Anglo Saxon, Norse & Celtic
Asnac (Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic), although it may sound odd to outsiders, is a fascinating subject and surprisingly flexible for a Cambridge course. You can take your pick of any six of the papers offered for Part I, which cover language, literature, and history, as well as manuscript study in the form of Palaeography and Codicology. Most students tend to choose to place their focus either on Germanic studies (Old English and Norse language and literature, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian histories) or Celtic (Irish and Welsh language and literature, Gaelic and Brittonic histories) but the choice is entirely up to you. A balance of language and history papers is generally recommended. Because the vast majority of students come to the subject with no prior knowledge, all papers are taught from beginners’ level. If you’re interested in going the academic route then this little-studied area is begging for work in every field.
On the social side, Asnac is the smallest subject at Cambridge, and one of the friendliest. The big advantage of having such a small group is that you will get to know almost the entire department very quickly, and making friends outside of your college and year group is always useful. The Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Society runs an annual weekend trip in Michaelmas term, which is always good fun, and every Friday night Asnac presence in one of Cambridge’s pubs is guaranteed. The only downside of a small subject group is that your post-party, hangover-induced absence from a lecture or class will be sorely noticed.
So choose Asnac: not only will you learn fascinating things about British society from the fourth to twelfth centuries, but its uniqueness will place you head and shoulders above the bog-standard History or English student in job interviews, and provide a useful conversation topic post-Cambridge!
Hayley Gullen