iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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HI Student Conference on the Medieval North @histudentcon.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Hear ye, hear ye! We bring good news today - the 16th Háskóli Íslands Student Conference on the Medieval North will be held on April 19-21, 2027, both in Reykjavík and online. This year’s theme is Between Worlds. More information and submissions here: histudentconference.wordpress.com #medievalsky

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Tom Fairfax @tcfairfax.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Registration now available for the SSNS day conference in Melrose and Darnick! A trip to the abbey followed by a fantastic list of speakers including Jackson Armstrong, Brigid Ehrmantraut, Neil McGuigan, and David Griffiths. Sign up using the link below! www.ssns.org.uk/events/ssns-...

ssns.org.uk

SSNS 2026 Day Conference - Scottish Society for Northern Studies

SSNS's next Annual Conference will take place in Darnick on 28 Nov. 2026.

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em horne @em-ehx.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Very excited to be joining The Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space as a Visiting Fellow in spring next year! le.ac.uk/research/cen...

le.ac.uk

Visiting Fellows | Humanity space | University of Leicester

The Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space welcomes Visiting Fellows from a wide range of disciplines, sectors, and backgrounds.

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University of Nottingham UCU branch @uonucu.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

What a gorgeous day to stand in solidarity with your community. Thank you all for standing with us and showing this university what courage and determination looks like. Here's to our strength as the fight continues. But more importantly, here's to us winning. Solidarity, UoNUCU

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Judith Jesch @judithjesch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Proud of my former PhD student @cassidycroci.bsky.social

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Fiona Campbell-Howes @fortrenn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Still time to get your tickets for our @pictishartssociety.bsky.social conference next weekend! A fantastic line-up of experts looking at the 'Pictishness' of Pictish art, new findings from Burghead, and approaches to representing Picts and Pictland in the role-playing game Carved in Stone.

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Judith Jesch @judithjesch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

🧵 A reminder #OTD that 'Hardrada' makes no sense in any language. The Norwegian king who died at Stamford Bridge in #1066 was called Haraldr harðráði in Old Norse. Such bynames or nicknames can (and should) usually be translated. His means something like 'Hard Ruler' or 'Stern Ruler'.

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Christian Cooijmans @ccooijmans.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Very concerning that they don't mention which models were used in the process, and whether/how applications were protected vis-à-vis data ethics, GDPR, AI training, etc. It not only risks that no human will read what you have spent months working on, but that your work is hoovered up along the way.

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Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Funded PhD opportunities with a short deadline. Join our early medieval cluster at Liverpool with 7 PhDs currently working with the Institute of Irish Studies on all aspects of Irish, British and Icelandic topics and connections www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/col... #museums #medievalsky

nationalgallery.org.uk

Collaborative PhDs | Research | National Gallery, London

As part of collaborative consortia, the Gallery hosts a cohort of PhD students funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.

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Claire Boardman @claireboardman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Continuing the theme of UK HERs, the next Groam House Museum online talk will look at 'The Black Isle in the Highland Historic Environment Record' - October 1 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm BST. groamhouse.org.uk/event/the-bl...

groamhouse.org.uk

The Black Isle in the Highland Historic Environment Record - Groam House Museum

Join Emily Freeman, Head of Treasure Trove Operations at National Museums Scotland for Groam House Museum's Online Lecture.

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Corinna @shroomgirl.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Spent a lovely windswept day delivering the Ragna's Islands Project #NorthRonaldsay booklets (saga-stories, poetry and place-names) to islanders. It is wonderful to be here again! #Orkney #OrkneyingaSaga #Placenames

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Christian Cooijmans @ccooijmans.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

'Vikings in the Mediterranean' (ed. Price et al.) has been out for a few years now, but happy to see my review on it in the new issue of Northern Studies, which landed on my doormat this week. DM me if you'd like a PDF.

The cover of the new volume of Northern Studies, featuring an 'upside down' stylised map the North Sea region

A review of 'Vikings in the Mediterranean' (2023)

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Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Just got the proofs back for this baby, now to check through and index (the publisher keeps checking that I actually want to index it myself, which makes me feel like I have some weird indexing kink) Publication in April #medievalsky

penguin.co.uk

The Vikings in Britain and Ireland

The impact of Scandinavian invaders on the peoples of the Britain and Ireland was incalculable. Raiders on a sometimes large scale, they initially attacked coastal and river settlements, but ended up ...

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Hannah E @hspevans.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Last few days to submit your abstract!! @imc-leeds.bsky.social

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Dr Jasmin Higgs @jaztherunologist.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

There has been lots of chatter about runes in the news recently. Recap what has been happening in the newsletter entry, ‘Runic News Round-Up!’ runebrevet.hypotheses.org/1166

runebrevet.hypotheses.org

Runic News Round-Up! September 2026

A September round-up of new finds of runic inscriptions in various news outlets, complete with links and short English summaries of the discoveries.

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Judith Jesch @judithjesch.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

For some of the latest in #runology, check out Runebrevet: The Runic Newsletter runebrevet.hypotheses.org

runebrevet.hypotheses.org

Runebrevet – Runebrevet: The Runic Newsletter

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Norse in the North @norseinthenorth.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

We are happy to announce that University of Nottingham will be joining our cohort as the fourth and newest member of NitN! Nottingham is the home to @uoncsva.bsky.social and has been an active member of the Old Norse community! They will host the 2027 conference and we are so excited to have them!

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Jonas ZA @jonasza4.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

10 days left to submit your abstract for our @imc-leeds.bsky.social session on the communities of medieval Norway -- organised by @marycoconnor.bsky.social and me! Please share widely 🤗 #medievalsky #oldnorse

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Christian Cooijmans @ccooijmans.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Probably would have been drier to swim, but the site of the viking burial mound at Kingscross Point, overlooking Lamlash Bay on Arran, is worth the trek. A furnished cremation grave was excavated here in 1909, and has been dated to the mid/late ninth century

A photo of the viking burial site at Kingscross Point, Lamlash, Arran, during a cloudy, rainy day. Holy Isle is visible in the bay, and the cloud-covered Goatfell range is seen in the distance.

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UHI Institute for Northern Studies @insuhi.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The latest UHI Institute for Northern Studies seminar, 'Prosecuting Serious Crime in Late Seventeenth-Century Scotland ', is given by Allan Kennedy, Lecturer in Scottish History, University of Dundee ➕ 7.00pm 24/09/26 ➕ Free online ➕ Register online for link tinyurl.com/22wz7hhc

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St Magnus Cathedral, Orkney @stmagnuscathedral.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Today is the Feast of St Rognvald, our dynamic, poetic, adventurous, handsome, cathedral-building Norwegian Earl of Orkney. Skål!

Wooden carving of a man standing holding a model of a church

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Judith Jesch @judithjesch.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Delighted to meet #Ragna again, this time in a #runic inscription in Lom Stavkyrkje.

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Judith Jesch @judithjesch.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I really missed a trick not writing this blogpost a year ago (read it to find out why): norseandviking.blogspot.com/2026/07/i-wr... Anyway, in honour of St Ólafr's feast day today, better late than never! #runology #olsok

norseandviking.blogspot.com

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Adrián Maldonado @archaeonado.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

A Viking-age boatyard on Eigg - new page on some old finds in National Museums Scotland. Inspired by the @seamuseum.bsky.social Galloway Hoard exhibition, which features a new 3D-printed replica of one of these boat stems. Don't miss the two incredible new 3D models by @hugowhymark.bsky.social

nms.ac.uk

A Viking Age boatyard on Eigg | National Museums Scotland

Two oak boat stems dating to 880-1050 AD from the isle of Eigg show the arrival of Scandinavian seafaring technology to Scotland.These rare survivals revea

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 21/07/2026

"To accountants, some courses or departments may be viewed as cost centres. But to lecturers and students, and the places in which they are based, they are cultural resources – repositories of knowledge built up over decades." bit.ly/4gOTZo2 #Skystorians

bit.ly

The Guardian view on humanities cuts in universities: academic departments are more than cost centres | Editorial

Editorial: Literature, the arts and social sciences must not be sacrificed as higher education funding is squeezed

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

‘Thousands of university job cuts in humanities and social sciences are creating widespread cold spots for languages, classics and theology degrees, the British Academy has warned’ www.theguardian.com/education/20...

theguardian.com

Humanities among degrees being ‘extinguished’ by hard-up universities

Exclusive: Experts fear rise in education ‘cold spots’ and social immobility as 4,000 academic posts lost in one year

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Natalie Hopwood @nrhopwood.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

For those already excited for #IMC2027, @marycoconnor.bsky.social and I are organizing sessions on 'The Literary Communities of Old Norse and Icelandic Romance'! 🌟If you would like to get involved, please submit a 250 word abstract and short bio by 18th September 🌟 #medievalsky

The Literary Communities of Old Norse and Icelandic Romance
Through the translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britannaie and the efforts of Hákon Hákonarson, king of Norway (r. 1217-1263), romance reached the Medieval North where it soon took hold of the Scandinavian imagination. Old Norse translations of Old French romances were copied and transmitted from Norway to Iceland. These romances soon inspired a wave of new literary creations, leading to the production of Icelandic chivalric romances and later ballads and rimur, alongside potentially influencing other literary genres. These narratives were amongst the most popular stories read and received amongst medieval and later Icelandic communities as the manuscript preservation attests. And yet they continue to be amongst the most understanded communities of texts within Old Norse literary studies. This session seeks to respond to this gap in scholarship and invite papers which investigate these texts, challenging former assumptions and opening up new avenues of scholarship on these texts.

Suggested themes and topics may include but are not limited to:

· Chivalric romances, fornaldarsögur
· Translation (Old Norse and Old Swedish)
· Literary communities
· Gender
· Emotions
· Genre
· Families/ genealogies
· Travel/ geography
· Marginalised identities
· Manuscript reception and transmission
· Society and hierarchy
· Ethnicity and religion
· Monsters
· Transgression
Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words and a brief biography by Friday 18th September to Mary Catherine O’Connor (mary.oconnor@balliol.ox.ac.uk) and Natalie Hopwood (ennrho@leeds.ac.uk)

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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

I've signed and sent a letter - from authors, broadcasters, journalists, artists, scholars and performers - to express our deep concern at @exeter.ac.uk’s troubling plans to make mass redundancies within the Humanities Dept @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social. I would love it if you read and shared widely.

Dear Vice Chancellor, Provost, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Humanities,
Arts and Social Sciences and Chair of Council (cc Director of Human Resources and Chief Financial
Officer)
We write, as authors, broadcasters, journalists, artists, publishers, academics and performers in the public
sphere, to express our deep concern at the University of Exeter’s plans to make redundancies within the
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). The cuts come at a point when Exeter is not in
deficit, and they are not distributed equally across the university. With 114 of the proposed 153 FTE
academic redundancies falling within HASS, the University is dismantling areas of established excellence
and international renown in a Russell Group University whose reputation is known to be outstanding in the
Humanities. Several of the disciplines subject to the proposed cuts, including Classics and Ancient History,
English and Creative Writing, History, and Theology and Religion are among the UK’s strongest according
to league tables, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF),
and other recognised indicators, including QS World Rankings.
The extent of the proposed cuts is both shocking and misguided. Exeter is seeking to make up to 20
academics redundant in English and Creative Writing, out of a headcount of 62. In Languages and Visual
Culture upwards of 17 colleagues will be made redundant, decimating subjects including Art History and
Visual Culture, French, German, Italian, Hispanic Studies, Russian and Chinese. 5 posts will go or have
gone in Classics and Ancient History (2 academics have already left), out of a staff body of 20. In Theology
and Religion up to 5 academics will be made redundant out of a group of 13. In History over 17 colleagues
will be made redundant, out of a staff body of 53. In the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies staff are
facing a headcount reduction of almost a third (6FTE out …

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The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

As the crisis in UK higher education and research deepens, the British Academy’s President, Susan J Smith (@sjs1869.bsky.social) has urged an immediate and comprehensive review to secure the sector's long-term sustainability. See the full statement: bit.ly/4v8jdks

A social media card with a quote from President of the British Academy - Professor Susan J Smith.

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Tom Fairfax @tcfairfax.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Looking forward to Leeds IMC (@imc-leeds.bsky.social) next week, where I'll speaking on the first of @em-ehx.bsky.social and @jakestattel.bsky.social 's panels on Wednesday morning! Hope to see some of you there! 🙂 If you'd like to meet up during the conference, send me an email (tom@ssns.org.uk)!

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Tom Fairfax @tcfairfax.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Revisiting some old friends ahead of Leeds IMC...

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

The crisis in UK higher education is worsening week by week — Exeter University is one of the best in the UK, with superb lecturers (and several You’re Dead To Me guests), but it’s planning massive job cuts in History, Archaeology, Classics — see the petition below to lend your voice in support

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Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

My latest project, a sourcebook on Vikings in Britain and Ireland, has just gone to the copy-editor. It's due out April next year. Always a bit nervous/exciting when that happens #medievalsky

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Andrew Bloomberg @andrewbloomberg.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Are you a 15th century king? Do you want to show that you’re down with this humanism stuff that your scholars keep talking about, but you’re also terrified of your own people & the damn French? Ask your architect if Fancy Renaissance Gate Sandwiched Between Existing Medieval Towers is right for you.

A very ornate Renaissance gate sandwich between two beefy medieval towers at the Castello Nuovo in Florence

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em horne @em-ehx.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Very exciting day scheduled on Saturday at Nottingham’s Life and Landscape postgraduate research showcase. Looking forward to hearing all of our speakers!

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Neil McGuigan @neilmcguigan.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Today, finally, the UK publication of the paperback version of *Máel Coluim III, 'Canmore: An Eleventh-Century Scottish King* with John Donald/ @birlinn.bsky.social .

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Emilie K. M. Murphy @emiliekmmurphy.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Really can't cope with the fact that Nottingham's now departed VC (now VC at Leeds - god help them) wasted £80 MILLION on a building it is now selling at a crushing loss (£14m), and is attempting to recoup some of that by sacking 100s of academics and decimating the institution. Absolutely criminal.

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em horne @em-ehx.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Excellent view of Orkney on the way back from Faroe! A nice treat after the outbound journey of rain, cloud, and fog.

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Dr Katrín Lísa L. Mikaelsdóttir @vanlinduist.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

📢 Call for Book Chapters in our book series 'Old Norse Studies' TIMES OF CHANGE: NORWAY IN THE 13TH CENTURY, ed. Mary Catherine O’Connor & Jonas Zeit-Altpeter 📅 Abstract deadline: 31 July More information on submissions below. See the full Call here: trivent-publishing.eu/blog/post/36...

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Marc Morris @marcmorris.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

"Most surprisingly, the Norman Conquest of 1066 appears to have been largely an elite process." Scientists once again riding to the rescue of historians, who had previously assumed 1066 was a largely peasant-driven enterprise. theconversation.com/beyond-anglo...

theconversation.com

Beyond Anglo-Saxons, Celts and Vikings: DNA uncovers a dynamic history of migration to Britain

The island’s history was marked by mixture and cultural reinvention.

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