- Jackie Etheridge
- BA Viking Studies
- Graduated: 2007
- Author, poet, storyteller, educational Viking reenactor.
Why did you choose to study Scandinavian Studies in general and at UCL in specific?
I chose Viking Studies because I was already learning Norwegian at evening class and I wished to expand on lifelong interests in archaeology, medieval history and medieval literature. I chose UCL in particular because it was the only one of two universities offering Viking Studies: only UCL offered the Year Abroad (I went to Oslo) and studying at UCL meant I could live in my own house in London.
What did you like most about your degree programme?
I thoroughly appreciate the choice of courses offered and the brilliant way most were taught. I found it exciting and inspiring to study with people at the top of their field and with like-minded students. I particularly enjoyed being given the opportunity, and personal encouragement, to carry out research and I continue to receive tutors' encouragement and help now that I have graduated.
What was it like being a student at the Scandinavian department?
This is a tiny department and this, coupled with living at home, limited my development of a student social life, which I only really experienced when I was studying at Oslo University for the year. But this is probably more due to my own shyness and reclusiveness than to anybody's response to me. The true advantage of the small department was small group (and occasionally individual) tuition and the opportunity to explore subjects very deeply with tutors and colleagues. The Scandinavian Department's amazing library is an invaluable asset and should be a draw to UK and international students alike.
How has your degree been of benefit to you since you took your degree?
Whilst I am still 'unemployed', I have spent the year finishing my first children's book about Viking home life and starting a sequel; translating a Norse short story for children; and beginning my first full-length novel on Viking and Celtic themes. I am also continuing research into tenth-century Norwegian court skalds (begun as my Third Year Project); the origin of the Germanic peoples; and the origins of the Scandinavian runic writing system. Also I made my public debut on 6th August as a Viking storyteller in York (in costume), educating children about Viking Age families, their predecessors and descendants using a family tree (the results of my detailed genealogical research) to spark discussion. Every subject I took in my Viking Studies modules has played a part in the future career I am currently building for myself: from Archaeology, Runology, Mythology, Icelandic Cultural Narrative, Linguistics, Norwegian Bokmål and Nynorsk, through to Medieval and Modern Scandinavian history. Most importantly Old Norse continues to be an essential study and I continue to read in Old Norse and in the modern Scandinavian languages, and to attend seminars and conferences to improve on all aspects of my undergraduate studies.
Anything else you want to add about your experience at UCL or your career since leaving UCL?
The career I am building as an author, poet, storyteller and educator may seem a rather unorthodox and perhaps financially unsafe one: I have earned no money in my first year as a graduate, have nearly run out of savings and still have my student loan to pay off. But I am fully confident that my Degree has given me the abilities to lay the foundations for a satisfying and eventually remunerative career. Although things moved very slowly at first, I have been consolidating my knowledge and ideas, and have now made enough contacts in various fields to begin earning money. For example I have just been offered my own webpage by York's Resident Storyteller, Adrian Spendlow (who has engaged me to advise on academic aspects for his Viking work), and last week I was offered the chance to record my first children's stories as an audio book and hope to begin recording shortly.
