UCC launches Viking crowd sourcing project

University College Cork has launched a crowd sourcing project in an attempt to gather historical and modern material related to Viking and Norse culture.

The World-Tree Project intends to develop an interactive digital archive for the teaching and study of Norse and Viking cultures.

The project will be based at UCC’s School of English and is funded by the Irish Research Council’s 'New Horizons' grant.

The aim of the initiative is to collate diverse resourses on the Vikings.

The public is being asked to submit any Viking or Norse-related items they may have. Items can be new or old and could include anything ranging from original artwork, translations of Norse poetry to a film of a Viking re-enactment. The material will be used to create interpretative exhibitions, teaching aids and interactive resources.

While it is expected the majority of material will be collected from the public, institutions such as libraries and museums, scholars, organisations and interest groups are also expected to contribute.

The collection will be curated by UCC researchers and developed into a series of exhibitions.

Dr Tom Birkett, principal investigator on the World-Tree Project, said: “the Vikings have never been so popular, thanks to glossy TV dramas, blockbuster exhibitions and recent high-profile finds, and the World-Tree Project aims to capitalise on this enthusiasm.”

“The time is certainly ripe for such a collection: interest in Ireland is at an all-time high in the wake of the Battle of Clontarf centenary, and there’s a need for a resource that fulfils an appetite for more information about the Vikings.”

Project researcher Dr Roderick Dale said “everyone knows that the Vikings travelled huge distances, colonising Greenland, exploring North America and leaving a legacy across Europe. What we’re hoping is that the public will help us to gather together this wealth of material by taking photos in their local area and submitting items to the project.”

Modern interpretations of the Vikings are also of interest to the project.

“If we hope to learn anything about how people perceive and use the Viking past, we need to understand how the Vikings are being used in tourism and popular culture. In this sense, a Viking brand or a souvenir is as interesting to us as the legacy they left in the form of literature, language and material culture,” Dr Dale added.

[ www.worldtreeproject.org ]