwall on Saturday the 25th of October, do come and say hello in the Orcadian Bookshop!
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Congratulations Matthew, Corinna, and Judith. I’m so pleased to see that your brilliant project has a lasting legacy in these publications and the forthcoming website. I am really looking forward to reading Judith’s new translation and exploring the places on the map!
September 15, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Congratulations Matthew, Corinna, and Judith. I’m so pleased to see that your brilliant project has a lasting legacy in these publications and the forthcoming website. I am really looking forward to reading Judith’s new translation and exploring the places on the map!
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Really pleased to see these gorgeous fruits of the @ragnasislands.bsky.social project along with core team members @shroomgirl.bsky.social and @matthew-blake.bsky.social
September 15, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Really pleased to see these gorgeous fruits of the @ragnasislands.bsky.social project along with core team members @shroomgirl.bsky.social and @matthew-blake.bsky.social
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This was fun! We're so pleased with how they turned out!
September 15, 2025 at 4:52 PM
This was fun! We're so pleased with how they turned out!
The Ragna's Islands Project has come to an end... but it lives on!... in these beautiful booklets (one for Fair Isle, one for North Ronaldsay, & one for Papay)... which judithjesch.bsky.social unboxed today! #Orkney #PlaceNames #OrkneyingaSaga
September 15, 2025 at 4:43 PM
The Ragna's Islands Project has come to an end... but it lives on!... in these beautiful booklets (one for Fair Isle, one for North Ronaldsay, & one for Papay)... which judithjesch.bsky.social unboxed today! #Orkney #PlaceNames #OrkneyingaSaga
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ON dys occurs in many #Orkney #PlaceNames incl. Disher (N. Ronaldsay) where it appears in the plural, Geo of Dishan (Egilsay) where the ending appears to retain the ON definite article & Milly-dissan & The Disses o’ the Holm (both Holm of Papay) the first applying to a fishing mark! (Marwick)
September 6, 2025 at 10:53 AM
ON dys occurs in many #Orkney #PlaceNames incl. Disher (N. Ronaldsay) where it appears in the plural, Geo of Dishan (Egilsay) where the ending appears to retain the ON definite article & Milly-dissan & The Disses o’ the Holm (both Holm of Papay) the first applying to a fishing mark! (Marwick)
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Delighted yesterday to meet another #Ragna in a #runic inscription (Sm 169) set in the outside wall of the church at Ljungby, Småland, Sweden. @ragnasislands.bsky.social 🧵1/4
August 28, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Delighted yesterday to meet another #Ragna in a #runic inscription (Sm 169) set in the outside wall of the church at Ljungby, Småland, Sweden. @ragnasislands.bsky.social 🧵1/4
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And it all started when the Icelander Hallr rocked up in #NorthRonaldsay... Ragna, of @ragnasislands.bsky.social's fame, got him the introduction to Rǫgnvaldr's court. See #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney ch. 81.
Hjaldrkyndill beit hildar
— harðr brandr es þat — garða;
ljós varð hǫggs í hausum
— hjǫr kallak svá — gjalla.
Hart skar hildar kerti
— hjalms grand es þat — randir,
þvít benlogi brynju
beit; nefnik svá hneiti.
RvHbreiðm Hl 68
— harðr brandr es þat — garða;
ljós varð hǫggs í hausum
— hjǫr kallak svá — gjalla.
Hart skar hildar kerti
— hjalms grand es þat — randir,
þvít benlogi brynju
beit; nefnik svá hneiti.
RvHbreiðm Hl 68
August 2, 2025 at 8:31 AM
And it all started when the Icelander Hallr rocked up in #NorthRonaldsay... Ragna, of @ragnasislands.bsky.social's fame, got him the introduction to Rǫgnvaldr's court. See #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney ch. 81.
Reposted by Ragna's Islands
As we near the end of @ragnasislands.bsky.social, I look back with pride on the last 18 months. Thanks in large part to the core team, @shroomgirl.bsky.social and @matthew-blake.bsky.social, we achieved what we planned and aspects of the project will live on: blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
Farewell from the Ragna's Islands project team... and some exciting news! - Ragna's Islands: A New Saga
The Ragna’s Islands project has now come to an end. The project was made possible by funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and administrative support from the School of English, University of Nottingham. We have many people to thank for their contributions over the last year and a half. A special thank you ...
blogs.nottingham.ac.uk
July 25, 2025 at 11:29 AM
As we near the end of @ragnasislands.bsky.social, I look back with pride on the last 18 months. Thanks in large part to the core team, @shroomgirl.bsky.social and @matthew-blake.bsky.social, we achieved what we planned and aspects of the project will live on: blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
The Ragna’s Islands project has now come to an end. BUT it is not the end! Read our final blogpost for exciting news about forthcoming publications including the new translation of The Saga of the Earls of Orkney by @judithjesch.bsky.social and other resources! blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...
July 25, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The Ragna’s Islands project has now come to an end. BUT it is not the end! Read our final blogpost for exciting news about forthcoming publications including the new translation of The Saga of the Earls of Orkney by @judithjesch.bsky.social and other resources! blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...