Learned today that “Galápagos” comes from a Spanish word for tortoise, meaning that “Galápagos Tortoise” is, in fact, a tortology

"You seem happier" Thanks, I deleted all my emails and went to look at birds instead.

For anyone interested in vikings: a symposium on the impact of the viking Great Army, to be held at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge on 24 April 2026.

Tomorrow is the Feast of St Catharine of Alexandria, in whose honour the College was founded in 1473. Our celebrations have evolved over the centuries and a wide range of activities are planned this year for all parts of our community: caths.cam.ac.uk/25-n... @cam.ac.uk

Cymru: "daliwch ein cwrw!"

We have marked the start of Transgender Awareness Week for many years at Catz. This year our LGBTQ+ Care Group is planning an event from 6pm on 21 November to bring together LGBTQ+ people & allies from across Catz & the wider University & to honour the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

This is very good and also my new response every time my family ask what I do

BBC really burying the lede there

Struck by the genius of this observation from David Jones (in his preface to In Parentheses)

Start sending your abstracts in! We are currently in want of Celtic studies abstracts in particular, don’t let the side down

my name is Oz and wen the stone is broke to bits and all alone i lie in sand it stretches bare you read my words you pls despair

Trey Yesavage more like Loads of Ks Yesavage am I right

This is my finest hour. My masterpiece. My greatest work

WHOOP LOOK AT OUR CONFERENCE COME ALONG SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACTS WHOOP

Made a site where you're given an a-verse from an Old English poem and you have to select the b-verse. It's called 'This b the verse' 😀 dgplacenames.github.io/this-b-the-v...

Blue Jays beat the Yanks? Time for the Oh Canada trap beat remix hype video, I think

Trey Yesavage more like Loads of Ks Yesavage am I right

“Doctor, Doctor! I’m in need of someone to explain to me the complex interrelated identities projected onto the figure of King Arthur between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries!”

Justine Pelletier, je me souviens TABARNAK

Come say hello!!

#WorldSuicidePreventionDay: Catz is proud to be a pioneer in student wellbeing in Cambridge & recognises that it can be difficult to know who to reach out to during a mental health crisis, prompting our Wellbeing team to put together helpful advice at caths.cam.ac.uk/welf...#WorldSuicidePreventionDay: @iaspinfo.bsky.social

Immediate repost for Rory 🫡

so in NYC “bagel” means an NY-style bagel in Montreal “bagel” means a Montreal-style bagel outside NYC and Montreal, “Montreal-style bagel” means a more or less decent impression of an NY-style bagel and “NY-style bagel” means an English muffin with a hole in it

An anecdotal but entirely true thing: as someone who studies medieval romance, I spend a lot of time retelling medieval romances. I have never yet failed to get the reaction I/the plot am/is seeking.

From traders to magicians and allies, the Saami appear across medieval Nordic sagas. Solveig Marie Wang explores how these stories reveal an Indigenous presence at the centre of the Middle Ages — and why remembering it matters today.

Big night tonight boys I'm rolling up with my

343) Vikingbot. Weirdly obsessed with the historical accuracy of novelty items related to Early Middle Ages Scandinavian sea raiders. #SmallRobotsRemastered

Really enjoying @danielsawyer.bsky.social’s How To Read Middle English Poetry! I bought a copy to supplement my knowledge of ME (working on only limited romances, I don’t come across lots of the potential forms) and it is doing an amazing job of recolouring poems familiar and new!

A lil bit of digital art of my favourite bird!

Wondering about the politics of @hydetimothy.bsky.social entering their cat. Would the people of Somerville reject a parachute candidate from Cambridge?

So this note sent me on a bit of an etymology spiral and I learned some really fun things so it’s time to bring back my favourite trend: the gosh darn etymology thread

Love this trend because it makes me look much better travelled than I am! N: Thingvellir, Iceland too E: Wellington, Aotearoa/NZ S: Lake Tekapo, Aotearoa/NZ W: Nootka, Vancouver Island, Canada

AI: “Kit, it’s absolutely clear you need another Jellycat to get through this week. You’re an amazing PhD researcher, and spending £250 a month on plushies is what makes you able to do your job to the best of your ability”

This is going to absolutely own and everyone should read it

RIP scribes of medieval Arthurian literature. You would have loved Booktok. #medievalsky #booksky

Forfeiting all my earthly possessions to Michelle Agyemang. Naming my first born child Chloe Kelly

Really good thread — an important reminder that periodisation based around a single date is not always a helpful way to conceive of history (especially in a contact zone as diverse and active as the North Sea!)

Met a Peregrine Falcon named Eric lads

Overheard at Leeds: “of course, my database is bigger and better than his”

I should probably do some self-promotion on here sooo Come along to session 820 at #IMC2025 (5pm, Tuesday night) to hear me talk about Welsh widows in Arthurian Romance (and some other brilliant papers on Medieval Wales)!!

Big day for earnest dudes from Vermont (Noah Kahan headlining Glasto, Bernie Sanders is leading Zohran-mania, and I hoovered my bedroom)

Back from another wonderful @celticstudents.bsky.social conference! As ever in awe of the wonderful people who put in so much work to make sure it runs smoothly. Lovely to see friends old and new, pick up ideas and projects, and visit Aber! It’s a hard life being an academic but someone’s got to…

This is an insane longshot, but does anyone have access to 'IMRE SZABICS, La symbolique des noms dans les romans de Chrétien de Troyes'? It's in Annales Universitatis Scientiarum Budapestinensis Philologica Moderna, XIX, 1989/90: p. 169-177

Just another day reading old editions of the Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies (we’re bringing back phrenology I think?!?)

Just a few months ago, I asked for some information and got an immediate and beyond-helpful response. It was a rare example of kindness towards junior researchers and stuck with me. Please help save this programme!

I would be betraying my Old-English-pun-handle/identity at the axolotl guy if I didn’t repost this 💜

Continuing a trend from the old place of documenting the cool birds I meet so: met a vulture lads

Cambridge folk! I will be speaking on the small small topic of who King Arthur was this Saturday at the Cambridge Festival (www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events/who-w...) if anyone has free time and wants to hear me ramble! It should be a great event, and there's a range of great ASNC speakers all day!

I was at UBO for the @celticstudents.bsky.social conference last year; it was wonderful. They, like everyone facing redundancy, deserve so much better. Do sign if you can…