Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Archaeology, History, Medieval History

Research keywords:

Medievalism, Vikings, Water, Swimming, Popular culture, Northumbria, Bernicia, Deira

Regions:

England, Europe, Scotland, United Kingdom

Summary of research interests and expertise:

 Simon's broad interests are in the history and archaeology of early medieval Europe, c.350-1150. He specialises in later Anglo-Saxon England, especially the kingdoms of Northumbria and York, and concentrating in particular on migration, identity and gender. Recently he has been developing projects in various types of human engagement with the sea and water in early medieval Britain.He also maintains a keen interest in modern constructions and appropriations of the early medieval past, with a particular concentration on representations of the vikings in popular culture.

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
07-Jun-2024	What a bath, taken 1,000 years ago, can tell us about the conflicted English kingdom of the 11th century
06-Mar-2024	Alcohol Consumption, Masculinity, and the Modern Viking Chapters The supposed Viking predilection for drinking in immoderate quantities both helps to define them in popular culture as a barbarous Other and underlines their hypermasculine identity. This chapter asks why masculinity, Viking identity and the consumption of alcoholic drinks have become so closely intertwined in the popular imagination and seeks to explore the implications of this three-way association. Looking at the saga literature, it is clear that alcohol was of enormous importance in ‘mead-hall’ society. Both gods and men are frequently portrayed as enjoying alcohol, normally consuming it from spectacular drinking horns: such horns survive from the early Middle Ages in numbers that underline their importance to these societies. As the modern study of the Viking Age began to develop, the obvious importance of drinking demonstrated by both the written and material evidence ensured that it became a standard component first of scholarly and later of popular images of medieval Scandinavian culture. Frequently reproduced in art and televisual culture, the image of hearty Vikings drinking to hedonistic extremes has been widely exploited by the drinks industry. It remains influential in the abiding popular fantasy of Viking hypermasculinity and a familiar motif in European cultural heritage.
18-Aug-2021	‘Anglo-Saxon swimming’ Chapters ‘Anglo-Saxon swimming’, in C. Twomey and D. Anlezark (eds.), The Meanings of Water in Early Medieval England (Turnhout: Brepols)
18-Dec-2020	‘Nata vimpi curmi da: dead languages and primordial nationalisms in folk metal music’ Chapters ‘"Nata vimpi curmi da": dead languages and primordial nationalisms in folk metal music’, in A. DiGioia, C. Doesburg and R.-L. Valijärvi (eds.), Multilingual Metal: Sociocultural, Literary and Linguistic Perspectives (Bingley: Emerald)
23-Jul-2020	Review of P. Hardwick and K. Lister (eds.) Vikings and the Vikings Review Review of P. Hardwick and K. Lister (eds.), Vikings and the Vikings (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2019), in Medievally Speaking
01-Apr-2020	Viking metal Chapters 'Viking metal', in Stephen C. Meyer and Kirsten Yri, The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism (Oxford: OUP, 2020), ISBN 9780190658441
11-Jan-2019	Hyper-masculinity vs Viking warrior women: pop culture Vikings and gender Papers Blog post, 'Hyper-masculinity vs Viking warrior women: pop culture Vikings and gender', based on a paper given at the University of Malmö in 2018.
16-May-2016	'Runar munt þu finna': rock and pop songs in Old Norse Papers '"Runar munt þu finna": rock and pop songs in Old Norse', Résumés des communications — « Représentations modernes et contemporaines des Nords médiévaux » (5 Février 2016)
01-Apr-2015	Review of 'Vikings: Life and Legend' exhibition at the British Museum Review  Review of 'Vikings: Life and Legend' exhibition (6 March - 22 June) at the British Museum
01-Aug-2013	Blood, Fire, Death: Bathory and the birth of Viking metal Articles 'Blood, Fire, Death: Bathory and the birth of Viking metal', in M. Goodall (ed,), Gathering of the Tribe: Music and Heavy Conscious Creation (Headpress: London, 2013)
01-Aug-2007	Antichrist superstars: the Vikings in hard rock and heavy metal Chapters  'Antichrist superstars: the Vikings in hard rock and heavy metal', in D.W. Marshall (ed.), Mass Market Medieval (McFarland: Jefferson, North Carolina and London, 2007), 57-73 (with Aleks Pluskowski)
01-Aug-2000	Ethnicity, migration theory and the historiography of the Scandinavian settlement of England Chapters  'Ethnicity, migration theory and the historiography of the Scandinavian settlement of England', in D.M. Hadley and J.D. Richards (eds.), Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries (Brepols: Turnhout, 2000), 17-39

Publications available on SAS-space:

Date	Details
	Antichrist superstars: the Vikings in hard rock and heavy metal PeerReviewed
	Blood, Fire, Death: Bathory and the Birth of Viking Metal PeerReviewed

Research Projects & Supervisions

Current PhD topics supervised:

Dates	Details
From: 01-Oct-2019 Until:	The Yorkshire Borderlands during the Anarchy of King Stephen’s Reign Tewa Lascelles

Professional Affiliations

Professional affiliations:

Name	Activity
Royal Historical Society	Learned society
Nautical Archaeology Society
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Relevant Events

Related events:

Date	Details
07-Oct-2017	Experiencing the Middle Ages in the Post-Medieval World Joint organiser, Experiencing the Middle Ages in the Post-Medieval World symposium
	IHR Interdisciplinary Seminar on Medievalism Founder and convenor, IHR Interdisciplinary Seminar on Medievalism

Other editing/publishing activities:

Date	Details
	Series editor  IHR Research Guides, Manchester University Press

Knowledge transfer activities:

Details
Commodifying the Vikings Commodifying the Vikings, Medievalism & the North, Aarhus, Denmark (online), 29 July 2021
Global medievalisms, popular Vikings and the South 'Global medievalisms, popular Vikings and the South', Using the Past. The Middle Ages in the Spotlight, Batalha, Portugal (online), Dec 2020
Blóts on the landscape: Viking festivals and international neo-Viking performance Blóts on the landscape: Viking festivals and international neo-Viking performance, International Medievalisms, Maynooth University, Jun 2019
Hyper-masculinity vs Viking warrior women: pop culture Vikings and gender Hyper-masculinity vs Viking warrior women: pop culture Vikings and gender, Medievalism, Public History and Academia: the Re-creation of Early Medieval Europe, c.400-1000, Mälmo, Sep 2018
‘“Nata vimpi curmi da”: Linguistic atavism and the construction of primordial nationalisms in folk metal music’ ‘“Nata vimpi curmi da”: Linguistic atavism and the construction of primordial nationalisms in folk metal music’, Multilingual Metal: Sociocultural, Linguistic and Literary Perspectives, SSEES, London, Sep 2018
Amon Amarth make mead! Alcohol consumption, masculinity and the modern Viking ‘Amon Amarth make mead! Alcohol consumption, masculinity and the modern Viking’, The Middle Ages in the Modern World, Rome, Nov 2018
Tr00 kvlt? Old Norse and Gaulish-language songs in heavy metal music (Invited lecture) ‘Tr00 kvlt? Old Norse and Gaulish-language songs in heavy metal music’, Interdisciplinary Seminar on Medievalism, University of London, Dec 2018
Medievalism, dead languages and the forging of primordial national identities in rock and metal music ‘Medievalism, dead languages and the forging of primordial national identities in rock and metal music’, Research Seminar, University of Lancaster, Dec 2018
Hyper-masculinity vs Viking warrior women: pop culture Vikings and gender (Invited lecture) ‘Hyper-masculinity vs Viking warrior women: pop culture Vikings and gender’, The Richard Hall Seminar, Jorvik Viking Festival, York, Feb 2019
‘“Nata vimpi curmi da”: Linguistic atavism and the construction of primordial nationalisms in folk metal music’ ‘“Nata vimpi curmi da”: Linguistic atavism and the construction of primordial nationalisms in folk metal music’, International Medieval Congress, Leeds, Jul 2018
Swimming for Pleasure and Profit in Anglo-Saxon England Swimming for Pleasure and Profit in Anglo-Saxon England, Leeds International Medieval Congress, 4-7 July, 2016
‘Runar munt þu finna’: singing rock and pop in Old Norse ‘Runar munt þu finna’: singing rock and pop in Old Norse, paper at Représentations modernes et contemporaines des Nords médiévaux seminar, Université Lille 3, France, 4 February 2016
‘“Runar munt þu finna”: why sing pop in dead languages?’  The British Science Fiction Association Lecture 2015, 4 April 2015
Medieval Languages in Medievalist Rock and Pop The Middle Ages in the Modern World conference, Lincoln, 1 July 2015
'Determine the destiny of a kingdom!': The Sweep of the First Millennium in Britannia the Board Game  Paper in 'Gaming the Medieval: Medievalism in Modern Board Game Culture' session at Leeds International Medieval Congress, 8 July 2015
‘“Runar munt þu finna”: why sing pop in dead languages?’  Nine Worlds convention, 8 August 2015
Hurdy-gurdy, man! Medievalism in rock and pop music Paper given to The Middle Ages in the Modern World conference, St Andrews
Teaching Medieval History to Undergraduates Member of panel discussion, International Medieval Congress, Kalamazoo
The outward urge: gender, status and migration in Viking Age England  Paper given to International Medieval Congress, Kalamazoo
Making a Scandinavian female identity in the Danelaw  Paper given to Gender, Material Culture and Identity in the Viking Diaspora (VIN II) conference, Nottingham

Consultancy & Media

Available for consultancy:

Yes

Media experience:

Yes

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