Judith Jesch
@judithjesch.bsky.social
Retired professor of Viking Studies, Visiting Professor @insuhi.bsky.social, FBA. The Saga of the Earls of Orkney: https://birlinn.co.uk/product/the-saga-of-the-earls-of-orkney/ See also https://uonenglish.substack.com/s/ragnas-islands
For giants and dwarves in Norse Orkney, see some brief comments by me in ‘Kirkwall, Orkney’, in Europe: A Literary History 1348-1418, ed. David Wallace, Oxford: OUP 2016, I, 375-383.
November 10, 2025 at 9:46 AM
For giants and dwarves in Norse Orkney, see some brief comments by me in ‘Kirkwall, Orkney’, in Europe: A Literary History 1348-1418, ed. David Wallace, Oxford: OUP 2016, I, 375-383.
I got intrigued and checked oed.com. Forebear is actually 'fore-be-er', one who was before, which I didn't know, and there is even an 'afterbeer/afterbear' with quotations from 1625 and 2008. There's also an 'afterliver', so take your pick!
November 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I got intrigued and checked oed.com. Forebear is actually 'fore-be-er', one who was before, which I didn't know, and there is even an 'afterbeer/afterbear' with quotations from 1625 and 2008. There's also an 'afterliver', so take your pick!
It's worth going to Manchester to see the original, for its size and for its rather splendid Vikingesque frame, rarely shown in reproductions and hard to see in this image from their website too manchesterartgallery.org
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
It's worth going to Manchester to see the original, for its size and for its rather splendid Vikingesque frame, rarely shown in reproductions and hard to see in this image from their website too manchesterartgallery.org
And here are some photos of the Papay School Visitor Book boxes at St Tredwell's Chapel and Knap of Howar #PapaWestray. Nearly lost the inserts in both places in strong winds, but all was well. The dog Bess supervised my visit to the Knap. @ragnasislands.bsky.social
November 1, 2025 at 8:29 AM
And here are some photos of the Papay School Visitor Book boxes at St Tredwell's Chapel and Knap of Howar #PapaWestray. Nearly lost the inserts in both places in strong winds, but all was well. The dog Bess supervised my visit to the Knap. @ragnasislands.bsky.social
The post office is no longer, but the post box is still in use! (and I used it) #PapaWestray #PostboxSaturday
November 1, 2025 at 8:08 AM
The post office is no longer, but the post box is still in use! (and I used it) #PapaWestray #PostboxSaturday
What I like in #PapaWestray is that they keep the old signs even when getting fine new ones. Obviously a job lot of those red plastic letters once upon a time.
October 28, 2025 at 10:34 PM
What I like in #PapaWestray is that they keep the old signs even when getting fine new ones. Obviously a job lot of those red plastic letters once upon a time.
Gate or stile? Take your pick #PapaWestray
October 28, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Gate or stile? Take your pick #PapaWestray
Here we find both archaeological stilin' and combined archaeological/recreational stilin'. Munkerhoose, #PapaWestray For the archaeology, see www.trove.scot/place/2867
October 28, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Here we find both archaeological stilin' and combined archaeological/recreational stilin'. Munkerhoose, #PapaWestray For the archaeology, see www.trove.scot/place/2867
A fab evening in #PapaWestray last night with this choir from the West Midlands, Stream of Sound linktr.ee/streamofsoun...
October 28, 2025 at 11:38 AM
A fab evening in #PapaWestray last night with this choir from the West Midlands, Stream of Sound linktr.ee/streamofsoun...
The leaflet gives you some tips on places to visit in Papay, where you should also look out for the blue boxes in which there are notebooks in which you can write comments, or just your name. The @ragnasislands.bsky.social team was happy to support this lovely project in a small way. 2/2
October 27, 2025 at 5:38 PM
The leaflet gives you some tips on places to visit in Papay, where you should also look out for the blue boxes in which there are notebooks in which you can write comments, or just your name. The @ragnasislands.bsky.social team was happy to support this lovely project in a small way. 2/2
When you come to #PapaWestray #Orkney take the ferry from #Westray and stop off in the waiting room first. There you can see a really cool installation by @papayranger.bsky.social and Saoirse Higgins. And pick up this lovely leaflet made by the children of Papay Community School (see next post). 1/2
October 27, 2025 at 5:38 PM
When you come to #PapaWestray #Orkney take the ferry from #Westray and stop off in the waiting room first. There you can see a really cool installation by @papayranger.bsky.social and Saoirse Higgins. And pick up this lovely leaflet made by the children of Papay Community School (see next post). 1/2
Opportunities for recreational stilin' in #PapaWestray #Orkney especially for @lakesstiles.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Opportunities for recreational stilin' in #PapaWestray #Orkney especially for @lakesstiles.bsky.social
What do #runologists do when not contemplating the 'mystery' of #runic inscriptions? They go cow-spotting...
October 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM
What do #runologists do when not contemplating the 'mystery' of #runic inscriptions? They go cow-spotting...
October 18, 2025 at 9:18 PM
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
Also this morning I popped into the North Coast Visitor Centre in #Thurso to see the two #runic inscriptions which have been found in that town. They're very nicely displayed in a room with some cool Pictish stones too. See app.raa.se/open/runor/i... and app.raa.se/open/runor/i...
October 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Also this morning I popped into the North Coast Visitor Centre in #Thurso to see the two #runic inscriptions which have been found in that town. They're very nicely displayed in a room with some cool Pictish stones too. See app.raa.se/open/runor/i... and app.raa.se/open/runor/i...
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.
October 18, 2025 at 8:43 AM
The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde has to shore up its windows in the autumn to protect the ships against winter storms and flooding. So they're building a new museum building www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/nytmuseum 2/2
October 8, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde has to shore up its windows in the autumn to protect the ships against winter storms and flooding. So they're building a new museum building www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/nytmuseum 2/2
Here are some photos of the rocky shore of Papa Stronsay where Rǫgnvaldr was killed and St Boniface church in Papa Westray, in whose cemetery Rǫgnvaldr is likely to have been buried. 7/7
October 1, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Here are some photos of the rocky shore of Papa Stronsay where Rǫgnvaldr was killed and St Boniface church in Papa Westray, in whose cemetery Rǫgnvaldr is likely to have been buried. 7/7
Congratulations to @tcfairfax.bsky.social on his successful viva, passed with minor corrections today.
September 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Congratulations to @tcfairfax.bsky.social on his successful viva, passed with minor corrections today.
Sweet chestnut rabbit
September 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Sweet chestnut rabbit