Hello, dear readers.

My name is Leah and this is my blog, The Eoforwic Project. I am currently 25 years old, I am female, I use she/her pronouns and I am married. Nice to meet you!



I am Irish English and I grew up here in York, on the banks of the river Ouse and not far from the city centre. York is famous both nationally and internationally for being a Viking city- the Coppergate digs in the 1970s continuously made the news. I grew up attending the Jorvik Viking Festival every year (as a member of the public) and always dreamed of joining in. When I studied at the University of York, I got my chance- I dipped my toes into re-enacting with the Medieval Society. This led to my future husband and I starting our own band of Vikings with a friend- the rest is history. I’m now a thoroughly lost cause to living history, many of my friends do it and I even dragged my own kid brother into it. What’re ya gonna do?

It’s currently 2021 and after the shitfest that was 2020 (sorry, this isn’t an entirely family-friendly blog, whoops!), I decided to take the plunge and create this blog. Finally. A dear friend of mine kept a blog for his storytelling and his musings before his recent passing- he always encouraged me to start my own. I now wish I had done sooner, because I know he would be rooting for me.

So what is the aim of this blog and what can you expect?

I hope to show my current projects to you all, share interesting information about the Viking Age history of York and Dublin (my two hometowns)- not to mention to keep myself accountable. I have so many fascinating projects planned and several of them require a fair amount of research. It’s only more fun if I share that research with you all, so you yourselves can do your own digging and come to your own conclusions.

I must admit ahead of time though- I am not a historian nor an archaeologist. I have an academic background, holding a BA and MA by Research in Linguistics. I love research and many of the skills I have gained are transferable from one discipline to the next. I will always provide references for any historical or archaeological findings I discuss, but I myself do not have any qualifications in those areas (not yet, at least!) I am a happy hobbyist and am no expert.

What’s with the name?

Most of you reading will likely be interested in Early Medieval York or will be a Yorkie yourself, meaning you’ll know exactly where this name is from- if not, welcome! Eoforwīc or Eoforīc was the Old English name for my hometown York- from OE eofor meaning “boar” and wīc meaning “village” or “settlement.” This would have been the name used for the town by locals when the Vikings arrived, who instead dubbed it Jórvík “horse bay”.

Eoforwīc is pronounced alternately as “ey-off-er-witch” or “ever/effer-witch”- I use the second for the most part.


I think that’s all for now. If you are interested in Early Medieval York or Dublin, especially the archaeological evidence found in those places, you might like my blog! If you are also interested in historical fibre crafts, cookery and interpreting the evidence we have, you will almost definitely like my blog. If you’re one of my friends or family here for the ride, hello and thanks for being supportive.

Until next time!