Some interesting ways of referring to women here. I'm not sure about 'girl' for 'svarri', though. At least in prose it has different connotations. In ch. 91 of #Orkneyingasaga the widow Margrét is a 'svarri': @onp.ku.dk suggests 'arrogant, haughty woman', which I used in my translation. 1/2

One of Rǫgnvaldr Kolsson's ships was named Fífa, see ch. 85 of #Orkneyingasaga #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney and his lausavísa 8: skaldic.ku.dk/q?p=skp/skal... #arrows #ships

History Scotland Online Lectures | Exclusive history talks and webinars - My Magazine Subscriptions History Scotland run regular online lectures on a host of subjects. Presented by historians, curators and authors, the popular webinars include a presentation and the chance to ask questions. Be sure ...

And if you still haven't had your fill of #Orkneyingasaga #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney (who has?), I'm doing a webinar on 4th March: www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/history-scot... (see also Niall Sharples on #Vikings in the #Hebrides on Thursday)

This stanza provokes a celebrated retort by Ragna, 'It has now come to this, as is said, that few are so intelligent that they can see everything as it is, because this is from a stallion not a mare.' See ch. 81 of #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney #Orkneyingasaga and uonenglish.substack.com/p/who-is-rag...

Some interesting bishops in #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney #OrkneyingaSaga

This stanza from a poem in praise of Norwegian king (later saint) Óláfr Haraldsson is widely cited in ON texts, including ch. 19 of the Saga of the Earls of #Orkney / #Orkneyingasaga. 1/2

The Saga of the Earls of Orkney | Birlinn Ltd - Independent Scottish Publisher - buy books online This fascinating history of the Earldom of Orkney, which was established in the Viking Age, records the adventures, feuds and battles of powerful Norsemen during its first three centuries. The medieva...

Getting my copy of the new translation of #OrkneyingaSaga this week too birlinn.co.uk/product/the-... Not a bad combo for anyone interested in #Orkney in the #Norse period... #ShouldYouBeAtALossForChristmasPresentIdeas...

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.

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...

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

The word 'teigr' appears in a place-name in ch. 9 of the Saga of the Earls of Orkney #Orkneyingasaga. Hávarðsteigar, somewhere near #Stenness in #Orkney, was where Earl Hávarðr 'the Harvest-blessed' and 'a good chieftain' was killed by his nephew Einarr at the instigation of his wife Ragnhildr. 🧵1/4

Bjarni Kolbeinsson, son of Kolbeinn Heap of Wyre, is called a 'skald' (poet) in ch. of 84 the Saga of the Earls of Orkney #OrkneyingaSaga. It doesn't quote any of his poetry, but his rollicking Jómsvíkingadrápa survives elsewhere. 🧵1/4

Gaitnip: a case of ‘synonym substitution’ - Ragna's Islands: A New Saga Geitaberg now Gaitnip (St. Ola) occurs once in the Saga of the Earls of Orkney where we hear in chapter 76 that ‘Borgarr, the son of Jaddvǫr Erlendsdóttir, who lived at Gaitnip… had seen the cargo-ship as it sailed from the south and back south’, with Sveinn Ásleifarson aboard. Sveinn had come ‘to meet Earl ...

Our latest blog on the #OrkneyingaSaga #PlaceName Geitaberg is out! #Orkney blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...

Pinpointing Paplay... the priests, the parish, the place-name... - Ragna's Islands: A New Saga The place-name Paplay occurs in the Saga of the Earls of Orkney (Orkneyinga saga) on several occasions. In chapter 42 we hear that Gunnhildr, daughter of the late Earl Erlendr who had died in Trondheim, was married off by King Magnús to Kolr Kalason a well-connected Norwegian landowner, and that ‘some properties in the Orkneys ...

Our latest blog looks at the #saga #PlaceName Paplay! Where was it, when was it, and what does it mean?! #Orkney #OrkneyingaSaga blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...

And of course both Rousay (Hrólfsey) and Gairsay (Gáreksey) occur several times in #OrkneyingaSaga... nice to see the skáli name too!

Colour photo of the sunrise in Wasbister, Rousay.

Left Hrólfsey for Þingavöll early this morning, before making our way to Kirkuvágr & thence to Hafnarvágr for the stretch across the Péttlandsfjörðr to Þórsá in Katanes.

The last of the Ragna place-names team have left the Orkneyjar... for now... #PlaceNames #OrkneyingaSaga #Orkney

Colour photo of a lane leading down to a croft, with a bay beyond, and a heather covered hill in the background.

One of the #Ragna team is off this week after the fab project workshop in #Kirkwall, looking at the #PlaceNames of #Rousay! AKA Hrolfsey in #OrkneyingaSaga - ON Hrólfs-ey ‘Hrólfr’s island’. Here's Saviskaill, ON sœvar-skáli, 'sea-skaill' i.e 'hall or house by the sea' (Marwick).

The Ragna team have been exploring the #OrkneyingaSaga places of Egilsay and Wyre today!

Archival document showing the place-name Ropnes

Archival document showing the place-name Horpher.

Spent the morning in the fab @orkneylibrary.bsky.social #archives today... yes... thinking about #PlaceNames... here are a couple of rather nice spellings of two places that occur in #OrkneyingaSaga: Rapness and Orphir

Le #Jarl était un titre de noblesse viking, équivalent de Earl (en anglais) ou Comte en français. Encore un facho qui nuit à l'image et à la culture et histoire nordique. Plutôt que de lire son bouquin de merde, je conseille #OrkneyingaSaga sur les Earls d'Orkney Islands.

Scapa…part one… - Ragna's Islands: A New Saga Skálpeið is mentioned several times in the Saga of the Earls of Orkney and we find the place-name ‘Scapa’ applied to a number of places in Orkney: Scapa Flow and Scapa Bay in the sea, and on land at two farms (Upper and Nether Scapa), Scapa House, not to mention the modern Scapa Distillery near ...

‘Scapa’ is an important place in #OrkneyingaSaga & is still applied to a number of places in #Orkney: to #ScapaFlow & Scapa Bay, to the farms of Upper & Nether Scapa & of course the #ScapaDistillery... but what does #Scapa mean?! Find out in our latest blog! blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...

The three big books on the table are GKS 1015 fol., Tormod Torfæus' translation of #Flateyjarbók into Danish. Interesting to see that he chickened out of translating the #skaldic stanzas - the photo here is from ch. 20 of #Orkneyingasaga

Kolr Kalason, the forgotten hero of The Saga of the Earls of Orkney - Ragna's Islands: A New Saga Working in the Orkney Archive not long ago, I came across an intriguing booklet called The Saga of Kol Kalison, about the Norwegian father of the twelfth-century Earl of Orkney Rǫgnvaldr Kali Kolsson: The author, Charles Grant, kindly sent me the following information about it: The book was written for the Jarl Squad 2008 Lerwick ...

Kolr Kalason, forgotten hero of #OrkneyingaSaga?! Married to the Orcadian sister of St. Magnus, he was mover & shaker behind the cathedral’s construction… but what else did he do? Find out just how much can be gleaned through close readings of the saga! shorturl.at/wfvZb

#StMagnus church #Egilsay ... Commemorating the martyrdom of St Magnus, Orkney's patron saint. Dates back to 12th century #orkney #norse #earldom #saga #orkneyingasaga #scottishislands www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/st-...

#stmagnuscathedral #vikingcathedral #stmagnus #orkneyingasaga #orkney #norse #sunsout #springisontheway

#dingieshowe #loveorkney #orkney #wavepower #cliffs #surf #flagstone #instascotland #orkneyingasaga #springtide #scottishsunshine #islandlife #deepbluesea www.instagram.com/p/BukUkKUjz9p/

#earlsbu #orphir #orkney #orkneyingasaga #scotlandexplore #visitorkney @ Earl's Bu www.instagram.com/p/BllgPGglH1T/