Tommy A. Blindheim

Tommy Blindheim has been fascinated by history since childhood. Some of his earliest memories are of sitting on his grandfather’s knee, listening to stories about the Second World War, and later discovering works such as Heimskringla, which deepened his lifelong interest in the past. From an early age, history was never merely a school subject to him, but a way of understanding the world through reading, questioning, comparing sources, and tracing connections between distant peoples, cultures, and historical traditions.

Blindheim is a historian with an academic background in history, philosophy, and the history of literature. These disciplines have shaped both his approach to historical research and his interest in how societies preserve, interpret, and transform their own past. His work combines close attention to historical evidence with a broader interest in ideas, storytelling, mythology, cultural memory, and the ways in which historical narratives are constructed.

His principal field of interest is the history of the steppe peoples and the nomadic societies of Inner Eurasia, including the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Huns, Scythians, Mongols, and many others. These peoples shaped the course of world history, yet much of their own story survives only through fragmentary, hostile, or second hand accounts written by their enemies and neighbours. Blindheim is particularly interested in examining these sources critically, weighing textual, archaeological, linguistic, and comparative evidence, and reconstructing clearer narratives for peoples who have often been misunderstood, simplified, or overlooked.

His first historical book explored the Xiongnu and the debated question of their possible relationship to the later Huns, a connection for which evidence exists both for and against, and which remains an open historical problem. His second book turns to the Xianbei, another major steppe power whose role in the transformation of Inner Asia and northern China deserves far greater attention. Together, these works form the beginning of a larger planned series on the great peoples of the Eurasian steppe, with future volumes intended to examine the Scythians and other nomadic cultures whose histories continue to fascinate both scholars and general readers.

In addition to his historical research, Blindheim is branching out into historical fiction and fantasy. These works allow him to explore many of the same themes that shape his nonfiction, including memory, identity, cultural conflict, mythology, political power, and the struggle to preserve the past. His historical fiction draws upon real events, personal and family history, and careful research, while his fantasy writing is influenced by mythology, folklore, ancient societies, and the darker traditions of historical storytelling.

Whether writing academic history, historical fiction, or fantasy, Blindheim’s central interest remains the same: to recover forgotten voices, examine how the past is remembered, and tell compelling stories about the peoples and individuals who shaped the world.