In early September 2019, I travelled to Iceland and visited Eldhestar Icelandic horse trekking company located less than 30 minutes drive southeast from the capital Reykjavik. The Icelandic horse was brought to the island by the Viking settlers. You can read about about Icelandic Viking history and the history of Reykjavik here. There are also… Continue reading Iceland: The Icelandic Horse
I visited the Gotland Museum in Visby, Gotland Island, Sweden in early September 2019. You can read more about my research visit to the Uppsala Viking Age burial mounds, the History Museum in Stockholm and the medieval city of Visby on Gotland Island. Gotland Museum contains an amazing variety of prehistoric Swedish and Viking Age… Continue reading Sweden: Gotland Museum
The tawny frogmouth is a species of nocturnal bird native to much of Australia. It is well known in Australian landscapes for the staring red-gold eyes, the camouflage resembling a branch or broken tree stump and it’s seemingly unworried response to human presence. I was walking in the early morning at a pine forest near… Continue reading Australian Tawny Frogmouth Folklore
Cuneiform is a fascinating and slightly mysterious writing style found in many archaeological sites of ancient Mesopotamia, including the modern countries of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Israel and parts of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia. Cuneiform was a geometric writing style inscribed on very small clay tablets. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a classic text inscribed on… Continue reading What the Heck is Cuneiform, Anyway?
In early September 2019, I traveled to Uppsala in Sweden to one of the most accessible archaeological sites from the early Viking Age, a series of impressive burial mounds. You can read more about Viking Age history and archaeology from my visit to Stockholm's Historiska Museum here and Gotland Museum. The site of Gamla Uppsala… Continue reading Sweden: Viking Burial Mounds
Visby is a medieval city on the Swedish Island of Gotland. I visited Visby in early September 2019 to see the famous medieval charm of the harbour city and the many prehistoric and early Viking Age artefacts in the Gotland Museum. You can read more about my visits to Stockholm Historiska Museum here, the Viking… Continue reading Sweden: Visby
In Iceland, the Yule Cat, Jólakötturin, is a traditional monstrous figure that purportedly prowls the countryside on Christmas Eve devouring those who did not receive new clothing items for Christmas. There are many debates over the origins of the Yule Cat in Icelandic tradition which does not appear to be mentioned in written form before… Continue reading Iceland’s Monstrous Yule Cat
In late September 2019, I visited the Historika Museet (National History Museum) in Stockholm, Sweden. I only had a few days in Stockholm but I the Historiksa Museet is located in the central part of Stockholm city and is easily accessible by tram, bicycle or on foot. I visited the museum for the detailed exhibitions… Continue reading Sweden: History Museum
In late August 2019, I visited Madrid, the capital city of Spain. Although Spain still has a royal family, the Royal Palace of Madrid is no longer occupied by the Spanish royal family and is open to the public on most days. You can read more here about my visit to the Spanish capital and… Continue reading Spain: Royal Palace of Madrid
In late August 2019, I traveled to the city of Granada in the region of Andalusia, southern Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, where the sprawling national park is a natural barrier between Granada and the Mediterranean Sea. The steep woodland hills surrounding the Sierra Nevada Mountains are… Continue reading Spain: Granada & the Alhambra
Leanbh Pearson 
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