New book and free seminar from Centre for Nordic Studies

Professor Dauvit Broun, Professor of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, will be visiting Shetland later this month to deliver a talk entitled ‘The Viking and Norse Impact on the Beginning of Scotland.’ This free public seminar has been organised by the University of the Highlands and Islands’ Centre for Nordic Studies, and will look at the role played by the Norse and their medieval kings on the early days of Scotland as a kingdom and sovereign state.

Professor Broun is a specialist in medieval Scottish and Celtic studies, with a particular focus on early medieval Scotland. In addition to a large number of writings and publications, he is editor of the New Edinburgh History of Scotland series, the pre-1603 editor of the Scottish Historical Review, convener of the Scottish History Society and the Principal Investigator of the research project: ‘The Paradox of Medieval Scotland, 1093-1286.’ The talk will be delivered at the NAFC Marine Centre on Tuesday 23rd May at 7.30pm and all are welcome.

The Centre for Nordic Studies is also pleased to announce the publication of their latest book, Northern Atlantic Islands and the Sea: Seascapes and Dreamscapes. It is now available from Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This volume is the result of the second St Magnus Conference ‘The Northern Isles and the Sea’ which was held in Lerwick in 2014. There are contributions by Icelanders, Orcadians and Shetlanders, including Dr Simon Clark from Shetland College UHI. The book will be of interest to scholars of a wide range of disciplines, such as: island studies, cultural studies, Old Norse literature, Icelandic studies, maritime heritage, oceanography, linguistics, folklore, British studies, ethnology, and archaeology. The book was edited by Dr Andrew Jennings, Dr Silke Reeploeg and Dr Angela Watt.