Thor Ewing

Publications and Presentations

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Books:

The Wisdom of the Celts
edda uk 2005 ISBN 1-904945-02-3

Translations from medieval Welsh and Irish on the theme of wisdom, with an introductory essay which looks beyond the purely literary context to Celtic art and identity, and in particular to the vexed question of the Celts in history.

For more information, click here The Wisdom of the Celts

Viking Clothing
Tempus Publishing 2006 ISBN 0-7524-3587-6

The only full-length (60 000 word) book on the subject of Viking cloth and clothing, it draws on archaeological, literary, pictorial and linguistic evidence; it reappraises archaeological evidence from Viking Birka and elsewhere, and carefully considers evidence from sagas and poetry, which has previously been relatively overlooked.

For more information, click here Viking Clothing

Articles:

‘Understanding the Heysham Hogback: A tenth-century sculpted stone monument and its context’
Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Vol.152, 2003, pp.1-20
The iconography of the Heysham Hogback has previously defied satisfactory explanation; this article argues that both sides of the stone show scenes from the Völsung legends, and considers the debate about its pagan or Christian milieu.

‘‘The Atli Song’ and ‘The Hamthir Poem’’
Comparative Criticism 18 CUP 1996
Translations of two ninth-century Norse narrative poems, with an introductory essay covering their legendary context and metre.
To read the translations, click here

‘The Birth of Lugh – Oðinn and Loki among the Celts’
Sinsear 8, the journal of the Folklore Department, University College Dublin, 1995
This article finds parallels in Welsh and Irish sources to Norse stories of Óðinn’s search for wisdom; the interrelationship of the stories is such that a common origin appears to be more likely than later borrowing.
To read this article, click here

‘‘í litklæðum’ – Coloured Clothes in Medieval Scandinavian Literature and Archaeology’
Preprint papers for the Thirteenth International Saga Conference, ed. John McKinnell and Donata Kick, Durham, 2006
This article compares literary evidence for coloured clothing in medieval Scandinavia with archaeological evidence and discovers interesting parallels with important implications for our understanding of the use of colour as a literary device.
To read this article on the saga conference website, click here

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