Study Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at Cambridge
Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic
The Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic Tripos explores the languages, history and literature of Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia during the early medieval period.
The course contains a wide range of options covering literary, linguistic, and historical study of these medieval cultures from roughly the fifth century to the twelfth.
Course Details
MAGDALENE CAMPUS CODE:
M
MINIMUM OFFER LEVEL
A-level: A*AA, IB: 41-42 points
UCAS CODE:
QQ59
ESSENTIAL SUBJECTS:
None
COURSE DURATION:
Three Years - BA (Hons)
USEFUL SUBJECTS:
English, History, Languages
At Magdalene
Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic (ASNC) is a small subject at Cambridge, and most colleges have a small number of students studying the course at a time, Magdalene being no exception. The College has very strong traditions in both medieval history and the study of literature, and undergraduates studying ASNC find themselves very much at home here.
Our Director of Studies in ASNC is Prof Richard Dance, Professor of Early English. We have a number of Fellows with closely related interests. These include Prof Carl Watkins and Dr John Munns (British medieval history), Dr John Patterson (ancient history), Prof Simon Stoddart (archaeology), and Dr Jane Hughes (medieval literature). A number of Magdalene's Parnell Fellows have been world-renowned experts in medieval Irish history or literature.
At Cambridge
More details of the course and the optional papers available can be found on the University’s Undergraduate Study pages and the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic website.
What we are looking for
As the course covers subjects not normally taught in schools, all undergraduates start largely from scratch. Typical competitive applicants may have studied at least one of English, History, Classics, or a modern language, though none of these are required, and in practice successful applicants arrive having studied a range of different subjects at school. Alongside strong enthusiasm for medieval history and literature, we do also look in particular for evidence of an ability with languages (for example, at GCSE or equivalent, if not relevant at A-level).
Subject requirements
There are no set subject requirements for studying Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic, but most successful applicants will have studied at least one essay-based humanities subject, such as English, History, or Classics, and/or a modern language.
Minimum Offer
A-level: A*AA
IB: 41-42 points overall, with 7,7,6 at Higher Level.
Other qualifications: Check which other qualifications we accept
Interviews, Written Work and Assessment
Candidates will normally have two interviews of around 20-25 minutes each.
The interview process aims to assess your intellectual ability, potential, and commitment to the subject.
We also usually ask for two samples of written work (such as school essays) to be submitted with the application.
There is no admissions assessment for Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at Magdalene.
More information is available on the Interviews, Written Work and Assessments page.
