Norway salutes Wirral’s own Viking expert, Prof Stephen Harding

Jan 25 2012 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

A WIRRAL Professor has been made a Knight of Norway.

Viking expert Stephen Harding has been awarded the rank of Knight of the 1st Class of Den Kongelige Norske Fortjensteorden – the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit.

It is the highest honour Norway’s King Harald V can confer on a citizen of another country who is not a head of state.

Professor Harding, who was born in Wallasey and went to Wallasey Grammar School, was honoured for his “outstanding work in spreading knowledge of the Vikings in England”.

The proud Tranmere Rovers supporter – itself a Viking name – first became interested in the subject as a child when his grandfather told him about the Viking origins of Thingwall.

It is just one example of Wirral place names with Viking links.

Professor Harding, 56, said: “It’s not just an honour for me but the whole of Wirral. It represents the help of many people over the years, including the Wirral News, and I’m extremely grateful for that.”

Professor Harding, who is scientific advisor to the University of Nottingham Centre for the Study of the Viking Age, has been instrumental in raising awareness of the borough’s links to the Vikings – previously the preserve of academics.

The father-of-four has written or co-authored five books on Vikings including Viking Wirral, which explored the results of a genetic survey showing a strong Scandinavian influence in the DNA of old Wirral families.

His latest, Vikingblog, includes a foreword from Peter Copland, Consul at the Royal Norwegian Consulate in Liverpool, acknowledging his “enormous contribution”.

Mr Copland writes: “Steve's achievement as a son of Wirral (and possibly therefore a descendant of those early Norse settlers) has been to make this field of study accessible to all and to allow local people who know the area to relate to events which took place over a thousand years ago.

“His straightforward presentation makes it easy for us to understand how these events have influenced the shape of the community as we know it today.”

Professor Harding’s scientific interest in the Vikings came from a study session when he was a physics student at Oxford University in 1976.

He recalled: “I was revising, getting a bit bored and I saw this book on the shelf called Scandinavian England.

“I was astonished – it was full of material about Wirral and all the place names with Viking roots and this man called Ingimund – who led the Vikings when they first arrived in the borough.

He added: “I’d do this anyway, but it’s nice to be recognised. It shows the deep affection the Norwegians have for us.”