ON hestr occurs in many #NorthernIsles #PlaceNames including Hestivall #Rousay where it is compounded with ON vǫllr m. ‘plain, meadow, pasture’; Hesti Geo #FairIsle compounded with gjá f. ‘inlet, coastal gully’ & Marwick notes the #Papay fishing mark Hest as well as a tide so-names S. of the Holm.

Still wondering whether to visit the new Fair Isle Bird Obs in 2026? We are open for bookings 20th May to 31st October. Although there is only limited availability in May-July, we still have plenty of space from early August until the end of October. Our website includes information on how to book.

And you can explore many of the #PlaceNames of the #Saga here! storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e91b...

Working on the wonderful @ragnasislands.bsky.social project with @judithjesch.bsky.social and @matthew-blake.bsky.social was so rewarding... & now that Judith's book is out... even more so! Here's to more #Orkney #Viking research! (I'll carry on with the #PlaceNames!)

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 Stane o' Quoybune, Birsay walks to the loch for a drink on New Year's Day too. Unfortunately, if you witness it you die shortly after so hard to confirm.

Barry @barmas.bsky.social sings a song of praise to part-time cider and perry makers, artisans with a deep commitment to craft, tradition and the land. #cider #PerryisAlive

It's time for the 2026 Papay calendar. A4 folding out to an A3, a mix of Papay landcapes and birds. Price is £17.50 inc UK postage. Orders being taken, for fine year long view of Papay. Papay Calendar 2026 — Jonathan Ford www.jonathanford.org/products.../...

My first review...😀 Thanks, theorkneynews.scot

Very exciting news for those interested in early medieval England: a hugely important new volume on crops and food supply (by Helena Hamerow, Mark McKerracher & the FeedSax team) is now available Open Access academic.oup.com/book/61548?l...

A new consideration of the chronology of the key settlement of Buckquoy, Orkney - shows that the buildings here belong firmly in the Pictish tradition. This leads to a wider consideration of the timings and character of the Viking Age in the Northern Isles. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

ON teigr m. ‘strip of field, meadow’ is seen in the Saga #PlaceName Hávarðsteigar, a lost place compounded with the masculine personal name Hávarðr. My favourite potential teigr name though must be Gravity (north & South) in North Ronaldsay, with the 1st element being ON grǫf f. ‘hollow’ (Marwick).

Stories, stories, stories, it's all stories in this week's Orcadian. Thanks to @tomrg.bsky.social for this nice piece

The good folk at BBC's Radio Orkney interviewed me last week about the #SagaoftheEarlsofOrkney which will be available in bookshops here this coming week. You can listen to it here at 17'30" in www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Can I convert those who have never quite managed to get through it???

ON kista f. 'chest, coffin, casket' occurs in many #Orkney #PlaceNames, often referring to coastal rocks, incl. Calf of Eday where we find Kistin. This name appears to retain the ON definite article -in & so is perhaps a very old name for this bay! Also a good spot for creels I am told.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited into someone's house with a view over Calf Sound to carry out another interview about the #PlaceNames of #Eday ... there is even talk of a field-name map! On the R is the Calf of Eday where the seals were singing & on the L the cliffs of Red Head #Orkney

Author copy arrived the day

Our SurvØY show is up at Glasgow School of Arts Reid gallery until the 1st of November. Islands in time, space and fragments of flint.. SurvØY is a Papay based artist collaboration between Jonathan Ford and Saoirse Higgins.

The caves at Greenholm seem to fit the bill.

Gairsay, home of Sveinn Ásleifarson in the #Saga of the Earls of #Orkney!... Will we see the caves in which he hid from Earl Haraldr as we pass Greenholm!? open.substack.com/pub/uonengli...

We've just been to the preview of this wonderful exhibition by @papayranger.bsky.social and Saiorse Higgins, a must-see if you're in Glasgow, in fact a reason to go! #Papay #Orkney gsaexhibitions.co.uk/exhibition/s...

Exciting international #runic event in Kirkwall, Monday 20 October 2025. Free, open to all, and with refreshments! #runes #runology #Orkney

Should you happen to be in Kirkwall on Saturday the 25th of October, do come and say hello in the Orcadian Bookshop!

I'm excited to announce that I'll be sharing some findings of my PhD research at an online talk for UHI's Institute for Northern Studies on November 27, titled 'Families, Networks and Informants: The Making of Orkneyinga saga'. Click the link below to register!

An 'annotated' stanza (with systematic use of parenthetic clauses to reflect on the poetic diction in the stanza) by our #Orkney friend Earl Rögnvaldr and his Icelandic mate Hallr. Now how scholarly were these guys ... in amongst all the swords. 1/2

ON dys occurs in many #Orkney #PlaceNames incl. Disher (N. Ronaldsay) where it appears in the plural, Geo of Dishan (Egilsay) where the ending appears to retain the ON definite article & Milly-dissan & The Disses o’ the Holm (both Holm of Papay) the first applying to a fishing mark! (Marwick)

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

It's the Feast Day of St Rognvald, the Norwegian earl of Orkney who built our wonderful cathedral.

Hálfdan II and Eowils, joint kings of York, died in battle against Edward the Elder's West Saxon-Mercian levies near Teotanheale (Tettenhall, Wolverhampton) #OTD in 910. The deaths seem to have signalled the end of the Anglo-Danish Scalding dynasty. #medievalsky

The Ragna’s Islands project has now come to an end. BUT it is not the end! Read our final blogpost for exciting news about forthcoming publications including the new translation of The Saga of the Earls of Orkney by @judithjesch.bsky.social and other resources! blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...

As we near the end of @ragnasislands.bsky.social, I look back with pride on the last 18 months. Thanks in large part to the core team, @shroomgirl.bsky.social and @matthew-blake.bsky.social, we achieved what we planned and aspects of the project will live on: blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...

Finding Dr Garvie - a creative collaboration between Orkney artist Fiona Sanderson and the people of North Ronaldsay opens at the North Ronaldsay Island Archive today. On display 24 July-24 August 2025 #NorthRonaldsay #PierArtsCentre

Week one at Skaill Rousay: A round-up of the first week of excavations at Skaill, Rousay, from Dan Lee - including a 'memento mori' stone fragment, suspected to have come from the nearby kirk. #archaeology #excavation #Rousay #Orkney #ThinkUHI #UHIResearch