📚 Treasures of the Vikings - My new book is out on May 19th!

A Bifröst of a book that bridges Marvel, VIKINGS, The Northman, and academia, it pairs beautiful photos with the latest thinking on the Viking world, all written in an engaging and accessible style.

🛒 Pre-order now! 📖

I’ve been following David for a couple years on this platform and the sheer frequency of insights into public history from his account is an educational resource in and of itself. This book will be great

announcing ILÚVATAR, my multi-billion dollar company which will specialize in the dismantling of all other idiotically tolkien-named entities, that they shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite

Also, if there are any books on pre-Viking Early Medieval Ireland, either archaeology or kingship or poetic traditions, I'd be interested...!

Oh yes, Yorkshire please. Drop me an email (I think we have one another's details in an old inbox thread?) and I can sort details. Thanks Clare!

I hate Al and I refuse to use it Peter, if you don't use Al a bunch of super rich men will lose a lot of money I already said I hated Al Harry, you don't need to sell it to me

6th-Century Fire in Phanagoria Reveals Lost Wallets Filled with Ancient Coins—Including Counterfeits - Arkeonews 6th-century fire in Phanagoria reveals lost wallets filled with ancient Bosporan coins, including rare counterfeits, offering new insight

What can coinage tell us about crisis? 🪙 The spatial pattern of finds from late antique Phanagoria (Black Sea, now Russia: pleiades.stoa.org/places/854724) indicate citizens dropping coin purses, likely during a fire while the city was besieged (Justinianic, 545-554 CE) arkeonews.net/6th-century-...

So I am reflecting on AI as one does and I have come to realize that “learn to use AI” and “embrace AI” and “develop AI literacy” won’t fucking protect ua from existential and stochastic harms of AI, and my overlooking this as a vector for criticism is really something.

If these are going spare I’ve got a nice spot on my bookshelf for them

James Blake’s Men of the Manosphere documentary (BBC iPlayer) is really quite harrowing

The Theroux one was good but Blake showcases the more ‘normal’ lads indoctrinated into the Tate pyramid scheme, and its as fascinating as it is sad, worrying, and occasionally unintentionally hilarious

How Fast Were Viking Longships? (2026 Update) How Fast Were Viking Longships? Discover how fast historians think longships were through textual evidence and modern reconstructions.

Dug up this fun piece I wrote years ago, and updated it with the new Orkan project out of Toulouse. How fast were longships? We have a pretty good idea:

cjadrien.com/how-fast-wer...

#medievalsky #history #vikingsky #sailing #medieval #vikings

This looks great, and a good way to spend a Sunday

For sure. I try to find analogies to talk about, and therefore educate on, AI, all the time. For eg, the negative impacts of mechanisation on workers (1750-1900) and how they synergise with real contemporary concerns about AI ruining the environment and taking people’s jobs

We’re being advised all the time to ‘think critically on how to use AI’ but the advice is so vague, and I don’t believe the advisors have actually read enough to know how to properly caution people against it.

For me, ‘thinking critically’ just results in not using AI

Old school curating goes hard tbf

www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Little-Kingd...

My third book, LITTLE KINGDOMS: AN A-Z OF EARLY MEDIEVAL BRITAIN, is now out

I couldn’t find a better way of explaining it than the old thread I made - so here it is preserved in amber! Happy reading! 🧵

One of many linguistic quirks used to humanise these lines of code

Another example would be how media outlets describe, say, Grok’s CSAM actions as the mistakes of an individual, instead of blaming the technicians who put the inputs in

One of life’s simple pleasures

Everyone, please stop what you’re doing

I found a newt in my pond

I’ll train my newt (Nero) to beat your frogs in a duel

Sánchez, Lula Lead 'Work for Peace' and Equality at Gathering of Global Progressive Leaders in Spain | Common Dreams Join progressive leaders from around the world in Barcelona this weekend as they unite against extremism, inequality, and misinformation. Can democracy prevail in the face of rising authoritarianism? ...

“The good news is that, from Zohran Mamdani and [Congresswoman] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York to Pedro Sánchez in Spain, from Lula in Brazil to [Green Party Leader] Zack Polanski in the UK, we may be seeing the early signs of a new cross-border alliance taking shape against global oligarchy.”

Smooth (or common) newt, I think! This is the second we’ve seen since digging our pond in mid-2024. Lots of diving beetles and water lice in there too.

Everyone, please stop what you’re doing

I found a newt in my pond

Kindling urges wooden building to embrace open fire as charcoal enjoyers make first £670mgm (mega-million) fund investment

Nice one Jason, top job!

Golden (runic) bracteate (type C) and clasp button (John Hines' group B1 VI) from Sjonhem, Gotland. Found in a garden in the 1970's and kept by the family until last year. Photo: Gotland Museum

Similar bracteates from Gotland.

Clasp with buttons from Havor in Hablingbo, southwestern Gotland (SHM 8064).

Better pictures of the recently reported golden (runic) bracteate and clasp button from Sjonhem, Gotland - along with parallells.

#FindsFriday 🏺

‘Soon everyone will be lobotomised, so we may as well lobotomise ourselves now’

Thanks for sharing this mate, I’m now viscerally angry

Brilliant article, plus I cameo in it, which is a nice bonus

‘Soon everyone will be lobotomised, so we may as well lobotomise ourselves now’