Christian Cooijmans
LightNews LightNews
banner
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Christian Cooijmans
@ccooijmans.bsky.social
6.4K followers 530 following 300 posts
Viking Historian | Research Fellow @uio.no | Assoc. Researcher @livunihss.bsky.social | vikings in continental Europe | medieval(ism) | histor(iograph)y

https://hcommons.org/members/ccooijmans
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
makingawarrior.bsky.social
This Thor's day, as we're working our way through the vast ocean of data produced by the Great Viking Survey, we can already share that the number of variant spellings so far encountered for the word 'Mjölnir' is 58.
November 20, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
ccooijmans.bsky.social
I'll be giving a talk at Aberdeen Uni next week on the 'Dane saga' of Breda - easily one of the most unique, offbeat sources of imagined viking activity from the later medieval period. Both in person and online, so do tune in to hear me wax lyrical about this text!

www.facebook.com/events/22080...
A Past that Never Was: Examining Vikings in the Medieval ‘Dane saga’ of Breda - Christian Cooijmans
Event in Aberdeen, United Kingdom by Scandinavian Studies at Aberdeen on Thursday, November 27 2025
www.facebook.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:35 AM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
I'll be giving a talk at Aberdeen Uni next week on the 'Dane saga' of Breda - easily one of the most unique, offbeat sources of imagined viking activity from the later medieval period. Both in person and online, so do tune in to hear me wax lyrical about this text!

www.facebook.com/events/22080...
A Past that Never Was: Examining Vikings in the Medieval ‘Dane saga’ of Breda - Christian Cooijmans
Event in Aberdeen, United Kingdom by Scandinavian Studies at Aberdeen on Thursday, November 27 2025
www.facebook.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Great to see the proceedings of the 4th Dorestad Congress published! My own chapter on late medieval memories of Dorestad (OA 🔓) demonstrates how its legacy became increasingly apocryphal over time, eventually turning the emporium into an abstraction of mythical proportions!

doi.org/10.17613/d51...
Life after Dorestad: Late Medieval Memories of an Erstwhile Emporium
This paper offers an overview and analysis of Dorestad's depiction between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, drawing on a broad-ranging regional corpus of chronicles, hagiographies, and associated...
doi.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Great to see the proceedings of the 4th Dorestad Congress published! My own chapter on late medieval memories of Dorestad (OA 🔓) demonstrates how its legacy became increasingly apocryphal over time, eventually turning the emporium into an abstraction of mythical proportions!

doi.org/10.17613/d51...
Life after Dorestad: Late Medieval Memories of an Erstwhile Emporium
This paper offers an overview and analysis of Dorestad's depiction between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, drawing on a broad-ranging regional corpus of chronicles, hagiographies, and associated...
doi.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Very happy to have been able to support the publication of this volume for Anna, and many congratulations to the editor and contributors!
northernstudies.bsky.social Scottish Society for Northern Studies @northernstudies.bsky.social · 7d
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.
Common Ground in Scottish Archaeology (2025) - Scottish Society for Northern Studies
The Society is delighted to announce the publication of a new edited volume in honour of Dr Anna Ritchie.
www.ssns.org.uk
November 14, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
northernstudies.bsky.social
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.
Common Ground in Scottish Archaeology (2025) - Scottish Society for Northern Studies
The Society is delighted to announce the publication of a new edited volume in honour of Dr Anna Ritchie.
www.ssns.org.uk
November 14, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Patron: Okay, for this scene, I need a fiery chariot carrying Elijah up to heaven. Can you do that?

Printmaker: You bet! I think I've seen a chariot once - they're like little soapbox cars, right? Four wheels? Self-driving?

Patron: I mean, not usually.

Printmaker: Cool, just leave it with me.
A page from a so-called Biblia pauperum, (here) a fifteenth-century printed block-book bible, representing, somewhat poorly, a scene from 2 Kings 2:11-12, in which Elijah 'went up by a whirlwind into heaven' by means of a 'chariot of fire, and horses of fire'. The scene on this page, however, contains neither chariot, horses, or fire, but sees Elijah ascend in what appears to a crude wooden box on wheels with no apparent means of propulsion. A detail from a so-called Biblia pauperum, representing, somewhat poorly, a scene from 2 Kings 2:11-12, in which Elijah 'went up by a whirlwind into heaven' by means of a 'chariot of fire, and horses of fire'. The scene on this page, however, contains neither chariot, horses, or fire, but sees Elijah ascend in what appears to a crude wooden box on wheels with no apparent means of propulsion.
November 11, 2025 at 11:53 AM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Patron: Okay, for this scene, I need a fiery chariot carrying Elijah up to heaven. Can you do that?

Printmaker: You bet! I think I've seen a chariot once - they're like little soapbox cars, right? Four wheels? Self-driving?

Patron: I mean, not usually.

Printmaker: Cool, just leave it with me.
A page from a so-called Biblia pauperum, (here) a fifteenth-century printed block-book bible, representing, somewhat poorly, a scene from 2 Kings 2:11-12, in which Elijah 'went up by a whirlwind into heaven' by means of a 'chariot of fire, and horses of fire'. The scene on this page, however, contains neither chariot, horses, or fire, but sees Elijah ascend in what appears to a crude wooden box on wheels with no apparent means of propulsion. A detail from a so-called Biblia pauperum, representing, somewhat poorly, a scene from 2 Kings 2:11-12, in which Elijah 'went up by a whirlwind into heaven' by means of a 'chariot of fire, and horses of fire'. The scene on this page, however, contains neither chariot, horses, or fire, but sees Elijah ascend in what appears to a crude wooden box on wheels with no apparent means of propulsion.
November 11, 2025 at 11:53 AM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Adding to their prior list of unethical shenanigans, Spotify are now running recruitment ads for ICE, the US federal agency behind mass deportation and surveillance of immigrant communities. Time to move to a platform that doesn't profit from cruelty.

app.sosha.ai/s/TD9Uh2FT
Don’t Stream Fascism: Cancel Spotify
app.sosha.ai
November 9, 2025 at 11:18 AM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Wintry road trip through Iceland (in four parts) ⛰️
A road cutting through a wintry, sunny landscape in northern Iceland - the sea and distant mountains visible. A road cutting through a wintry landscape in northern Iceland, with a dramatic sky and distant mountains. A road cutting through a wintry landscape in northern Iceland, with the sun shining on a nearby mountain. A photo of an Icelandic landscape seen through the side mirror of a car, with mountains visible and the sun setting.
November 6, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
hopesteffen.bsky.social
Really exciting book news out of Norway. And while the article focusses on the sealskin binding, I'm even more excited by the fact that these neumes are not square, which suggests a date well before 1200.
November 4, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
makingawarrior.bsky.social
Today's vikingism: the statue Landnemar ('Settlers'), overlooking the city of Akureyri, Iceland. Sculpted by Jónas Jakobsson (1956), it represents Thorunn hyrna and her husband Helgi magri, who, according to Landnámabók, were the first to settle the area during the late ninth century.
A bronze statue of two figures, a woman and a man, on a concrete plinth in a snow-covered field overlooking a cityscape (with a distant mountain in the background). An abstract bronze representation of a viking ship is seen at the base of the plinth. A bronze statue of two figures, a woman and a man, on a concrete plinth in a snow-covered field overlooking a cityscape (with a distant mountain in the background). An abstract bronze representation of a viking ship is seen at the base of the plinth.
November 1, 2025 at 4:07 PM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
'Those staff and employees who dedicate their working lives to safeguarding Scotland’s heritage, deserve better, deserve support and deserve a management that is not mired in controversy, racism and mounting scandals.'
November 1, 2025 at 1:44 PM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Breaking with a 15-year tradition of falling asleep and missing the northern lights to actually see them this time around, in Vatnsnes, Iceland 🌌
The green glow of the northern lights over Miðfjörður, near Hvammstangi, Iceland The green glow of the northern lights over Miðfjörður, near Hvammstangi, Iceland The green glow of the northern lights over Miðfjörður, near Hvammstangi, Iceland
October 29, 2025 at 4:07 PM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
In the wake of its older sibling last month, the 23-meter Gokstad Ship will also be making its 94-meter journey into the new Viking Ship museum today!

www.vikingtidsmuseet.no/english/relo...
The Gokstad viking ship in a protective metal case, with supports and rigging in place, before being lifted up for transport along a suspension rail into the new museum. The Gokstad viking ship in a protective metal case, with supports and rigging in place, before being lifted up for transport along a suspension rail into the new museum.
October 29, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
northernstudies.bsky.social
Some great news coming out of Caithness!
Plan approved to build Scotland's first broch for 2,000 years
The tall, double-walled drystone towers have only been found in Scotland.
www.bbc.com
October 22, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
northernstudies.bsky.social
Coming soon...
A picture of a book with a blue cover, titled 'Common Ground in Scottish Archaeology: Contributions in Honour of Anna Ritchie'. It is edited by Kelly Kilpatrick.
October 21, 2025 at 7:47 AM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Checking up on an old friend over lunch
Close-up of a Pictish stone slab, containing an armed horseman drinking from a horn - from Bullion, Invergowrie, Angus (first half tenth century) - now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh (X.IB 229)
October 17, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Checking out the Viking-Age hall reconstruction in Lejre, Denmark
A 60m-long Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre, in green surroundings A 60m-long Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre, in green surroundings A decorated internal archway in the Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre The main internal space in the Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre, with various furnishing surrounding a central firepit.
October 13, 2025 at 5:03 PM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Checking out the Viking-Age hall reconstruction in Lejre, Denmark
A 60m-long Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre, in green surroundings A 60m-long Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre, in green surroundings A decorated internal archway in the Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre The main internal space in the Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre, with various furnishing surrounding a central firepit.
October 13, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Very happy to finally see this in the flesh today: the remains of an early tenth-century calendar from Landévennec, Brittany, whose entry for the year 913 contains an annotation that the local coastal monastery of Winwaloe was attacked by vikings during that year.

Copenhagen, KB Thott 239 2°, f.10r
A medieval manuscript page from the tenth century, on vellum. Text in black ink and red rubrication using Carolingian miniscule. A marginal annotation on a manuscript, containing the (abbreviated) Latin sentence: 'Eodem anno destructum est monasterium sancti winualoei a normannis' (translation: 'In the same year, the monastery of saint Winwaloe was destroyed by Northmen').
October 9, 2025 at 10:42 AM
ccooijmans.bsky.social
Very happy to finally see this in the flesh today: the remains of an early tenth-century calendar from Landévennec, Brittany, whose entry for the year 913 contains an annotation that the local coastal monastery of Winwaloe was attacked by vikings during that year.

Copenhagen, KB Thott 239 2°, f.10r
A medieval manuscript page from the tenth century, on vellum. Text in black ink and red rubrication using Carolingian miniscule. A marginal annotation on a manuscript, containing the (abbreviated) Latin sentence: 'Eodem anno destructum est monasterium sancti winualoei a normannis' (translation: 'In the same year, the monastery of saint Winwaloe was destroyed by Northmen').
October 9, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
makingawarrior.bsky.social
Today's vikingism: the replica of the Jelling runestone of Harald Bluetooth that was gifted to Utrecht University (Netherlands) in honour of its 300-year anniversary in 1936.
A low angle of a runestone in front of a medieval church building, with the church spire rising from behind a tree in the background. A large decorated runestone replica in front of a brick wall
October 1, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Christian Cooijmans
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Der IGEL!

Lothar Meggendorfer really knew how to evoke lifelike movement! This book from the Olin Library special collections at Wash U is only one spectacular example! #movablebooksociety
#Hedgehog #paperengineering
October 1, 2025 at 2:37 PM