Christian Cooijmans

@ccooijmans.bsky.social

6707 Followers 634 Following

Viking Historian | Research Fellow @uio.no | Assoc. Researcher @livunihss.bsky.social | vikings in continental Europe | medieval(ism) | histor(iograph)y https://hcommons.org/members/ccooijmans

Three actual icons I've come across this morning, presenting AI features using sparkly stars, covering the wretchedness underneath.
A street sign in Mechelen, Belgium, reading 'Straatje-zonder-einde' ('little street without end'). There is a cul-de-sac sign next to it.
A bronze statue of Adam Smith in Edinburgh, Scotland. An orange traffic cone has been placed on the statue's head, and a real estate sign placed under its arm. Photo by Pablo San Martín Varela.
A promotional image from Blade Runner 2049, featuring a brown/orange dystopian cityscape in which a man, having just exited a futuristic vehicle, walks away from camera (Image: Alcon Entertainment)
Two copies of the book 'Viking Connections' on a wooden tabletop.
Two paragraphs from a Guardian article: 'Swedish historians have highlighted a glaring historical inaccuracy: it was eastern Vikings, mainly from modern-day Sweden, who were famous for river and coastal rowing, while western Vikings, from Norway, were the great transatlantic sailors. So the Norwegians are celebrating their football team's performances by imitating Swedish Vikings, Stockholm pundits argue. Be that as it may, the chant has won over many Norwegians, who have posted countless videos of themselves rowing.'
A still frame from a Bernie Sanders campaign video, with the caption 'I am once again asking you to stop using the term "British Isles".'
A close-up of one of the Hyakumantō darani, a Buddhist invocation printed on paper in Nara (Japan) during the 760s
A border terrier in a bike basket
An article headline reading: 'Beyond hostility and hypermasculinity: why we need to think differently about the vikings'
A screenshot of a video showing Dan Snow in the Municipal Museum of Zutphen (Netherlands), outlining how vikings 'dropped [a coin] whilst murdering, plundering, burning'.
A screenshot of a video showing Dan Snow in the Municipal Museum of Zutphen (Netherlands), putting forward how the evidence from Zutphen constitutes a 'viking crime scene' and evidence of a 'smash-and-grab raid'.
A rapidly intercut social media video featuring Dan Snow animatedly talking about a ninth-century viking incursion in Zutphen, Netherlands
Screenshot from video on AI generated history, using a highly anachronistic romanticism to generate a 'medieval' scene.
A monochrome pixelated viking ship. Underneath is the text 'you have died of dysentery.'
A border terrier on a hill, looking back at the city below
The Gutenberg Bible on display at the National Museum of Scotland.
The front cover of 'Viking Connections: Proceedings of the Nineteenth Viking Congress', edited by David Griffiths, Nancy Edwards, Fiona Edmonds, and Clare Downham. The cover features an image of the late Viking-Age Maen Achwyfan cross in northern Wales.
Medieval manuscript pages containing lines 712 to 758 of the Dane saga, detailing the destruction of a viking fortress. Municipal Archives, Breda (ARC0287, 144, ff. 16v-17r), public domain.
A message from the Bluesky status page, noting that 'we are investigating an incident with service in one of our reginos [sic]'
The inner end of the Nærøyfjord with surrounding mountainscape, as seen from Gudvangen.
A two panel comic. The upper panel contains a pill bottle labelled 'hard to swallow pills'. The second shows three pills in someone's hand, with the overlaid text: 'Not all Scandinavians were vikings - Not all vikings were Scandinavian'.
An extract from Paul C. Sinding's 1858 volume 'History of Scandinavia', which reads: 'The history, therefore, of Scandinavia, through the first eight centuries after Christ, until King Gorm the Old, is properly and correctly called 'the Fabulous Age'
An address label on a parcel, sent to a 'C Cooljams'
Three characters from the 'Vikings' TV series, wearing a variety of impractical-looking dark leather outfits with various gridded elements, arbitrary straps, and decorative panelling.
The Tune ship in its steel rig, suspended from a rail, about to enter the new building of the Museum of the Viking Age. Photo: Museum of the Viking Age, University of Oslo
The Ness of Burgi, sitting on a rocky outcrop with a stormy sea below.
A metal sign that says 'chamber', inside a chamber at Muness Castle
A late medieval stone castle ruin against a cloudy sky
A series of worn inscriptions carved into the facade of a house on New Street, Scalloway. The inscription reads: 'This diagram illustrates the cause of the so called Earth Tides. Also each alternate Ocean Flood, the cause of which has never yet been understood. [Text below ridge mostly illegible] [Lower stone:] The water flows back when att[ractio]n over & forms a heap on opposite side of E[arth] to balance att[ractio]n flood. There is no [... illegible].
An eroded stone doorway and adjacent wall on a beach in Shetland, overlooking a blue sea in winter.
The remains of a Viking-Age longhouse in a field, overlooking a bay on a cloudy day
A photo of a small 10C/11C gold-enamel fibula, thought to represent a saint or secular elite figure.
An iron ploughshare, found at the site of Foremark. Photo by Cat Jarman, with kind permission.
A border terrier on the stern of Skidbladner, a reconstructed viking ship (Gokstad replica) at Haroldswick, Unst, Shetland.
A windswept Border Terrier in a green coat sitting atop the remains of a Norse longhouse at Jarlshof, Shetland
A crowd of costumed onlookers carrying torches set fire to a viking ship, sparks flying everywhere.
A happy little Border Terrier sitting in a meadow
An image of a bingo card, titled 'Wishy-Washy US Ally Response Bingo', containing various boilerplate political phrases used by American allies as non-responses to US military strikes and threats around the world.
Tato the Border Terrier having a well-deserved nap on the couch
East-facing view along the nave of St Machar's High Kirk in Old Aberdeen, including sizeable granite pillars, wooden roof, and stained glass windows.
A Border Terrier in a green coat overlooking the Elephant Rock at Boddin Point near Montrose
A late medieval manuscript page with a richly illuminated initial and borders
A crowned and mantled heraldic visual design with an escutcheon containing a rainbow coloured background and cartoon cat, as well as the text 'graphic design is my passion.' in comic sans.
The cover of the book 'Dorestad and Everything After', featuring a small gold brooch with male head in enamel (900-1100).
A page from a so-called Biblia pauperum, (here) a fifteenth-century printed block-book bible, representing, somewhat poorly, a scene from 2 Kings 2:11-12, in which Elijah 'went up by a whirlwind into heaven' by means of a 'chariot of fire, and horses of fire'. The scene on this page, however, contains neither chariot, horses, or fire, but sees Elijah ascend in what appears to a crude wooden box on wheels with no apparent means of propulsion.
A road cutting through a wintry, sunny landscape in northern Iceland - the sea and distant mountains visible.
The green glow of the northern lights over Miðfjörður, near Hvammstangi, Iceland
The Gokstad Ship in its rig, making its way into the new museum through the (opened) wall of the old building.
The new museum space, with floor outline marked, awaiting the arrival of the Gokstad Ship.
The Gokstad viking ship in a protective metal case, with supports and rigging in place, before being lifted up for transport along a suspension rail into the new museum.
Close-up of a Pictish stone slab, containing an armed horseman drinking from a horn - from Bullion, Invergowrie, Angus (first half tenth century) - now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh (X.IB 229)
A 60m-long Viking-Age wooden hall reconstruction in Lejre, in green surroundings
A medieval manuscript page from the tenth century, on vellum. Text outlined in tables using black ink and red rubrication, written in Carolingian miniscule.
A medieval manuscript page from the tenth century, on vellum. Text in black ink and red rubrication using Carolingian miniscule.
A paragraph from the new T&C from Linkedin: 'Generative AI Model Training: We are now including these regions in the locations where we use and share member data and content to train generative AI models that create content. Starting on November 3, 2025, we’ll start to use some data from members in these regions to train these content-generating AI models that enhance your experience and better connect our members to opportunities. Our GenAI features can help hirers find and reach you more easily, and assist members in creating content such as profile updates, messages, and posts. This may include data like details from your profile, and public content you post on LinkedIn; it does not include your private messages.'
A verdant, sunny scene in the Royal Library Garden in Copenhagen, with various trees and rose hedges among historical buildings.
A text taken from a CNN story on a news conference about the murder of Charlie Kirk. 'FBI Director Kash Patel delivered a message to his slain friend Charlie Kirk during an ongoing news conference: "To my friend, Charlie Kirk: Rest now, brother. We have the watch. And I'll see you in Valhalla," he said.'