Dr Caroline J A Brett
Bye-Fellow, Director of Studies
Why choose Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Girton?
Girton College is built on the site of an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery. Some Anglo-Saxon artefacts discovered when the foundations of college buildings were being dug during the late 1800s were the basis of the College’s own museum, the Lawrence Room. The Lawrence Room is a fabulous resource and attraction for the College; students are encouraged to do their own research into its collections, and can also get experience as museum curators and guides.
Girtonians have played a large part in creating the Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic course. Dame Bertha Phillpotts, a pioneer of early Icelandic studies, was Mistress of Girton in 1922-5, and Nora K. Chadwick, expert on Celtic Britain, was Director of Studies here in 1950-62. The Girton ASNC community is small but very active – our students often take a leading role in the University’s ASNC Society, as well as participating in college societies and interacting closely with students in related subjects such as History, Archaeology and Classics.
- No. of students admitted per year: 2
- Subject requirements: No specific subjects. A language strongly preferred.
- Minimum offer level:
- A-level: A*AA
- IB: 41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level
- Admission assessment: There is no written assessment for this subject at Girton College.
- Interview arrangements: Usually two 20 to 30-minute interviews.
- Written work: two pieces of marked written work (if invited to interview).
The Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC) Tripos offers an academic course not available in any other university: the study of the history, culture, languages, and literature of the different peoples who inhabited the British Isles, Brittany, and Scandinavia during the earlier middle ages. Students may combine options on linguistic and literary subjects (principally Old English, Old Norse, Middle Welsh, Old and Middle Irish, and Medieval Latin) with those in relevant historical and archaeological areas of interest (Anglo-Saxon England; Viking-Age Scandinavia, and Iceland, the Faroes, Shetland, and Orkney; Scotland, Mann, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany in the early and central middle ages, A.D. 400-1200). With such variety of choice available it is not surprising that in any given year most ASNC undergraduates offer a strikingly individual range of options!
Since most ASNC subjects do not feature regularly on school curricula, no previous knowledge is expected or required, and all can be approached from scratch. Keenness and commitment are, however, absolutely essential; ASNC is an intellectually demanding course, and intending students are strongly advised to read widely in their particular areas of interest before making a choice.
ASNC graduates pursue all kinds of careers ranging from the civil service, law, teaching and management consultancy to journalism, photography and acting. Alumni say that job interviewers tend to latch on to ASNC in their CV, regarding it as an interesting talking point and the sign of an original and enquiring mind.
