Blogs

Blogging is a great way to reach a wider audience with your research. In addition to my personal research blog, I am one of the founders and editors of the Leiden Medievalists Blog (2016-), where more than 40 Leiden medievalists share elements of their research to a wider audience. In 2022, I co-founded the Leiden Teachers Blog, where the Fellows of the Leiden Teachers’ Academy share their experiences in teaching innovation. You can read about these collobrative outreach initiatives here:

For an overview of my contributions to these blogs (and other guest blogs), scroll down or click here.

YouTube

As one of the world’s most dominant sources of online information, YouTube can be a place where academics can reach out to a wider, global audience. My videos on Old English, Middle English and Tolkien have thus far been viewed more than 185,000 times.

You can visit my YouTube channel here.

Read more about this initiative here:

Podcast

Produced with Marlisa den Hartog and Jip Barreveld, the Dutch podcast ‘Middeleeuwse Toestanden’ is aimed at correcting myths about the Middle Ages. The first seasons consisted of 1 introduction episode and three interviews with medievalists about powerful women, growing old and eating vegetarian food in the Middle Ages.

Listen to ‘Middeleeuwse Toestanden’ on Spotify here.

Read more about this initiative here:

Historical and linguistic consultant

If you are working on a creative or heritage project (TV series, movie, video game, musical, museum exhibition, etc.) and you need a historical and/or linguistic consultant, I am happy to be involved and share my knowledge. Get in touch by sending me an e-mail. My areas of expertise include: Old English composition; History and culture of early medieval England; Medieval magic and medicine; Medieval manuscripts; Old age in the Middle Ages; Medieval English language and literature; J. R. R. Tolkien; and Medieval pigs.

Prior projects for which I have participated as a historical and/or linguistic consultant include:

  • Helped the Dutch translator of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Arthur (2013) with the translation of several Middle English quotations.
  • Helped various creatives with translations from Modern English to Old English, including an Old English version of the Sandia long-term nuclear waste warning message by Ellis Saxey, published in The Future Fire (2021)
  • Consulted on Old English lyrics for atmospheric nordic dark folk band SOWULO for their album Wurdiz (2022).

Twitter / X

On Twitter/X, I mostly share images and facts relating to Old English and early medieval England. I do not engage in Twitter/X discussions or pile-ons and I do not retweet.

Find my Twitter/X account here.

Public lectures

I have given public lectures on Old English, medieval obscenity, medieval medicine, Game of Thrones and J. R. R. Tolkien.

For an overview, scroll down or click here.

Guest lectures for secondary schools

I am regularly asked to give guest lectures on Old and Middle English at Dutch secondary schools. Thus far, I have visited the following schools:

  • Lyceum Oudehoven, Gorinchem
  • Sint-Maartenscollege, Voorhout
  • Rijnlands Lyceum, Oegstgeest
  • Christelijk College Groevenbeek, Ermelo
  • Metis Montessori Lyceum, Amsterdam
  • G.S.G. Guido de Brès, Amersfoort
  • Jan van Egmond Lyceum, Purmerend
  • Stedelijk Gymnasium, Schiedam
  • Het Lyceum Vos, Vlaardingen
  • Edith Stein College, Den Haag

If you are interested in a guest lecture at your secondary school contact me directly via e-mail.

For an overview, scroll down or click here.

Lectures for student associations

I have given 30 lectures for student associations, on a range of topics including J. R. R. Tolkien, medieval obscenity, Beowulf, Old English, medieval manuscripts and medieval boars. These lecture were given for:

  • Great Anglo-Saxon Gobblers (Student society English language and culture, Radboud University Nijmegen)
  • A.S.V. Prometheus (Student association, Leiden)
  • V.S.L. Catena (Student association, Leiden)
  • V.G.S.L. Franciscus Gomarus (Student association, Leiden)
  • Albion Association (Student society English language and culture, Leiden University)
  • H.S.V.L. (Student society History, Leiden University)
  • M.S.V.L. Floris V (Student society Medieval Studies, Leiden University)
  • N.N.P. (Student society Dutch Studies, Leiden University)
  • S!MP (Student society German Studies, Leiden University)
  • T.W.I.S.T. (Student society Linguistics, Leiden University)
  • Leyden Inklings (Student reading group of medieval English, Leiden University)

For an overview, scroll down or click here.

Blogs

Seven of my Tolkien blogs have been translated into Italian and have been published on the Tolkien Italia website.

Public lectures

  1. ‘Lang leve het Leiden Leechbook! Waarom is VLF 96a zo bijzonder? Long live the Leiden Leechbook! What is so special about VLF 96a’, online lecture on the occasion of the Open Access publication of VLQ 7 and VLF 96A (25-01-2022; 27-01-2022)
  2. ‘Middeleeuwse geneeskunde en de levenscyclus: Een remedie tegen ouderdom uit middeleeuws Engeland’, Soroptimist International Club, Naaldwijk- Westland (05-06-2019)
  3. ‘Middenaarde bestaat! Middeleeuwse sporen in Tolkiens fictie’, for Tolkien: Midden-Aarde bestaat: Film & gesprek over de wetenschap achter ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Bioscoop LUX, Nijmegen (04-06-2019)
  4. ‘Not Today: Game of Thrones, Medievalism and the Middle Ages’, for Game of Thrones: History and Politics in the World of Westeros, organized by StudentenKoepel voor Levensbeschouwelijke Organisaties (SKLO), Groningen (17-04-2019)
  5. ‘Pudenda te paard en een penis op pootjes: De perverse Middeleeuwen in woord en beeld’, for Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg (16-04-2016)
  6. ‘20PK: From geomorfrod to geezer: Old English Words for ‘Old’’, for DRONGO Language Festival, Utrecht (30-09-2015)

Guest lectures for secondary schools

  1. ‘Travelling through time with language’, for Lyceum Oudehoven, Gorinchem (20-01-2022)
  2. ‘Travelling through Time with Words: A Lexical History of the English Language’, for Sint-Maartenscollege, Voorhout (29-01-2020)
  3. ‘Travelling through Time with Words: A Lexical History of the English Language’, for Rijnlands Lyceum, Oegstgeest (29-05-2019)
  4. ‘Reizen door de tijd met woorden: Een lexicale geschiedenis van de Engelse taal’, for Christelijk College Groevenbeek, Ermelo (17-04-2019)
  5. ‘From Beowulf to Bilbo: Tracing the Medieval in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth’, for Metis Montessori Lyceum, Amsterdam (27-03-2019)
  6. ‘Introduction to Old English’, for Edith Stein College, Den Haag (10-04-2018)
  7. ‘Travelling through Time with Words: A Lexical History of the English Language’, for G.S.G. Guido de Brès, Amersfoort (10-03-2017)
  8. ‘From Beowulf to Bilbo: Tracing the Medieval in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth’, for Jan van Egmond Lyceum, Purmerend (27-10-2016)
  9. ‘From Beowulf to Bilbo: Tracing the Medieval in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth’, for Jan van Egmond Lyceum, Purmerend (13-11-2015)
  10. ‘Dwergen, draken en dwaze hobbits: Tolkiens Middelaarde en haar middeleeuwse wortels’, for BPS-conferentie voor hoogbegaafde leerlingen, Utrecht (06-11-2015).
  11. ‘Dwergen, draken en dwaze hobbits: Tolkiens Middelaarde en haar middeleeuwse wortels’, for Stedelijk Gymnasium, Schiedam (23-04-2015).
  12. ‘Van Beowulf tot Bilbo: Oudengelse sporen in Tolkiens The Hobbit’, for BPS-conferentie voor hoogbegaafde leerlingen, Utrecht (13-01-2015).
  13. ‘Old English: Tolkien, Riddles and Runes’, for Het Lyceum Vos, Vlaardingen (15-03-2013)
  14. ‘Introduction to Old English’, for Het Lyceum Vos, Vlaardingen (15-03-2013)

Lectures for student associations

  1. ‘Welcome to the Land of the Penis Tree: The Obscene Middle Ages in Words and Images’, for Albion Association, Leiden (12-05-2023)
  2. ‘Draken, dwergen en dwaze hobbits: Tolkiens Middenaarde en haar middeleeuwse wortels’, for V.G.S.L. Franciscus Gomarus (30-09-2021)
  3. ‘Old English Words and Anglo-Saxon Worldviews: A Cultural Linguistic Approach to Early Medieval English Vocabulary’, for T.W.I.S.T., Leiden (22-04-2021)
  4. ‘Draken, dwergen en dwaze hobbits: Tolkiens Middenaarde en haar middeleeuwse wortels’, for A.S.V. Prometheus (12-08-2020)
  5. ‘Skinny Devils, Marginal Cats and Viking Ransoms. Insular Manuscript Art from the Early Middle Ages’, for M. S. V. L. Floris V, Leiden (30-10-2019)
  6. ‘Draken, dwergen en dwaze hobbits: Tolkiens Middenaarde en haar middeleeuwse wortels’, for A.S.V. Prometheus (13-08-2019)
  7. ‘Not today: Game of Thrones, medievalism and the Middle Ages’, for M. S. V. L. Floris V, Leiden (15-04-2019)
  8. ‘Middeleeuwse zwijnenfeitjes ter lering ende vermaak’, M.S.V.L. Floris V, Leiden (29-09-2018)
  9. ‘writ þus oððe bet oððe þine hyde forlet [write like this or pay or lose your skin]: Scenes from the Anglo-Saxon Classroom’, Albion Association, Leiden (03-09-2018)
  10. ‘“Not Today”: The World of Game of Thrones, the Middle Ages and Medievalism’ , for M.S.V.L. Floris V and Albion Association, Leiden (18-10-2017)
  11. ‘From Beowulf to Bilbo: Traces of the Medieval in Middle-Earth’, for S.L.V. Catena, Leiden (09-05-2017)
  12. ‘Old English Words and Anglo-Saxon Worldviews: A Cultural Linguistic Approach to Early Medieval English Vocabulary’, for T.W.I.S.T., Leiden (03-04-2017)
  13. ‘From Beowulf to Bilbo: Tracing the Medieval in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth’, for H.S.V.L. and Albion Association, Leiden (30-11-2016)
  14. ‘Welcome to the Land of the Penis Tree: The Obscene Middle Ages in Words and Images’, for Albion Association, Leiden (12-04-2016)
  15. ‘The Proverbs of Alfred and the Early English Proverb Tradition’, for Leyden Inklings, Leiden (30-10-2015)
  16. ‘Where is all that laughing and that song? An Introduction to Middle English Lyrics’, for Leyden Inklings, Leiden (26-09-2014)
  17. ‘Dwergen, draken en dwaze hobbits: Tolkiens Middelaarde en haar middeleeuwse wortels’, for A.S.V. Prometheus, Leiden (12-08-2014).
  18. ‘Anglo-Saxon Magic & Old English Curses’, for Leyden Inklings, Leiden (25-04-2014)
  19. ‘Van Beowulf tot Bilbo: Oudengelse sporen in Tolkiens The Hobbit’, for S.L.V. Catena, Leiden (02-04-2014).
  20. ‘“There’s More to this Hobbit than Meets the Eye”’, for Albion Association, Leiden (04-12-2013).
  21. ‘Where is all that laughing and that song? Middle English Lyrics’, for Leyden Inklings, Leiden (27-09-2013)
  22. ‘Philology: Why Words are Worth Loving’, for Albion Association, Leiden (13-08-2013).
  23. ‘Hare Hilderincas: Elderly Heroes in Anglo-Saxon Culture’, for Albion Association, Leiden (01-05-2013).
  24. ‘Oudengels’, for Catena Science Café, S.L. Catena, Leiden (26-03-2013).
  25. ‘From Beowulf to Baggins: Traces of Old English Language and Culture in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit’, for Great Anglo-Saxon Gobblers, Nijmegen (12-12-2012).
  26. ‘The Ox’s Bones: The Anglo-Saxon Flavour of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit’, for A.S.V. Prometheus, Leiden (15-08-2012)
  27. ‘Old English Words and Anglo-Saxon Worldviews. Or: Philology and Why Words Are Worth Loving’, for Albion Association, Leiden (14-08-2012).
  28. ‘Anglo-Saxon Anecdotes and Great Anglo-Saxon Gossip. A Brief History of Anglo-Saxon England with All the Boring Bits Left out’, for Great Anglo-Saxon Gobblers, Nijmegen (26-05-2011).
  29. ‘Grendels, Grendels, Grendels. The Monsters in Beowulf Movies’, for Great Anglo-Saxon Gobblers, Nijmegen (10-06-2010).
  30. ‘Visualising Grendel and His Mother. The Monsters in Movie Adaptations of Beowulf’, for Albion Association, Leiden (20-04-2009).
  31. ‘The Elderly in Beowulf and Their Anglo-Saxon Context’, for Albion Association, Leiden (08-12-2008).