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Tag Archives: Orkney
Memento Mori
This past month my summer and winter existences have overlapped. April brings custodial duties. I called myself a custodian on the census, although apparently “monument steward” was available. I am a castellan, a Steward of Gondor awaiting the Return of … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Personal experience, Review
Tagged Germany, Glasgow, memento mori, Orkney, St Cuthbert's Way, The Batman, The Instant, The Northman
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Charles
Charles was the first to move in at Hermit’s Croft student accommodation that fateful Saturday in September. His buzz cut look and austere apparel was not the combination of flowing locks and trim overcoats I would become used to over … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Personal experience, Tribute
Tagged Charles Wright, Europe, friendship, Hermit's Croft, introductions, life, lockdown, optimism, Orkney, politics, Tribute
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2019 in retrospect
In January work began in earnest on my German dissertation. I was comparing the 1950s poetry of two of East Germany’s leading literary figures: Bertolt Brecht and Heiner Müller. The latter had been charged with unoriginality in contemporary criticism of … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Personal experience
Tagged dissertation, exams, German, life, Neolithic, Orkney, Shakespeare, The National Student
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Orfeo
Sixty mile an hour gusts subsided; it was time to reopen the village. First, however, I would be consigned to the till, and stock reshuffling – replenishing puffin fledglings from a partially barren wicker basket and depositing fresh ova in … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Life, Music
Tagged art, bird-scaring rattle, Brodgar, drone, harmonium, life, Neolithic, Norn, Orfeo, Orkney, Skaill, Skara Brae, Tolkien, Vikings, work
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Nynorn and beyond
Orkney: an interesting case study for historical linguists In the following, I’ll discuss my passion for historical linguistics and how this discipline is especially interesting in relation to Orkney and the now-extinct language of Norn. Firstly, I’d like to explain … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Politics
Tagged language, languages, life, Literature, Norn, Norse, Orkney
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The bleary pilgrim
Bundled into the Corsa. Beltless, unshaven and woozy. Despite its lack of a working radio I still love this car. The defunct Blaupunkt reads “SAFE” in all-caps instead of channel, or frequency. It couldn’t display track number; in this respect, … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Personal experience, Politics
Tagged Norse, Orkney, pilgrim, pilgrimage, St Magnus, vauxhall corsa, Vikings
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Jesca Hoop ‘Memories Are Now’ Review
Jesca Hoop’s Memories Are Now is truly something to behold. Conceptually bold in both musicality and subject matter, this is a brave and beautiful project from an artist exerting full masterly control over what she creates. Illustrated with a focused, … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Review
Tagged 2017, Alasdair Flett, album, alternative, Edinburgh, indie, Jesca Hoop, Memories Are Now, music, Orkney, Review
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The rise of hyphenates and the demise of icons
As the concluding hours tick down on what to many has seemed a fairly dismal lap around the sun politically and in terms of “iconic” deaths I thought it was time to add my evaluation to the numerous top tens, … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Life, Music, Politics
Tagged 2016, Berlin, Edinburgh, exams, flats, Frankenstein, Fringe, German, Glasgow, Honeyblood, journalism, life, Motion Poets, Orkney, St Magnus Festival, Twin Peaks, Warpaint, We Were Promised Jetpacks, work
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Salutations from the Solstice
December. Brown leaves linger – decomposing streaks on recomposing streets whose lights and likenesses change to suit the season. I’m set to return soon, where no such sodden mulch is to be found. Another semester past. Another set of exams … Continue reading
Posted in Life
Tagged Auslandsjahr, December, Edinburgh, English literature, German, Germany, Hemmingway, humanities, leaves, Leipzig, Orkney, science, Solstice, Spain, University, year abroad
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Flett-cetera 