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Vikings return to Cork: Einar Selvik launches major EU project inviting public to help map the Viking legacy
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- Major €2 million European project invites public to help map the Viking legacy.
- Sounds of the Vikings will return to Cork after 1,000 years with an exclusive performance by Einar Selvik.
- The iViking App will allow users to discover Viking sites and stories while helping to map the enduring legacy of the Vikings across Europe.
The sounds of the Vikings returned to Cork after 1,000 years as University College Cork (UCC) launched NorseMap, a landmark European research project exploring how the Vikings continues to shape culture, identity and politics.
Internationally acclaimed Norwegian musician Einar Selvik, founder of the pioneering Nordic music group Wardruna, performed an acoustic concert at St Peter's Church, Cork, on 5 September to celebrate the launch of NorseMap and its iViking App.
Bringing Viking music back to one of Ireland's oldest Norse settlements
Widely recognised for reviving the sounds and traditions of the Viking Age, Selvik's performance brought Viking music back to one of Ireland's oldest Norse settlements, marking the beginning of a major European project exploring the enduring and complex legacy of the Vikings.
Norwegian musician, composer and Wardruna founder Einar Selvik plays traditional Nordic instruments at St Peter’s Church.
Funded by a prestigious €2 million European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant, NorseMap is investigating how the Vikings have been remembered, reimagined and reinvented across Europe over the past millennium.
Professor Tom Birkett, Principal Investigator of NorseMap and Senior Lecturer in Old English and Old Norse at UCC, said: "The Vikings are everywhere we look in the modern world. They are used to entertain, promote tourism, underpin political movements, support diverse identities and sell products. NorseMap asks how the Viking past is used today, how public understanding of the Vikings has evolved over time, and what that tells us about our politics, culture and European identity."
“Cork was founded as a Viking settlement, so it's incredibly fitting that we launch NorseMap here by bringing the sounds of the Viking Age back to the city after a thousand years. Having Einar Selvik perform alongside a Viking market creates a unique opportunity to experience this heritage in a way that's immersive, memorable and accessible. It's a celebration not just of the Viking past, but of the many ways it continues to shape our culture and identity today,” Professor Birkett said.
The project asks not only who the Vikings were, but why they still matter. It explores how the Viking past has been remembered, reimagined and sometimes manipulated over the last thousand years, shaping identities, inspiring cultural and political movements across Europe.
One of Europe's largest public humanities initiatives
At the heart of the project is NorseMap, an innovative crowdsourced platform inviting people across Europe to help build the first comprehensive map of the legacy of Vikings.
Through its iViking App, now available to download, members of the public are invited to capture and upload photographs of Viking and Norse heritage encountered in everyday life, from souvenirs, sport, books, and artworks to advertising, marketing campaigns and other contemporary uses of Viking imagery and culture.
By combining digital mapping with citizen participation, the project will examine how the Viking past has been reimagined over the past thousand years and continues to shape identity while exploring how myths, misinformation and extremist narratives emerge and spread.
Professor John F. Cryan, UCC Vice President for Research and Innovation, said: “NorseMap is an ambitious and innovative project that combines world-leading digital humanities research with public participation. Through the iViking App, people across Europe will have the opportunity to contribute directly to groundbreaking research by sharing and exploring the many ways Viking heritage continues to shape our communities, cultures and identities.”