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The latest post on my blog does something a little bit different this time, by looking at how one great Scottish historian and novelist used the sources to develop his own interpretation of the story of Kenneth MacAlpin. northerntapestry.com/2025/03/09/k...

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Model of Roman dice tower at Segedunum Fort museum (Wallsend, Newcastle) which mentions the Picts: "PICTOS VICTOS HOSTIS DELETA LVDITE SECVRI" (The Picts are defeated, the enemy destroyed, play safely). The original was found in Germany in 1985.

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Archaeologists Excavate Largest Viking Age Building in Britain - Archaeology Magazine archaeology.org/news/2025/02...

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My latest article continues to look at the origins of Kenneth MacAlpin and the stories that surround the man who is sometimes called the first King of Scotland. northerntapestry.com/2025/02/23/k...

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February 13th is the anniversary of the death of Kenneth MacAlpin, often (if not quite accurately) said to be the first king of Scotland. My latest blog tries to work out how Kenneth came to power as I continue to look at the twilight of Pictish royalty northerntapestry.com/2025/02/12/t...

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

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This is the Pictish stone which stands against the graveyard wall in the village of Strathmiglo, Fife. It is very weathered, but you can just about make out the head of a deer and, above it, a rectangular shape, possibly a “tuning fork” symbol.

submitted 44 days ago • 2 comments

Carved into the rocks where the sea meets the site of the original Faroese 9th century parliament at Tinganes in the Faroese Capital of Tórshavn, you can find this viking-age sundial. 1/4

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Looking forward to sharing the research on Frisia and the Viking Age at this seminar, thanks @northernstudies.bsky.social for the invitation. Anyone interested is welcome to join - online and free, see below.

submitted 61 days ago • 1 comment

www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences...

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The latest instalment of the Northern Tapestry starts to look at the twilight of the Pictish royalty #picts, #vikings northerntapestry.com/2025/01/04/t...

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Happy Hogmanay everyone! This is the Lapis ("stone") Echodi – along its top is an inscription with those words which some people think could be the oldest surviving memorial to any king in Britain. Eochaid Bude was a Dal Riadan king in the early 7th century. The stone is now in Iona Abbey.

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Merry Christmas/Yule to everyone! Thank you for reading my various posts throughout the last year. Since I started the Northern Tapestry in October 2023 I have posted 24 articles on the Wordpress site (www.northerntapestry.com) covering the period from the late 7th century up to the 840s...

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Winter Solstice at Maeshowe, Orkney www.youtube.com/live/3IBIWm7...

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The Poppleton Manuscript contains a number of important sources for early Scottish history and is a text I have used in my blog posts. northerntapestry.com/sources/the-...

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My latest blog looks at some (often colourful) descriptions of the Picts – as seen through the eyes of others. northerntapestry.com/2024/12/07/w...

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Nov 30: Feast of Andrew († c. 60), apostle, martyr, patron saint of Scotland. He is said to have been crucified on an X-shaped cross. Cult universal by 6thC. Hagustaldes ham (Hexham) and Cennrígmonaid (St Andrews) both dedicated to him in the 7th/8thC. St Rule’s Tower, St Andrews 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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Happy St. Andrew's Day!

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Trip to the British Museum to see the fantastic Silk Roads exhibition. So many beautiful artifacts, but I was drawn to the fragments of an amphora from the eastern Mediterranean and found at the Pictish royal site of Rhynie. This vessel would perhaps have carried wine or olive oil to the north.

submitted 107 days ago • 2 comments

Nov 24: Feast of Eanflæd († c.704). Queen of the Northumbrians, then abbess of Streanæshalch (Whitby), which she ruled with daughter Ælfflæd. In thanks for her role at the synod in 664, the pope sent a cross and golden key made from the fetters of Peter and Paul. 📸Chris Kirk

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Áed Finnliath, king of Ailech and Tara, died #OTD in 879. He was survived by his wife Máel Muire, daughter of Cináed mac Ailpín, former king of the Picts and Scots. Theirs is the only recorded marriage between an Irish king and a Pictish princess in the historical period.

submitted 112 days ago • 0 comments

Clach nam Breatann, Stirling. 'Stone of the Britons'. It stands in Glen Falloch, at the head of Loch Lomond, and probably commemorates either a boundary or a battle. Source: WJ Watson - The Celtic #PlaceNames of Scotland. 📸Eoghan

submitted 113 days ago • 3 comments

My latest blog looks at the 830s and the continuing Viking attacks on Ireland and the British Isles, notes a catastrophic defeat for the Picts, and briefly introduces a couple of Norwegian youngsters to the story. northerntapestry.com/2024/11/17/v...

submitted 115 days ago • 0 comments

Thank you to everyone who has followed me since I joined Bluesky a week ago. northerntapestry.com is an attempt to join up the characters, their stories and historical events in an area covering northern Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Iceland and the Faroe Islands in the early medieval period.

submitted 116 days ago • 1 comment

I'm giving a virtual talk next Friday to the Pictish Arts Society about frontier landscapes and firths in southern Scotland! It's only open to members of the PAS, but that's a good reason to go and join one of the best organizations in the area: www.thepictishartssociety.org.uk/join-us

submitted 121 days ago • 2 comments

I was very lucky for my latest video to be joined by @hornesupremacy.bsky.social to talk about the Power of Silver in the Viking Age and the importance of the York and Dublin Axis and its impact on North West England. Enjoy! youtu.be/D-ISsg-DBmE?... #Viking #Vikings #earlymedieval #archaeology

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Guðrøðr (Gothfrith), Norse king of Dublin, raided Armagh, chief church of the Irish, #OTD in 921. It was Martinmas Eve, and it would have been filled with people, food and drink. Guðrøðr was briefly king of York before Æthelstan, king of the Anglo-Saxons, drove him out in 927.

submitted 122 days ago • 0 comments

My latest blog looks at the Pictish King Onuist II and what little we know of him, other than how, in alliance with a supposed “King of Scotland,” he defeated the Anglo-Saxon “king” Athelstan – a victory which apparently led to the birth of the Scottish flag northerntapestry.com/2024/11/02/o...

submitted 123 days ago • 0 comments