When Andrew McDonald imagined sharing his research with the world, he never dreamed it would reach all corners of the globe by way of postage stamp.

The Brock Professor of History and participating faculty member in the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (MARS) has co-created a new stamp collection bringing life to the epic history of medieval sea kings in the Irish Sea.

“It was thrilling — and incredibly challenging — to take 30 years of my research and several books and condense it down into six little encapsulations, but it forced me to think about the essence of this fascinating and fierce time of history,” he said.

An internationally recognized scholar of the Norse history and Isle of Man, McDonald was sought by the Isle of Man Post Office to partner on the specialized collection in collaboration with local Manx artist Juan Moore.

Entitled The Age of the Sea Kings: The Medieval Kingdom of Man and the Isles, 1079-1265, the collection of six stamps was issued last month.

During the High Middle Ages, the Isle of Man and the Hebridean islands off the west coast of Scotland were forged into maritime realms known as the Kingdoms of Man and the Isles. For two centuries, Manx and Hebridean sea kings dominated the seaways with ferocity and cunning.

Tasked with writing concise, catchy and appealing text about these revered and ruthless sea kings, McDonald was given strict parameters by the post office: only 100-word descriptions per stamp.

Collaborating with artist Moore, the concept took shape, and the pair ultimately landed on featuring six rulers from the dynasty depicting their key accomplishments through vibrant imagery.

The stamps are chronological, moving through the history of the period in tiny snapshots of each ruler.

McDonald often describes the Kingdom of Man and the isles as “lost” or “forgotten” and has worked to share their history through his research and knowledge mobilization efforts.

“The sea kings were fighting maritime battles and civil wars; they sailed fleets of longships all around the Irish sea and carved their empire out of the islands and defended it; and yet, they’ve flown under the radar of historians for a long time,” he said. “This is just one more method of getting this valuable and fascinating history into the world in a way that is accessible, interesting and beautiful.”

McDonald’s work with the Isle of Man Post Office stemmed from his years of research and travel to the area, where he is known as the ever-curious Canadian scholar dedicated to uncovering the past and sharing it with the world.

He was first approached by the post office in 2023 when he was in the Isle of Man for a launch of his book A visitor’s guide to the medieval kingdoms of Man and the Isles, 1066-1275, published by Manx National Heritage which McDonald has collaborated with on several projects.

He met with the post office and Moore to firm up the concepts while leading a Brock study travel experience in Isle of Man last summer.

For McDonald, stepping into the realm of artistic, collaborative storytelling has been an adventure.

“I am greatly honoured by the Manx Post Office’s notice of my research, and I think it’s such an interesting way to get this knowledge out into the world in a very different format than we are used to academia,” he said.