Nik Gunn
@nikgunn.bsky.social
📤 848
📥 338
📝 398
📖 Writer, translator, medievalist 🏹 Weekend longbowman Views mine.
https://nikolasgunn.co.uk/
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Nikita Gill
5 days ago
Alarming amount of folks apparently don’t seem to know that translation is a political act because translators are people, and people have biases.
11
1071
182
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Gareth Watkins
8 days ago
RIP to John Blanche, the best to ever do it. Before Warhammer was even Warhammer he understood what it was: weird, gross, unsettling, maximalist.
19
2607
1042
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Donncha O’Connell
9 days ago
University staff say €4.55bn research fund ignores arts and humanities. Almost 2,000 sign open letter criticising Research Ireland for favouring industry and commercial interests.
www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...
loading . . .
University staff say €4.55bn research fund ignores arts and humanities
Letter to Min Higher Ed
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2026/06/02/university-staff-say-455bn-research-fund-ignores-arts-and-humanities/
1
46
42
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Hildur Knútsdóttir
10 days ago
Throwback to when a TV station in Iceland accidentally aired an episode of Teletubbies with subtitles from the Sopranos 👌🏼
206
13571
3806
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Robert Houghton
10 days ago
My book, "The Middle Ages in Computer Games" is out in paperback tomorrow (2 Jun). If you've been waiting to get hold of it, now could be a good time!
boydellandbrewer.com/book/the-mid...
12
250
72
reposted by
Nik Gunn
No Sunk Costs
15 days ago
Ok this is a truly great tweet
89
14675
3610
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Stephen Hopkins
17 days ago
Biggest comeback in history? 999: Icelanders convert to Christianity & ditch Norse myth↩️ 1200's: Snorri Sturluson uses the power of euhemerism to make Norse myth biblical↩️ 1930's: a very Catholic Norse scholar pilfers the edda for character names↩️ 2026: Pope quotes a character called Gandalf 🇮🇸👑
8
657
164
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Marc Morris
15 days ago
"Most surprisingly, the Norman Conquest of 1066 appears to have been largely an elite process." Scientists once again riding to the rescue of historians, who had previously assumed 1066 was a largely peasant-driven enterprise.
theconversation.com/beyond-anglo...
loading . . .
Beyond Anglo-Saxons, Celts and Vikings: DNA uncovers a dynamic history of migration to Britain
The island’s history was marked by mixture and cultural reinvention.
https://theconversation.com/beyond-anglo-saxons-celts-and-vikings-dna-uncovers-a-dynamic-history-of-migration-to-britain-283532
25
212
58
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Plashing Vole
15 days ago
The underlying assumption is that Manchester students are rich enough not to be already working. My own university is bringing in compulsory placements: one of the issues not raised AT ALL is that nearly every single student has a job already, quite often full-time. Are they meant to quit?
add a skeleton here at some point
17
222
62
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Margot Finn
16 days ago
'The University of Hertfordshire’s decision to “suspend” five humanities undergraduate courses is a further stark warning about how readily higher education has jettisoned its former commitment to such subjects.' 1/4
loading . . .
Market competition is hollowing out humanities in England
Hertfordshire’s announcement of course closures is the latest example of a dynamic that cuts off non-traditional students from non-vocational courses, says Dragan Plavsic
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/market-competition-hollowing-out-humanities-england
4
76
43
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Elizabeth Boyle
16 days ago
"Dating from c1290 to 1310, the manuscript contains texts from the Old French Lancelot-Grail cycle – the foundational myths of King Arthur, Merlin and the holy grail – and 126 miniature illustrations, including a rare depiction of Merlin as a stag."
#MedievalSky
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...
loading . . .
Medieval King Arthur manuscript could fetch £2m at auction
Book containing early versions of the Merlin and Grail legends has remained in private hands for 700 years
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/may/26/medieval-king-arthur-manuscript-auction?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
1
21
12
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Aparna Nair
17 days ago
The temperature in Delhi is 45 Celsius/113 Fahrenheit. The government is telling people to stay indoors, but that is not a viable option for millions who need to work and move about outdoors. And its supposed to get hotter.
www.bbc.com/news/videos/...
loading . . .
Heatwave: Indians warned to stay indoors as temperatures soar
The BBC's Sumedha Pal described how difficult it was to be standing in the streets of Delhi as temperatures rose to 45C .
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/ckgppxw9239o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
3
138
81
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Seth Cotlar
17 days ago
A friend of mine who was TA’ing for an AmLit course found a copy of Moby Dick a student had left behind. It had only one marginal annotation, around page 100, that simply said “whale is important.”
add a skeleton here at some point
228
15062
3070
reposted by
Nik Gunn
𝔾𝕆ℝ𝔸ℕ
17 days ago
add a skeleton here at some point
14
563
97
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Kevin Wilbraham
19 days ago
The stairwell of Mousa Broch on the western shore of the Island of Mousa in the Shetland Isles. The broch was constructed in the Iron Age in around 100 BC. 📸 My own.
#StairwellSaturday
#Mousa
#Shetland
#Archaeology
54
2298
332
reposted by
Nik Gunn
SeaWindowCraster
19 days ago
23rd May 2026 05.08
3
168
21
Thesis I would like to see written/write myself if I had unlimited time and money: Detectorists, This Country, and Gone Fishing: politics, nostalgia and the British screen pastoral in the 2010s.
20 days ago
3
8
1
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Senthorun S. Raj
21 days ago
“What this analysis shows is that trans people’s wellbeing & public attitudes towards trans people have worsened since 2017, in conjunction with the rise of an organised GC movement.” New analysis by Amnesty International exposes how UK media enable transphobia.
media.amnesty.org.uk/documents/Li...
0
113
74
Teaching myself Python for textual analysis and having much more fun than I expected.
21 days ago
0
1
0
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Royal Historical Society
21 days ago
The Society's President and Council have released the following statement on the proposed closure of undergraduate degrees at the University of Hertfordshire, in
#History
and the wider humanities
bit.ly/4dmV5oO
This comes at a time of further bad news from Essex and Nottingham
#Skystorians
loading . . .
History and the humanities at the University of Hertfordshire – a statement from the Royal Historical Society - RHS
Even for those familiar with bleak times, this has been a particularly bad few weeks in UK higher education. Confirmed job losses at the University of Essex were followed by further bad news from Hert...
https://bit.ly/4dmV5oO
1
138
140
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Antiquity Journal
24 days ago
Map of early medieval ship burials across northern Europe. Monumental expressions of maritime mobility, culture rooted in sea travel connected people around the North Sea and created new elites that, in time, formed kingdoms. 🆓
doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
#MedievalMonday
🏺
#Archaeology
0
53
17
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Stephen Bush
25 days ago
I was talking to someone in the AI industry* who is fuming about this dynamic. 'These guys are just begging for our industry to be regulated out of existence'. *Or as they would immediately correct me, the LLM industry.
add a skeleton here at some point
37
642
85
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Samuel
26 days ago
guy who is mad at Nolan’s Odyssey because it depicts the sea as blue instead of wine-dark
49
3750
691
Great thread. The best example of this for me is Gandalf’s “a far green country under a swift sunrise” speech, which repurposed some of Tolkien’s most gorgeous prose from the beginning of Fog on the Barrow Downs.
add a skeleton here at some point
26 days ago
0
7
0
"Dave, the hard man, the fierce man, the fist-man" really got me good.
add a skeleton here at some point
27 days ago
0
5
0
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Margot Finn
28 days ago
'The key findings were said to be “surprisingly simple”: “a good student academic experience ultimately comes down to quality teaching, access to in person interaction with teachers and a strong sense of belonging”.' 2/3
loading . . .
What Matters Most? 20 years of the student experience - HEPI
Half of students miss one-third of their lectures. 20 years of data show undergraduates are struggling to access the high-quality teaching, in-person interactions and satisfying student experience the...
https://www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/what-matters-most-20-years-of-the-student-experience/
6
157
90
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Royal Historical Society
29 days ago
"As long as financial pressures and current student recruitment trends that vary sharply between different providers continue, course closures and cold spots will grow."
@britishacademy.bsky.social
updates its 'Cold Spots' mapping of SHAPE subjects with 2024-25 HESA data
bit.ly/4uKAXCX
#Skystorians
loading . . .
Subject cold spots are growing. We need to address the root causes
New analysis from the British Academy shows us huge areas of the country where key areas of humanities, arts, and social sciences are not taught. Ruairi Cullen has the details
https://bit.ly/4uKAXCX
1
16
15
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Hetan Shah
30 days ago
Today’s Education Select Committee report on higher education is the best report on HE to come from Govt/Parliament in ages. It takes a rounded view of the whole system, moving away from the more atomistic or narrow accounts we’ve seen 🧵
committees.parliament.uk/committee/20...
loading . . .
“A very serious problem”: No clear government plan for universities risking insolvency, MPs find in new report - Committees - UK Parliament
Today MPs on the Education Committee warn that the government has no clear plan for universities facing insolvency and that protections for students are inadequate, as the Committee publishes a new re...
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/203/education-committee/news/213482/a-very-serious-problem-no-clear-government-plan-for-universities-risking-insolvency-mps-find-in-new-report/
2
131
84
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Barbara Bleiman
about 1 month ago
Thank you
@englishassociation.bsky.social
for sharing this research on the power of young people's narrative writing to increase empathy & reduce political polarisation. A very important message for schools in our times & with a new NC in English under construction.
www.psy.ox.ac.uk/news/new-stu...
loading . . .
New Study Finds Storytelling Reduces Political Polarisation
Study of 380 high school students finds that exchanging stories reduces affective polarisation and promotes empathy.
https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/news/new-study-finds-storytelling-reduces-political-polarisation
0
6
8
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Chris Dillow
about 1 month ago
Pet peeve: talk of millennials, gen X etc is silly. A better qn (if you want one) is Napoleon's: how did the world look to someone aged 20? One born in 65 saw mass unemployment at 20; one in 1980 had a boom, internet & mobile phones. Yet both are called gen X. This is daft.
9
239
91
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Asheesh Kapur Siddique
about 1 month ago
It’s remarkable in this day and age to hear a politician anywhere say the following: “Support for a diverse, rigorous and accessible body of historical scholarship should be a much greater priority for democratic governments even at a time of stretched budgets.“
add a skeleton here at some point
2
217
77
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Jesse Raber
about 1 month ago
Love this poem. Is it a sonnet?? Does Melville think it is? If so, it's got to be the most formally radical sonnet of its century? Sure, nowadays it wouldn't be a reach to read it as a sonnet -- 14 lines in two stanzas, snazzy rhyme scheme, so why not? But in 1859? (QTing bc replies are disabled)
add a skeleton here at some point
3
13
5
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies at York
about 1 month ago
We’re very pleased to share news of this research fellowship position, working with our wonderful CECS / English Literature colleague Prof Mary Fairclough
@maryfairclough.bsky.social
on the collected works of Mary Wollstonecraft: 🔗
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRL782/r...
loading . . .
Research Fellowship: The Collected Works of Mary Wollstonecraft at University of York
Explore an exciting academic career as a Research Fellowship: The Collected Works of Mary Wollstonecraft. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRL782/research-fellowship-the-collected-works-of-mary-wollstonecraft
1
54
57
Just arrived in the post 👍
about 1 month ago
0
3
0
Very cool find: the Old English version of Cædmon's hymn turns up in a ninth-century manuscript of Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica from Italy.
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...
loading . . .
Lost copy of seventh-century poem in Old English discovered at Rome library
Dublin scholars find 1,200-year-old manuscript of Caedmon’s Hymn composed by Northumbrian cattle herder
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/apr/29/lost-copy-of-seventh-century-poem-old-english-discovered-rome-library-dublin
about 1 month ago
0
5
0
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Plashing Vole
about 2 months ago
Whether I'm there or not next year, here are the things that have been replaced by a generic skills module including 3 weeks on Using AI: 1. My linguistics colleagues on accent and dialect change, and atittudes towards the local accent. Led by the accents in the room.
13
181
118
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Alan Beattie
about 2 months ago
Your annual reminder that William Shakespeare was born in what is now Turkey, never visited England and almost certainly could not read or write in English.
164
1847
411
reposted by
Nik Gunn
David Hayden
about 2 months ago
their slender means J.H. Prynne, ‘Against Hurt’
2
72
23
reposted by
Nik Gunn
The Guild of Medievalist Makers
about 2 months ago
Sumer is icumen in! And with it, the unfurling leaves of more Guild events! 🌱 Join us for more Making Space sessions, and a special workshop on modular haiku comics. Not a member yet? Join us (for free) via out website:
www.guildmedmak.com/join-the-guild
1
12
8
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Crowsa Luxemburg
about 2 months ago
Palantir are about six months away from ordering their employees to leave audio logs scattered around their offices
86
9233
2163
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Jake
about 2 months ago
add a skeleton here at some point
40
11504
3071
Ancient Exchanges have finally managed to re-upload their archive of past issues after moving website host. This means my translations of the Old Norse visionary poem "Sólarljóð" and Old English lyric "The Wanderer" are now available again:
exchanges.uiowa.edu/ancient-exch...
loading . . .
Ancient Exchanges Archive — Exchanges
https://exchanges.uiowa.edu/ancient-exchanges-archive
about 2 months ago
0
7
4
reposted by
Nik Gunn
Mark Chadbourn
2 months ago
Going to get some great images from NASA in the coming days. Here’s a couple of post-splashdown snaps of actual heroes.
50
2867
566
reposted by
Nik Gunn
madeline odent
2 months ago
all these universities kept axing medieval history departments as if they thought tyrants beefing with the Pope was going to stop being relevant
84
13968
3652
reposted by
Nik Gunn
The Guild of Medievalist Makers
2 months ago
'[...] the canon takes on a malleable, almost organic quality, like a network of cells that keep self-replicating.' Our latest Meet a Medievalist Maker blogpost is by the creative writer and performance artist Dr Clare Mulley, who writes about her experience responding to Völuspá 👇
loading . . .
Meet a Medievalist Maker: Clare Mulley — The Guild of Medievalist Makers
“ Meet a Medievalist Maker ” is an ongoing series of blog posts introducing our members and the work they are doing. Each post is organized around our Four P’s: a project they are working on...
https://www.guildmedmak.com/blog/meet-a-medievalist-maker-clare-mulley
0
13
6
reposted by
Nik Gunn
wint
3 months ago
i guess those celebrating soras death didnt get the memo that some of us need daily personalized greetings from james bond—for mental health
73
14941
2513
reposted by
Nik Gunn
ALCS
3 months ago
This week over 100,000 ALCS members will receive their share of £34m. Let's celebrate the value of human creativity, something that isn't going anywhere 💡📖🌳
loading . . .
13
152
111
reposted by
Nik Gunn
UCFL - University Council For Languages
3 months ago
The University of Essex has proposed to discontinue most of their undergraduate language provisions as well as the Languages for All programme as part of large-scale restructuring. Sign their petition to urge the Executive Committee to reconsider the proposal:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
0
32
38
Load more
feeds!
log in