The Odyssey is notoriously difficult to put on screen because of its structure and scope youtu.be/0VEC7HfSnYU?... #ancientsky

Medieval football was not for the faint-hearted substack.com/@shieldofsku... #medievalsky

#vikingsky #medievalsky

Yes, I know the comparison between the discoveries is relatively inadequate because there were different groups in different times, but I was aiming for a more generalist view of Celtic presence. Now I have to do at least two follow-ups :))) youtu.be/cbnsMgbGVeM #ancientsky #medievalsky

Weapons! #ancientsky #medievalsky youtu.be/ETNE-gw4AG0?...

Exposing THOR with @archaeodeathprof.bsky.social youtu.be/LqF2grehXJw #vikingsky #medievalsky

Can't get used to posting here. The amount of socials is too overwhelming and I keep forgetting :( #medievalsky youtu.be/3fIrfmlCY0Y

Horses may have been domesticated much earlier than we thought! I discuss the latest research in this video: #prehistory youtu.be/izDejGnKq4k

Starting June 10th: Norse Myth and Legend in The Saga of the Volsungs, taught by @shieldofskuld.bsky.social - sign up at medievalstudies.thinkific.com/courses/vols... #norse #vikingsky #medievalsky

6th-century drinking horn mounts found at Taplow, Buckinghamshire. This is what they would have looked like on a large drinking horn. The silver-gilt and niello mounts consist of a bird head terminal with ribbing, and a rim band with human and rosette motifs. #medievalsky

Also started putting together a brief documentation about the historical sites I visit in my region! Here you have one of the best-preserved castles in Germany (and Europe) that you've probably never heard of #medievalsky youtu.be/JGFhaq5ZpZI

A hiker found this richly decorated 1,500-year-old gold sword scabbard in southwest Norway! It once adorned the sword of an elite warrior and is worn, a clear sign it was used many times before. #vikingsky #medievalsky

Worn out by Viking raids, King Aethelred attempted at the beginning of the 11th century to mobilise society by minting some very special and extremely rare coins with Christian motifs. Two of them have been found in Jutland, Denmark.

Two magnificent gold brooches from Hornelund, southwestern Jutland, Denmark, about 9 cm in diameter. The imagery is definitely intriguing: on the left, vines and leaves, which are quite common in Christian art, on the right, very Norse-looking animal heads. #medievalsky

Animals and face masks intertwined. Morphing into one another. Artistic and spiritual union. Silver-gilt square-headed brooch from Grave 22, early 6th century, Chessell Down, Early Anglo-Saxon, Isle of Wight #medievalsky

Are sunstones a wee bit overrated? If they existed at all in the Viking age. shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/how-did-th...

A 7th-century horse-shaped fibula from the Uppåkra site in Sweden. Symmetry seems to have played a central part in ornamentation. Notice the doubled animal that tends to shape an eight form. #medievalsky

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

The greater fibula of the 5th-century Gothic hoard found at Pietroasele (Buzau county, Romania). #medievalsky

My blood is boiling.

This might be the oldest ship burial in Scandinavia youtu.be/CJPmBP1Dm_o

moonglight madness #medievalsky youtu.be/FFLncz_FrZQ

Celebrating Easter with pre-Christian content I guess :)) #vikingsky #medievalsky shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/ritual-dri...

Shieldmaidens and cursed swords: the Saga of Hervor and Heidrek #norsesky #vikingsky youtu.be/MhRMs6QOfFE

Any similar maps of Scandinavian regions? shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/monstrous-...

Scandinavia's largest mound is not a burial, yet the story of its emergence and subsequent interpretations is a truly fascinating one! All about it in this episode of "Mounds & Memory". As usual with @archaeodeathprof.bsky.social #medievalsky #ancientsky youtu.be/H3IaMPFKCrY

On 23rd March, I'll be hosting a roundtable with the Folk Union on 'The Myth of the Vikings' along with @shieldofskuld.bsky.social and Adam Parsons (Oxford Archaeology)! Hope to see many of you there! You can buy tickets here: www.tickettailor.com/events/thefo... #medievalsky #oldnorse #vikings

Mounds & Memory, a project most dear to me, with @archaeodeathprof.bsky.social www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Imagine your documents were marked up for editing with this guy. Terrifying! MS.B.2.25 mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/B... #marginaliamonday #medievalsky

This appears to be a rare declaration of love from the 11th century, written on a weaver’s shed knife (to keep threads separate). mun : þu * mik : man : þik : un : þu : m(e)r : an : þʀr remember/think of me, I think of you; love me, I love you (aprox) Lödöse, Västra Götaland

"I feel a personal connection to these coins thus I'm gonna sell them to the highest bidder" *clown face* What an outright ethical failure. #medievalsky

Call for Abstracts! We invite submissions for its 6th Annual Free Public Virtual Conference, Opening the Ancient World 2026, that will take place on Sunday–Monday, July 19–20, 2026 Conference Theme: Fashion Forward: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Apparel Abstract Deadline: March 31 2026

A glimpse of everyday life: a cute little duck (12 cm) made of elk or reindeer antler or bone with a hole, probably meant to be mounted on a stick and make a kid very happy. Found in Birka (again!) but in the Viking settlement, not cemeteries. #vikingsky

Archaeology in Greenland! #vikingsky My apologies for the bombastic title (the algorithm is king on YouTube ugh) youtu.be/-tHNfN55-GU

love this object! #vikingsky

Viking treasures and burials: 2025's greatest finds youtu.be/_h1lsB89cHI #vikingsky #medievalsky

#vikingsky shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/the-puzzle...

Northern Chaos Gods: the reception of Norse myth in Viking metal #medievalsky #vikingsky youtu.be/gP2ng7y6_mY

Creative liberties and all, but this simply looks way too bizarre youtu.be/Klhc0d_RLKc

Drinking together was a deeply social act in ancient Scandinavia too, used to affirm and shape bonds of friendship and allegiance. The impact was even more impressive if the drink was poured from an imported Roman jug or horn. Photo: horn from Östergötland ca. 0-400 AD. Historiska museet

Bronze Age bling! youtu.be/AgMD9vHOliU

Mounds & memory: the Christianisation of Viking Iceland. In this episode, Howard and I tackled the many facets of Christianisation, from Ari's description to the identification of Egil's grave, a process that was much more dynamic and convoluted than thought. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN67...

Timidly diving into some captivating bits of prehistory! youtu.be/9vM4nG3Rj78

Thinking about the age of AI and how we're being forced out of intellectual existence by the tech psychopaths.

Public lecture about Viking metal! Many thanks to the Universidade Federal de Paraiba! www.youtube.com/live/ZyCNi-a...

My study “The Monstrous agency: the social life of the Icelandic restless dead” has been published! First academic article in four years sadly, perhaps one of the reasons I like these Icelandic characters so much, very much feeling like a revenant myself. periodicos.ufpb.br/index.php/sc...

Portuguese event about the reception of Old Norse literature, organized by Nucleo de Estudos Vikings e Escandinavos (Paraiba, Brazil)! The topic of my PhD (Norse myth in extreme metal) has gotten a second life in a way, although today I feel quite disconnected from it.

The beacon system in medieval Norway: youtu.be/gwXpPTwTNC0 #vikingsky #medievalsky

We’re digital peasants. We don’t own anything, and our landlords want us toiling in the digital field. You can’t just opt out and go live like a hermit (enticing though). You depend on the banking app, the public transportation app, all kinds of apps your employer requires and so on.

Substack essay shieldofskuld.substack.com/p/the-true-o... #monsters