Hi!
Welcome to my world. I’m shieldmaidenpdx, but you can also call me Terri. I’m a medievalist historian who specializes in northern Europe and Scandinavia during the Viking Age. In my heart I’ve been a historian since I was a kid. I was fascinated by my parents’ high school year books from the 1950s and also my grandmother’s stories from the 1940s. And then I started moving farther and farther back in time. I finally settled in the Middle Ages because I find I’m happiest in the pre-modern world.
I’m also a professor at a local college and university. I find that teaching and sharing my passion for the past brings me the most joy, so I’m starting this Substack to have a place to write and think and share about the Viking Age but also likely other points in history as well. I am fascinated by the way people engage with history and how life is always a delicate dance between past and present. It can get pretty complex and interesting, so I will definitely be commenting on that human preoccupation.
I also have a podcast with my friend C.J. called Vikingology: The Art and Science of the Viking Age, which you can find here on Substack and on our YouTube channel. If you like Vikings, check it out. We do fun stuff there and you’ll definitely learn a thing or two.
I like to say I’m not a person who happens to be a historian but rather a historian who happens to be a person. Join me here and you’ll find out why.
If you end up liking what I do, consider subscribing to support the work. You’ll have my eternal gratitude.
Skál!