Ðirðug
The Long Road North
An inverse pilgrimage across Europe, tracing the reverse path of Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, the farthest-traveled woman of the medieval world. Language, history, martial tradition. Each stop generates essays, field recordings, and research tied to its local significance.
22 stops. Rome to Atlanta.
Click a node to see its thematic context and planned content.
The Route
When I was a child, I walked a route in my mind that I dreamt I'd one day follow on foot. It might be a bike...But our final map is below.
Italian Arc
Alpine Crossing
Rhineland
Hanseatic North
Denmark
Sweden
Norway
North Atlantic
American Coda
Ðirðug is alive. Content appears as the journey unfolds. Essays first. Field recordings, language studies, research. HEMA where clubs and scheduling permit. Unreal renders of the scenes we can no longer visit in person.
Four threads: Alaric and the fall of Rome. Germanic migrations north and west. Runic and Norse continuity. And the inverse journey of Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, whose path from Iceland to Rome this project traces in reverse...and then extends westward, to America, to the terminus.
Researcher, host, HEMA practitioner, language partner, Unreal artist along this route? Get in touch.