Staff Profile

QualificationsBA (Durham), Bacc.Phil.Isl. (Iceland), DPhil (Oxford)

Being born and brought up in York before it was quite so 'heritaged' gave me a love of all things medieval, and, together with a lifelong fascination with language and texts, and with what C. S. Lewis called 'Northernness', this has resulted in a career as an all-purpose English medievalist with a particular interest in Old Norse-Icelandic texts and English place-names. After study in Durham, Reykjavík and Oxford, and a Junior Research Fellowship at St Hilda's College, Oxford, I taught Old and Middle English, History of the English Language, English Place-Names and Old Norse in Newcastle from 1978. Since retiring in September 2014, I continue to be active in research (please see my Research profile for ongoing work), while finding a little more time for some neglected aspects of life.

I am currently a Vice-President of the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland and of the Viking Society for Northern Research, and a past President of both; I'm also a member of Council of the English Place-Name Society. Closer to home, I enjoy links with MEMS (Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Newcastle University), the Bernician Studies Group and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Research Interests

Most of my publications to date are in the fields of: 

– Old Norse-Icelandic literature, especially skaldic poetry and sagas of poets, historical writings including sagas of kings, and sagas of bishops.

– Onomastics, especially the place-names of Northern England.

(Until my retirement in autumn 2014 I also taught Old English language and literature, History of the English language, and Middle English literature including Chaucer and medieval drama.)

Current Work

My current research mainly concerns English place-names. I am working on a one-volume dictionary of the place-names of Northumberland for the English Place-Name Society, as well as following lines of enquiry arising from that.

Some of my place-name work draws on the 104 Ordnance Survey (OS) Name Books for Northumberland, now digitised and transcribed by the project 'Northumberland Name Books: Places and People c. 1860' which I ran from 2016 to 2000, with the help of over forty splendid volunteers. As well as offering a wealth of toponymic information, these reveal the fieldwork behind the First Edition and subsequent OS maps, and offer fascinating insights into the landscape and archaeology of the county, and its industrial, social and cultural life in the mid nineteenth century. They are now available at: <https://namebooks.org.uk/> 

I am one of six General Editors for the international project, Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=skaldic>. Founded in 1997, the project is dedicated to producing a comprehensive and authoritative multi-volume edition of the entire corpus of skaldic poetry. As well as editing Vol. I, Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1: From Mythical times to c. 1035, I have contributed to several other volumes, most recently editing the poetry from Gunnlaugs saga and Hallfredar saga for Volume V. I continue to be active in 'quality control' of the volumes still to be published.

Alongside fresh research and scholarship, I enjoy being involved in outreach activities. Among recent projects, I have advised on Old English for the Anglo-Saxon museum and whisky distillery Ad Gefrin, which opened in Wooler, Northumberland in March 2023, and I appeared as an expert on skaldic poetry in three episodes of a series on Vikings in England made by Pernel Media, Paris in 2024. Together with colleagues in the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland, I have an ongoing commitment to making names and name studies more accessible through 'Exploring Names', a new website for the Society; this is now live at <https://www.snsbi.org.uk/exploring-names/>

• Articles

  • Whaley D. Naming the Border uplands. Scottish Place-Name Society Newsletter 2023, 55, 10-13.
  • Whaley D. Putting Northumberland names on the map: insights from the Ordnance Survey Name Books c. 1860. Nomina 2022, 40, 1-29.
  • O'Brien C, Adams M, Whaley D. King Ceolwulf's land grants to St Cuthbert and their loss in the ninth century. Archaeologia Æliana 2018, Series 5, Volume 47, 79-116.
  • Whaley D. Recent publications on Northumberland place-names. Journal of the English Place-Name Society 2017, 49, 156-164.
  • Whaley D. Northumberland Name Books — People and Places c.1860. Journal of the English Place-Name Society 2016, 48, 92-95.
  • Whaley D. The other millennium: English place-naming after the Norman Conquest. Journal of the English Place-Name Society 2014, 6-31.
  • Whaley DC. Scarborough Revisited. Nomina 2010, 33, 87-100.
  • Whaley D. Symposium on Skaldic editing. Snorrastofa, Reykholt, Iceland, Friday 4th-Sunday 6th May, 2001. Skandinavistik 2002, 32(1), 19-24.
  • Whaley D. Trusmadoor and Other Cumbrian 'Pass' Words. Nomina 2001, 24, 77-95.
  • Whaley DC. Norse-Icelandic Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages - A New Edition: Editors' Manual. (with M.Clunies Ross, K. Gade, E. Marold, G. Nordal) Sydney: Centre for Medieval Studies 2000.
  • Whaley D. Heimskringla. Hoops Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Band 14. Berlin: de Gruyter, 238-47 1999.
  • Whaley, Diana. Hallfredar saga. Hoops Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Band 13. Berlin: de Gruyter, 427-31 1998.
  • Whaley, Diana. Voices from the Past: a Note on Termagant and Herod. Shakespearian Continuities . Essays in honour of E.A.J. Honigman . Edited by John Batchelor, Tom Cain and Claire Lamont. Houndmills: Macmillan, 23-39 1997.
  • Whaley, Diana. Troublesome Poets at the Courts of Scandinavia. Sagas and the Norwegian Experience / Sagaene og Noreg. 10th International Saga Conference. Trondheim: Senter for middelalderstudier, 663-674 1997.
  • Whaley, Diana. Translations of Hallfredar saga and five tales. The Complete Sagas of Icelanders (5 vols) ed. Vidar Hreinsson. Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson 1997.
  • Whaley, Diana. Review of: Terry Gunnell, The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia. (Cambridge, 1994), Speculum 72, 828-30 1997.
  • Whaley, Diana. Entries: 'Beowulf', Canterbury Tales', 'Caxton, William', Chaucer, Geoffrey', 'Langland, William', Piers Plowman, 'Mystery Plays'. Oxford Companion to British History, ed. John Cannon. Oxford: OUP 1997.
  • Whaley, Diana. Miracles in the Sagas of Bishops: Icelandic Variations on an International Theme. Collegium Medievale: Interdisciplinary Journal of Medieval Research, 7, 155-184 1996.
  • Whaley, Diana. Anglo-Scandinavian Problems in Cumbria, with Particular Reference to the Derwentwater Area. Nomina: Journal of the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland, 19 91-113 1996.
  • Whaley, Diana. Heroic Death in the Early Nordic World. Ritual and Remembrance: Responses to Death in Human Societies, ed. Jon Davies. Sheffield Academic Press, 165-85 1994.
  • Whaley, Diana. A medieval casebook: hand cures documented in the Icelandic sagas of bishops. Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume) 19B 1994.
  • Whaley, Diana. The Kings' Sagas. Viking Revaluations: Proceedings of the Viking Society Centenary Symposium 14-15 May , ed. Anthony Faulkes and Richard Perkins. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 43-64 1993.
  • Whaley, Diana. Skalds and Situational Verses in Heimskringla. Snorri Sturluson: Kolloquium anlässlich der 750. Wiederkehr seines Todestages. ScriptOralia 51. Ed. Alois Wolf. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 245-66 1993.
  • Whaley, Diana. Nicknames and Narratives in the Sagas. Arkiv för nordisk filologi 108, 122-46 1993.
  • Whaley, Diana. Dupuytren's Disease: a Legacy of the North?. (with D. Elliot) Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume) 18B, 363-67 1993.
  • Whaley, Diana. Articles: 'Arnórr Thórdarson jarlaskáld', 'Heimskringla', 'Skáld', 'Skaldic Meters', 'Snorri Sturluson', 'Sæmundr Sigfússon inn fródi'. Medieval Scandinavia: an Encyclopedia , ed. Phillip Pulsiano, New York and London: Garland 1993.
  • Whaley DC. Nowelis Flood and other Nowels'. Language usage and description. Studies presented to N. E. Osselton , ed. Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade and John Frankis. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 5-16 1991.
  • Whaley DC. The miracles of S. Olaf in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. Proceedings of the Tenth Viking Congress, ed. James E. Knirk, Universitets Oldsaksamlings Skrifter, Ny Rekke nr. 9, Oslo, 325-42 1987.
  • Whaley DC. Heimskringla and its sources: the miracles of Oláfr helgi'. The Sixth International Saga Conference, 28/7 - 2/8/85, Workshop Papers, Helsingør: Det Arnamagnæanske institut, 1083-1103 1985.
  • Edwards, Diana C. Clause arrangement in the hrynhent poetry of the ninth to fourteenth centuries. Arkiv för nordisk filologi 99, 131-38 1984.
  • Edwards, Diana C. Clause arrangement in skaldic poetry. I. Clause arrangement in the dróttkvætt poetry of the ninth to fourteenth centuries; II Clause arrangement in the poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld. Arkiv för nordisk filologi 98, 123-75 1983.
  • Edwards, Diana C. Christian and pagan references in eleventh-century Norse poetry. Saga-Book of the Viking Society XXI, 1-2, 34-53 1982.

• Authored Books

  • Whaley D. A dictionary of Lake District place-names. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 2006.
  • Wills T, Whaley D, Gade K, Clunies Ross M, Marold E, Nordal G, Thorvaldsdottir VE, Heslop K. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages: Editors' Manual. Skaldic Project, 2005.
  • Whaley DC. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld : An Edition and Study. Turnhout: Brepols, 1998.
  • Whaley DC. Heimskringla. An Introduction. London: Viking Society, 1991.

• Book Chapters

  • Whaley D. Court Poetry. In: Heather O'Donoghue and Eleanor Parker, ed. The Cambridge History of Old Norse-Icelandic Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024, pp.264-288.
  • Whaley D. Make Me Rich, Mount Hooley and other verbal place-names south of the Tweed. In: Thomas Clancy, Carole Hough and Eila Williamson, ed. Onomastications: A Festschrift for Simon Taylor. Glasgow: Clò Ghaidhlig Oilthigh Ghlaschu, 2022. In Press.
  • Whaley D. 'Skaldic Kennings'. In: J. McKinnell, ed. Pre-Christian Religions of the North: the Written Sources [tbc]. 2018. Submitted.
  • Whaley D. 'Lexical heritage in Northumberland: a toponymic field-walk'. In: Cambridge, E; Hawkes, J, ed. Crossing Boundaries: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Art, Material Culture, Language & Literature of the Early Medieval World. Oxford & Philadelphia: Oxbow, 2017, pp.269-280.
  • Whaley D. 'A far-travelled word: Old Norse skeid 'racecourse, running track' in early literature and place-names. In: Jana Krüger, Vivian Busch et al, ed. Die Faszination des Verborgenen und seine Entschlüsselung. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter, 2017, pp.379-409.
  • Whaley D. [Editions of poetry by:] Arnórr jarlaskáld Thórdarson; Gizurr svarti; Glúmr Geirason; Sigvatr Thórdarson; Skapti Thóroddsson; Thórálfr; Thórdr mauraskáld. In: Gade, KE with Marold, E, ed. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages: Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017, pp.3-11, 192-3, 194-5, 347-50, 355-7, 467-9, 474-5.
  • Whaley D. Thjódólfr Arnórsson. In: Gade, K.E, ed. Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 2: Part 1. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2009, pp.57-176.
  • Whaley D. Arnórr jarlaskáld Thórdarson. In: Gade, K.E, ed. Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 2: Part 1. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2009, pp.177-281.
  • Whaley D. Watching for magpies in English place-names. In: Padel OJ; Parsons DN, ed. A Commodity of Good Names: Essays in Honour of Margaret Gelling. Donington: Shaun Tyas, 2008, pp.286-299.
  • Whaley D. Reconstructing skaldic encomia: Discourse features in Thjodolfr's 'Magnus verses'. In: Quinn, J; Heslop, K; Wills, T, ed. Learning and Understanding in the Old Norse World: Essays in Honour of Margaret Clunies Ross. Turnhout: Brepols, 2007, pp.75-101.
  • Whaley D. The Semantics of Stöng / Stang. In: Gammeltoft, P., Hough, C., Waugh, D, ed. Cultural Contacts in the North Atlantic Region: The Evidence of Names. Edinburgh, UK: NORNA, 2005, pp.244-67.
  • Whaley D. Skaldic Poetry. In: McTurk, R, ed. Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005, pp.479-502.
  • Whaley D. The “Conversion Verses” in Hallfredar saga: Authentic voice of a reluctant Christian?. In: Clunies Ross, M, ed. Old Norse Myths, Literature and Society. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, 2003, pp.234-257.
  • Whaley D. Arnórr jarlaskáld, earls' propagandist? On the techniques and social functions of skaldic eulogy. In: Waugh, D, ed. The Faces of Orkney: Stones, Skalds and Saints. Edinburgh, UK: Scottish Society for Northern Studies, 2003, pp.18-32.
  • Whaley D. Óláfsdrápur. In: Beck, H, ed. Hoops Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Band 22. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2002, pp.68-78.
  • Whaley D. The Art and Craft of the Skaldic Stanza. In: Faulkes, A, ed. A New Introduction to Old Norse. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2001, pp.94-98.
  • Whaley D. Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla. In: Faulkes, A, ed. A New Introduction to Old Norse. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2001, pp.79-93.
  • Whaley D. Representations of Skalds in the Sagas 1: Social and Professional Relations. In: Poole, R, ed. Skaldsagas : Text, Vocation and Desire in the Icelandic Sagas of Poets. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2000, pp.285-308.
  • Whaley D. A useful past: historical writing in medieval Iceland. In: Clunies Ross, M, ed. Old Icelandic Literature and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp.161-202.
  • Whaley, Diana. Entries: '‘Jónas Hallgrímsson’, ‘Jóhann Sigurjónsson’, ‘Óláfr Thordarson’, ‘Rímur’, ‘Sigvatr Thordarson’, ‘Skaldic Poetry’, ‘Sæmundr Sigfússon’, ‘Völuspá’. In: Hutchinson Encyclopedia. Oxford: Helicon, 1998.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Whaley D. Kormáks saga and the naming of Scarborough - a likely story?. In: Á Austrvega: The 14th International Saga Conference. 2009, Uppsala, Sweden: Gävle University Press.
  • Whaley D. Skaldic flexibility: discourse features in eleventh-century encomia. In: The fantastic in Old Norse/Icelandic literature: 13th International Saga Conference. 2006, Durham and York: Durham Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
  • Whaley D. Myth and Religion in the Poetry of a Reluctant Convert. In: Old Norse Myths, Literature and Society: Proceedings of the 11th International Saga Conference. 2000, University of Sydney: Centre for Medieval Studie : University of Sydney.

• Edited Books

  • Whaley DC, ed. Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2012.
  • Whaley D, ed. Sagas of Warrior-poets. London: Penguin Classics, 2002.

• Generic

  • Whaley, Diana. Skaldic Project Editors' Manual (2nd Ed). Ross, M. Clunies; K. Gade, E. Marold, G. Nordal, T. Wills), 2nd ed., Sydney:Centre for Medieval Studies (<a data-url="http://www.skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/"> http://www.skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/</a>), 106 pp 2002. .

• Online Publications

  • Whaley Diana. Northumberland Name Books. Northumberland Name Books — Places and People c. 1860, 2021. Available at: namebooks.org.uk.
  • Whaley D. Sagas of Icelanders [The Icelandic Family Sagas]. London: Literary Dictionary Company Limited, 2003. Available at: http://litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1275.
  • Whaley D. Icelandic sagas. London, UK: The Literary Dictionary Company Limited, 2003. Available at: http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=531.

• Review

  • Whaley D. Richard Jones and Sarah Semple (eds), Sense of Place in Anglo-Saxon England. Journal of the English Place-Name Society 2013, 45, 65-81.

• Scholarly Edition

  • Whaley Diana. [Editions of poetry by:] Hallfredr vandrædaskáld Óttarsson, Gunnlaugr ormstunga Illugason. In: Kari Ellen Gade, Margaret Clunies Ross and Tarrin Wills ed. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2022. Turnhout: Brepols, 5. Submitted.