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Welcome to my blog!
Hello, my name is Tristan and I'm a first-year history PhD researcher at Oxford.
The aim of this blog is to share my research and wider history on the early medieval world, help give any advice on applying to university and explaining about Oxford, and generally expanding engagement with the Humanities.
So if you fall under any of those categories, why not fill out the subscription box below to stay up to date.
An Oxford Historian
Jun 4, 20222 min read
Boyo-wulf: Beowulf in Cork Slang
Beowulf's fame in modern culture has led to its constant reinterpretation through the process of translation. Each translation is the...
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An Oxford Historian
Jun 4, 20225 min read
What can nicknames tell us about history?
Recently, St Cross College ran their yearly history prize. This involved, among other things, producing a plain English explanation of...
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An Oxford Historian
May 22, 20222 min read
Electronic Beowulf
A wonderful resource for exploring the manuscript culture behind the single surviving version of the epic poem Beowulf. This week I...
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An Oxford Historian
Apr 24, 20222 min read
Bayeux Tapestry Online - resource
The best (and free!) resource to explore the Bayeux Tapestry, the Bayeux Museum's website provides a wonderful chance to explore the work...
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An Oxford Historian
Apr 23, 20221 min read
Nicknames of 'Disability' in Early Medieval England
Last term I attended a confernce put on by the American Names Society to present a paper based on my current PhD work on early medieval...
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An Oxford Historian
Mar 27, 20224 min read
'Anglo-Saxon' boat burials - why?
The burial at Sutton Hoo Mound 1 is England's most famous archaeological site, and contains a body buried in a magnificent ship. But why...
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An Oxford Historian
Feb 21, 20223 min read
Westfield Farm - a high-status 'Anglo-Saxon' female burial
The Westfield Farm (Ely) cemetery represents a crucial yet under-appreciated piece of 'Anglo-Saxon' funerary archaeology - a cemetery...
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An Oxford Historian
Jan 28, 20222 min read
Old English Poetry in Fascimile
After a hiatus, we're returning to a weekly series highlighting a set of resources to learn about early medieval England. This week we...
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An Oxford Historian
Nov 11, 20213 min read
The Dig: A Review
★★★★☆ Beautifully shot and movingly emotional, The Dig is an impressive example of how the process of history and archaeology can be...
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An Oxford Historian
Oct 29, 202113 min read
'Viking' Lead Trade Weights
This week, in a repurposing of my Masters Degree dissertation, we have a look at the trade weights used by the Vikings. Often found by...
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An Oxford Historian
Oct 19, 20212 min read
Medieval Music Covers - Hildegard von Blingin'
This week, for fun, we're going to look at the wonderful Hildegard von Blingin' on Youtube, and her covers of modern pop music in a...
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An Oxford Historian
Oct 1, 20215 min read
Archaeology - A Beginner's Recommended Reading List
Archaeology is a fascinating subject, but is often quite difficult to get into. There's an awful lot of complex jargon associated with...
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An Oxford Historian
Sep 19, 20213 min read
The Franks Casket
One of the 'Anglo-Saxon' period's most impressive, and most complex, artefacts is the so-called 'Franks Casket'. A lidded whalebone box,...
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An Oxford Historian
Sep 3, 20214 min read
The Prittlewell Prince
Introduction Archaeology is about much more than treasure-hunting but, inevitably, popular attention tends to be drawn towards rich and...
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An Oxford Historian
Aug 21, 20216 min read
'Anglo-Saxon' History and Archaeology: A Reading List
As an introduction to the 'Anglo-Saxon' history and archaeology course I have put together (available free and online here), I've...
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An Oxford Historian
Aug 13, 20212 min read
Old English Poetry
The poetry of 'Anglo-Saxon England' holds an interesting middle-ground in public perception. On the one-hand Beowulf is perhaps the...
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An Oxford Historian
Aug 7, 20211 min read
The Yale Early Medieval Lecture Series
Occasionally, you come across a resource that is so incredibly good, it amazes you that it's free. The Yale Early Medieval Lecture Series...
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An Oxford Historian
Jun 27, 20214 min read
Snape - England's Other Ship Burial
Although Sutton Hoo dominates the popular imagination of Anglo-Saxon ship burials, there is another prime example excavated substantially...
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An Oxford Historian
May 16, 20214 min read
'Anglo-Saxon' thegns - Power, Image and Spectacle
A dominant question in late 'Anglo-Saxon' history and archaeology is how and why the newly solidified thegnly class establish themselves,...
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An Oxford Historian
May 16, 20217 min read
'Anglo-Saxon' thegnly buildings
How did rich late 'Anglo-Saxons' live? Can their use of buildings and shape tell us about how they viewed themselves, and how they...
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