OUT NOW! 📚 SSNS is proud to present its new edited volume, 'Common Ground in Scottish Archaeology' (ed. Kelly Kilpatrick), which honours the work of Dr Anna Ritchie, esteemed archaeologist, author, and lifelong advocate of Scotland's premodern history and heritage.

Why not become a member of SSNS? As well as providing access to events and publications (including our journal), you will support the Society to promote and fund research into the Scandinavian, Celtic, and Scottish worlds - both within Scotland and further afield www.ssns.org.uk/membership/

Coming soon...

After a number of episodes looking at characters from Norway and Ireland in the middle of the 9th century, my latest post returns to Pictland to look at what happened after the death of Kenneth MacAlpin. northerntapestry.com/2025/08/17/f...

My latest blog post continues with the story of the vikings in Ireland in the middle of the 9th century and starts to join up with some of the threads contained in the Icelandic Sagas. #vikings, #ireland northerntapestry.com/2025/08/03/v...

Would highly recommend the new Viking North exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum (York) if you are in the area. Lots to see and thoughtfully presented. #vikingsky

The latest addition to my blog is a short post looking at the continuing strife between the Vikings and the Irish as we reach the mid-point of the 9th century. #vikings, #ireland northerntapestry.com/2025/07/13/t...

Thank you to those who are following this account. As well as my posts here I also have a blog on WordPress and I thought it might be useful to reintroduce that, especially to those who have joined in recent weeks. (A🧵 1/11) www.northerntapestry.com

Pictish Queen. Tarbat Discovery Centre.

Went to see the Viking-age ship carving at Pikeing Well, York today. Dating from 10th-11th century.

My latest post looks at one of the Norse leaders in 9th century Ireland northerntapestry.com/2025/06/08/t...

Stone with Ogham writing originally from County Kerry, now in Trinity College, Dublin.

Returning to #IMC2025 Historical and Archaeological Societies Fair is Scottish Society for Northern Studies ☺️ Make sure to visit their stall in between exploring Making Leeds Medieval! 😁 www.ssns.org.uk www.facebook.com/NorthernStud... bsky.app/profile/nort... #MedievalSky #SkyStorians

In my latest post I look at some of the Norwegian characters who are beginning to play a growing and important role in this Tapestry northerntapestry.com/2025/04/20/a...

British rebellion against Roman legions caused by drought, research finds www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Next free online seminar from the SSNS is on Thursday 10 April... www.ssns.org.uk/events/ssns-...

Are you interested in Scottish/Scandinavian Studies? - if so, you maybe want to check out the YouTube channel of free lectures from the Scottish Society for Northern Studies #history #literature #medievalsky #scotland #scandinaiva www.youtube.com/@SocietyforN...

A trip to Chester and the opportunity to visit the shrine of Werburgh, the patron saint of the city. She lived in the latter half of the 7th century and was Mercian royalty – her grandfather was Penda, the king who fought a series of wars against Northumbria. She died in the year 700.

Pictish stone trail on Moncreiffe Hill, Perth. Battle site from the Pictish civil war in 728.

Mar 16: Feast of Curetán (Boniface) (†8thC), bishop of Ross with a seat at Rosemarkie in the Black Isle. He was a signatory of Adomnán’s Lex Innocentium, 'Law of the Innocents', and a reformer of the Pictish Church. The Rosemarkie Stone 📸Groam House

The latest post on my blog does something a little bit different this time, by looking at how one great Scottish historian and novelist used the sources to develop his own interpretation of the story of Kenneth MacAlpin. northerntapestry.com/2025/03/09/k...

Model of Roman dice tower at Segedunum Fort museum (Wallsend, Newcastle) which mentions the Picts: "PICTOS VICTOS HOSTIS DELETA LVDITE SECVRI" (The Picts are defeated, the enemy destroyed, play safely). The original was found in Germany in 1985.

Archaeologists Excavate Largest Viking Age Building in Britain - Archaeology Magazine archaeology.org/news/2025/02...

My latest article continues to look at the origins of Kenneth MacAlpin and the stories that surround the man who is sometimes called the first King of Scotland. northerntapestry.com/2025/02/23/k...

February 13th is the anniversary of the death of Kenneth MacAlpin, often (if not quite accurately) said to be the first king of Scotland. My latest blog tries to work out how Kenneth came to power as I continue to look at the twilight of Pictish royalty northerntapestry.com/2025/02/12/t...

This is the Pictish stone which stands against the graveyard wall in the village of Strathmiglo, Fife. It is very weathered, but you can just about make out the head of a deer and, above it, a rectangular shape, possibly a “tuning fork” symbol.

Carved into the rocks where the sea meets the site of the original Faroese 9th century parliament at Tinganes in the Faroese Capital of Tórshavn, you can find this viking-age sundial. 1/4

Looking forward to sharing the research on Frisia and the Viking Age at this seminar, thanks @northernstudies.bsky.social for the invitation. Anyone interested is welcome to join - online and free, see below.

The latest instalment of the Northern Tapestry starts to look at the twilight of the Pictish royalty #picts, #vikings northerntapestry.com/2025/01/04/t...

Happy Hogmanay everyone! This is the Lapis ("stone") Echodi – along its top is an inscription with those words which some people think could be the oldest surviving memorial to any king in Britain. Eochaid Bude was a Dal Riadan king in the early 7th century. The stone is now in Iona Abbey.

Merry Christmas/Yule to everyone! Thank you for reading my various posts throughout the last year. Since I started the Northern Tapestry in October 2023 I have posted 24 articles on the Wordpress site (www.northerntapestry.com) covering the period from the late 7th century up to the 840s...

Winter Solstice at Maeshowe, Orkney www.youtube.com/live/3IBIWm7...

The Poppleton Manuscript contains a number of important sources for early Scottish history and is a text I have used in my blog posts. northerntapestry.com/sources/the-...

My latest blog looks at some (often colourful) descriptions of the Picts – as seen through the eyes of others. northerntapestry.com/2024/12/07/w...

Nov 30: Feast of Andrew († c. 60), apostle, martyr, patron saint of Scotland. He is said to have been crucified on an X-shaped cross. Cult universal by 6thC. Hagustaldes ham (Hexham) and Cennrígmonaid (St Andrews) both dedicated to him in the 7th/8thC. St Rule’s Tower, St Andrews 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Happy St. Andrew's Day!

Trip to the British Museum to see the fantastic Silk Roads exhibition. So many beautiful artifacts, but I was drawn to the fragments of an amphora from the eastern Mediterranean and found at the Pictish royal site of Rhynie. This vessel would perhaps have carried wine or olive oil to the north.

Nov 24: Feast of Eanflæd († c.704). Queen of the Northumbrians, then abbess of Streanæshalch (Whitby), which she ruled with daughter Ælfflæd. In thanks for her role at the synod in 664, the pope sent a cross and golden key made from the fetters of Peter and Paul. 📸Chris Kirk

Áed Finnliath, king of Ailech and Tara, died #OTD in 879. He was survived by his wife Máel Muire, daughter of Cináed mac Ailpín, former king of the Picts and Scots. Theirs is the only recorded marriage between an Irish king and a Pictish princess in the historical period.

Clach nam Breatann, Stirling. 'Stone of the Britons'. It stands in Glen Falloch, at the head of Loch Lomond, and probably commemorates either a boundary or a battle. Source: WJ Watson - The Celtic #PlaceNames of Scotland. 📸Eoghan

My latest blog looks at the 830s and the continuing Viking attacks on Ireland and the British Isles, notes a catastrophic defeat for the Picts, and briefly introduces a couple of Norwegian youngsters to the story. northerntapestry.com/2024/11/17/v...

Thank you to everyone who has followed me since I joined Bluesky a week ago. northerntapestry.com is an attempt to join up the characters, their stories and historical events in an area covering northern Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Iceland and the Faroe Islands in the early medieval period.

I'm giving a virtual talk next Friday to the Pictish Arts Society about frontier landscapes and firths in southern Scotland! It's only open to members of the PAS, but that's a good reason to go and join one of the best organizations in the area: www.thepictishartssociety.org.uk/join-us