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...
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How we compare
November 18, 2025 at 8:20 PM
How we compare
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That us up to 300 South Ronaldsay fields plotted
November 17, 2025 at 11:59 PM
That us up to 300 South Ronaldsay fields plotted
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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
George Eunson (1795) 'A chart of the islands of Orkney... with the coast of Scotland'
maps.nls.uk/view/74401125
November 14, 2025 at 9:40 PM
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
George Eunson (1795) 'A chart of the islands of Orkney... with the coast of Scotland'
maps.nls.uk/view/74401125
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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
tinyurl.com/yc5ave7f
November 4, 2025 at 10:46 AM
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
tinyurl.com/yc5ave7f
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Less than a month to go for submission of abstracts! Papers invited for the Life and Landscape Research Showcase at the University of Nottingham.
November 5, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Less than a month to go for submission of abstracts! Papers invited for the Life and Landscape Research Showcase at the University of Nottingham.
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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.
Yesterday’s #Wordle: hestr (sb. m.): 268 cits, e.g. (horse as working animal/object of value/trading good) riding horse, workhorse, hackney) ‘ok þa skulo þit spreta gio᷎rðunvm hennar. skal Dagr þat gera ok lata sem hann gyrðe hestinn er þer kom…’ (Heið in Holm perg 18 4°) onp.ku.dk/o33936
November 13, 2025 at 9:30 AM
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.
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.
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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/...
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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!