Tom Birkett

Tom Birkett is a professor of Old English and Old Norse, and has twice been recipient of UCC's Researcher of the Year Award (the early career award in 2018, and overall researcher of the year award in 2024). Tom is currently leading the NorseMap Project, funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant and investigating the reception and legacy of the Vikings in Europe, having also led the World-Tree Project (funded by a 2015 IRC 'New Horizon's Grant'), and Eald to New (funded by an IRC 2014 'New Foundations' Grant). He has published co-edited collections in the area of Viking heritage, translation, and the Vikings in Munster, a monograph on runes in literature, two trade publications (Norse Myths and Legends of Norse Mythology), and articles in the areas of Old English literature, Old Norse poetry, runology, reception, and cultural heritage. His latest book, Runes: A Concise History, is due out shortly with Oxford University Press.

• Old English literature, particularly poetry and textual culture
• Old Norse literature, and particularly sources for Norse mythology
• The reception of medieval literature and culture
• Translation and adaptation
• The Viking as a historical phenomenon and cultural discourse
• Cultural heritage and public uses of the past
• Digital approaches to the study of early medieval literature and culture