"Valhalla functions less as a literal cosmology and more phantasmically across nationalist ideologies, serving to organise desires for historical continuity, martial dominance, and racialised superiority. [Its] politics ... reverberate backward into the medieval past and forward into the present."

Dr. Timothy Liam Waters@liamh2os.bsky.social · yesterday

Publication Day! Our “Terms of Art” with @postmedieval.bsky.social was published today. In this essay, @basilaprice.bsky.social and I explore the “phantasm” of Valhalla in contemporary and medieval politics and culture. The article is OpenAccess. Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Publication Day! Our “Terms of Art” with @postmedieval.bsky.social was published today. In this essay, @basilaprice.bsky.social and I explore the “phantasm” of Valhalla in contemporary and medieval politics and culture. The article is OpenAccess. Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Valhalla: A phantasm - postmedieval

This Terms of art examines Valhalla as a phantasmic construct that gathers fantasies of whiteness, masculinity, and militarism across political, religious, and temporal divides. Beginning with invocat...

link.springer.com

One of the most fun writing experiences in recent memory. Thank you @liamh2os.bsky.social and @postmedieval.bsky.social !

Dr. Timothy Liam Waters@liamh2os.bsky.social · last wk.

Publication day! Our About the Cover essay is now out in postmedieval. After @basilaprice.bsky.social and I submitted another co-authored article (forthcoming soon!), the editors invited us to write the accompanying cover essay. Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Publication day! Our About the Cover essay is now out in postmedieval. After @basilaprice.bsky.social and I submitted another co-authored article (forthcoming soon!), the editors invited us to write the accompanying cover essay. Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

About the cover - postmedieval

postmedieval -

link.springer.com

Join us in Leeds next year!

Looking forward to this great oportunity to meet up with other Medieval Scandinavian ECRs!

NECRON - Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse@necron-network.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It’s that time of year again! Heading to #IMCLeeds2026 and work on the Medieval North? NECRON is back for another casual IMC social! 🗓️ Tues 7 July 🕗 20:00 📍 Terrace (LUU) PhDs, ECRs, and medieval North enthusiasts warmly welcome. Come hang out, meet people, and stay as long as you like!

We have some super exciting news about our launch event on Saturday 5 September that we will be sharing soon, but if you're interested in the Vikings, save the date! [Painting 'Idun and Brage' by Nils Blommér (1846). Public Domain.]

Timothy Liam Waters is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for Folklore Studies at The Ohio State University. His research focuses on literary materialisms, generative AI, and folkloric reception in the Old Norse literary corpus. Please click on the image to sign up for this free, online seminar!

SSNS Seminar - Dr. Timothy Liam Waters - 'Machine-Made Medievalisms, AI Vikings, Digital Folklore, and the Politics of 'Authenticity' - Scottish Society for Northern Studies % %

Stephen will explore why so many of the crucial incidents leading to the downfall of the Norse line of northern Scottish jarls in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.

ssns.org.uk

Delighted to be speaking for the @northernstudies.bsky.social Seminar Series on 16 June! Machine-Made Medievalisms: AI Vikings, Digital Folklore, and the Politics of “Authenticity” A talk on AI-generated Viking imagery, authenticity, folklore, and the medieval past. Free online registration!

SSNS Seminar - Dr. Timothy Liam Waters - 'Machine-Made Medievalisms: AI Vikings, Digital Folklore, and the Politics of 'Authenticity' - Scottish Society for Northern Studies % %

Stephen will explore why so many of the crucial incidents leading to the downfall of the Norse line of northern Scottish jarls in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.

ssns.org.uk

Are you working on the history, culture, or literature of medieval Norway? If so, consider submitting an abstract for this upcoming volume edited by @marycoconnor.bsky.social and me! #MedievalSky #OldNorse

Dr Katrín Lísa L. Mikaelsdóttir@vanlinduist.bsky.social · 2mo ago

📢 Call for Book Chapters in our book series 'Old Norse Studies' TIMES OF CHANGE: NORWAY IN THE 13TH CENTURY, ed. Mary Catherine O’Connor & Jonas Zeit-Altpeter 📅 Abstract deadline: 31 July More information on submissions below. See the full Call here: trivent-publishing.eu/blog/post/36...

Thank you to everyone who attended the NECRON-sponsored panel at the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies this week! Excellent papers from Irina-Maria Manea (Univ. of Chester / Signum Univ.) and Taryn DeLeon Mendiola (Boston College)!

So excited to have you both!

Rebecca Merkelbach@beccamerkelbach.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Very excited that @julianewitte.bsky.social and I will be co-authoring an article on Grettis saga and narrative empathy for this fantastic volume! Can't wait to get back to my all time favourite saga with fresh ideas and in a different context.

Cannot wait until this is out (in Open Access!).

Dr Basil Arnould Price@basilaprice.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Very excited to be correcting proofs, for the very cool Terms d'Art that I co-wrote @liamh2os.bsky.social for @postmedieval.bsky.social.

Excited to be speaking for the Centre for Digital Humanities and Arts in Iceland as part of Lunch with Digital Humanities. I’ll be presenting on AI-generated “Vikings,” authenticity, and how online communities decide what counts as real. Livestream available—join if you can.

📢 One month left! We’re re-advertising our CFP for Networks in Old Norse Literature (Waters & Dell’Aquila). 📝 Abstracts (300–400 words) due May 1, 2026 📄 Full papers due Dec 1 Interdisciplinary, collaborative, and dialogic by design. 🔗 shorturl.at/wbnEe

📢 Call for Book Chapters for our Book Series Old Norse Studies Networks in Old Norse Literature: Methods, Models, and New Directions, edited by @liamh2os.bsky.social and Erika Dell’Aquila Abstracts (300–400 words) due 1 May 2026 Full papers due 1 December More here: shorturl.at/wbnEe

New episode out now — I’m a guest on the Nordic Mythology Podcast: “Cursed Swords with Liam Waters.” We dig into saga literature, magical weapons, materiality, supernatural agency, and why cursed objects still fascinate us today. 🎧 Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/7knW... ⚔️

Ep 290 - Cursed Swords with Liam Waters

open.spotify.com

With the 19th International Saga Conference completed, I want to take a moment and thank the amazing scholars who make the field of Old Norse studies so vibrant. Special thanks to my colleagues, Miguel Andrade and Jonas Koesling for such an amazing panel on ecocriticism. See you all in Bergen!

The 19th International Saga Conference is off to a fantastic start with a highly engaging and thought provoking presentation by @vanlinduist.bsky.social !

NECRON invites all Saga Conference delegates to a reception! 🗓 Sun 3 Aug, 18:00–19:00 📍 ul. Uniwersytecka 4, Room B.0.39. Meet early career scholars & learn about the network. 🍻 Join us at a local pub after to keep the chat going! #SagaConference2025 #OldNorse

📖 Just published: my new Open Access article on cursed swords in the Icelandic legendary sagas (fornaldarsögur)! It’s part of a brilliant volume on medieval “Things” edited by @danielahahn.bsky.social Perfect for those into Old Norse lit, materiality, or weapon-lore. Link below + happy to discuss!

📣 Attending #IMCLeeds2025 and work on the Medieval North? Come hang out with NECRON for a casual evening social! 🗓️ Weds 9 July 🕗 20:00 – meet at Parkinson Building 🍻 Social at The Library Pub after Meet fellow PhDs & ECRs in a chill, friendly setting. Stay as long as you like! Alcohol optional.

The governing board for 2025/2026 has officially been announced. Please welcome the new board: Timothy Liam Waters Natalie Hopwood Rae Rivera Hannah Armstrong Hamza Aziz Erika Dell’Aquila Grace O’Duffy Piergiorgio Consagra Amrei Stanzel We look forward to serving you.

Excited to be invited to speak at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Join us, February 4th.

I am happy to share that I will be joining the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague next month. I look forward to new projects as a new Postdoctoral Research Fellow!

I am deeply honored to share that I have been awarded one of this year’s Medieval Academy of America Grants, which will help support my attendance at the 19th International Saga Conference. Join us in Katowice and Kraków 3–8 August 2025!

After five generations, a family returned a headdress, moccasins and other clothing to a descendant of a Lakota leader. “We looked at each other and we said, ‘Is this real? 144 years?’” said Tamara Stands and Looks Back-Spotted Tail. “We were just kind of in awe.”

After Five Generations, a Family Gave Back the Treasures in its Closet

The descendants of a 19th-century federal official decided to return a prized collection of heirlooms to a descendant of a Lakota leader, Chief Spotted Tail.

nytimes.com

We're so pleased to launch The Great Viking Survey today, a global study on how people view and connect with the viking world as history and heritage. We invite anyone, anywhere, to share their thoughts on vikings and their legacy! Let us see the Viking Age through your eyes at vikingsurvey.org