PhD supervision

I am available for supervision of PhD projects in the field of Old English language and literature, as well as medievalism and history of the humanities.

I am currently the co-supervisor of:

I have co-supervised the following successfully completed PhD-theses:

You can find out more about doing a PhD at Leiden University by following this link.

BA and MA thesis supervision

I am always happy to supervise BA and MA theses in the fields of Old English and Middle English language and literature, as well as medievalism (esp. J. R. R. Tolkien).

An overview of the 100+ BA and MA theses I have supervised as first reader is found below:

Overview of BA and MA theses supervised thus far

2011/2012

  1. “Manly Women. Old Women in Middle English Literature” (BA thesis)
  2. “A Hero’s Welcome and a Hero’s Farewell: Greeting and Parting Rituals in Beowulf and Andreas” (BA thesis)
  3. “Anglo-Saxon Kent. The Transition from a Pagan to a Christian Kingdom” (BA thesis)

2012/2013

  1. “Johannes Bolland’s ‘Se Glêomann’ :An Unusual Poem Written by an Unusual Man” (BA thesis)
  2. “The Medieval Romance in Space: A Comparison between Medieval Romances and Star Wars” (BA thesis)
  3. “Sauron’s Overwhelming Pride: “Ofermod” in The Battle of Maldon, Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings” (BA thesis)
  4. “The Legend of Zelda: Romance or Epic? Applying Medieval Genre Distinctions to Video Games” (BA thesis)
  5. “Ealdorlang til and beadoweorca saed: Glorification and Hardship of Anglo-Saxon Warfare in Old English Literature” (BA thesis)
  6. “The Beowulf, the Beasts and the Beauties: Depictions of the Hero and the Grendelkin in Beowulf Film Adaptations” (BA thesis)
  7. “A Curse and a Blessing: Death and Christianity in The Lord of the Rings” (BA thesis)
  8. “Welcoming the Thesaurus of Old English Statistics: The Thesaurus of Old English and the Vocabulary of Greetings” (MA thesis)

2013/2014

  1. “Crossing Muddy Water and Kissing Dead Men: Placing the Hatton 115 dream Book in its Historical Context” (BA thesis)
  2. “Ungelic is us: An Examination of Translations of Wulf and Eadwacer” (BA thesis)
  3. “Kings and Queens: Modern Issues for Medieval Character Types in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire” (BA thesis)
  4. “Once Upon a Tale: Characteristics of the Fairytale in Middle English Texts” (BA thesis)
  5. “Old English Metre in Tolkien’s The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth and The Fall of Arthur“(BA thesis)
  6. “The Influence of a Mixed Provenance on the Portrayal of Harold and William in the Bayeux Tapestry” (MA thesis)

2014/2015

  1. “The Perso-Arabic Origin of Courtly Love: From the Qur’an to Floris and Blancheflour” (BA thesis)
  2. “The Legacy of the Vikings: Is English a Scandinavian Language?” (BA thesis)
  3. “Film Fakes Fact: Authenticating Features in Fuqua’s King Arthur” (BA thesis)
  4. “The Once and Present Warlord: Bernard Cornwell’s Demystification of Malorian Influences in The Warlord Chronicles” (BA thesis)
  5. “Widows, Wives and Whores, From Æthelbert to Cnut” (BA thesis)
  6. “Girls Coming of Age in A Song of Ice and Fire: Arya and Sansa Stark” (BA thesis)
  7. “Chosen Warrior of Christ: Heroic Imagery in the Vita sancti Guthlaci, Guthlac A and Guthlac B” (BA thesis)
  8. “The Once and Future Faith? The Portrayal of Religion in Arthurian Literature” (MA thesis)

2015/2016

  1. “Virginity, Violence and Victory: Feminine Heroism in the Old English Judith” (BA thesis)
  2. “The Stance of Scribes: The Representation of King Cnut’s Reign in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” (BA thesis)
  3. “Yearning for Passion: The Portrayal of Medieval Women in Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth” (BA thesis)
  4. “The Earl Conundrum: The Representations of Earl Godwine in the Encomium Emmae Reginae and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” (BA thesis)
  5. “Treating Anglo-Saxon Trauma: The Role of the Reader in the Old English Elegies” (BA thesis)
  6. “‘We Should Rule’: Empowering Women in History’s Vikings” (BA thesis)
  7. “‘Reshaping the Heroic’: Heroism in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth” (BA thesis)
  8. “The Lord of the ‘Gallant Gifts’: The Function of Gift Giving in Beowulf and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” (BA thesis)
  9. “Fragmented National Identity in Anglo-Saxon Historiography: A Comparative Analysis of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Ecclesiastical History” (BA thesis)

2016/2017

  1. “‘Under the Dragon-Spell’: Dragons in Medieval and Medievalist Fiction” (BA thesis)
  2. “‘Mon That Wol of Wysdam Heren’: Middle English and Middle Dutch Proverb Collections” (BA thesis)
  3. “Incorrect Old English or in Correct Old English? An Analysis of the Corrections in the Twelfth-Century Eadwine Psalter” (BA thesis)
  4. “Vikings versus English, Monster versus Human: The Halls in Beowulf” (BA thesis)
  5. “The Sons of Ham and Shem: The Portrayal of Africa and Asia in Anglo-Saxon England” (BA thesis)
  6. “Grendles Mōdor: From Monster to Human. A Psychoanalytical Re-evaluation” (BA thesis)
  7. “A Poet’s Conundrum: The Strategic Choices of Germanic Heroism in the Old English Genesis” (BA thesis)
  8. “Noisy Neomedievalists: Neomedievalism in Viking Metal, Anglo-Saxon Metal and Neofolk” (BA thesis)
  9. “Guinevere and Morgan le Fay in Merlin and Camelot: Medieval Women Depicted in Modern Times” (BA thesis)
  10. “True and Wonderful Dragons: Symbolism and Social History of a Sussex Serpent” (BA thesis)
  11. “God or Man? The Dual Nature of Christ in Old English Christian Poetry” (MA thesis)
  12. “Making or Breaking a King: Kingship Ideals in Anglo-Saxon Historiography” (MA thesis)
  13. “A Promise Made Is a Promise Kept: Oath-Breakers and Keepers in Tolkien’s Middle-earth” (MA thesis)
  14. “Game of Tropes: A Subversion of Medieval Ideals in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire” (MA thesis)

2017/2018

  1. “Grendel’s Cinematic Evolution: The Influence of John Gardner’s Novel Grendel on the Characterisation of Grendel in Film Adaptations of Beowulf” (BA thesis)
  2. “Reconstructing the Germanic Heroic Code: Heroism without Hubris” (BA thesis)
  3. “Grendel’s Mother: Monster or Noble Warrior-Lady?” (BA thesis)
  4. “The Multifaceted Portrayal of King Alfred the Great in Vita Alfredi” (BA thesis)
  5. “Runes, Riddles, and Rhymes: The Five Rune Poems as Pedagogical Tools” (BA thesis)
  6. “”For þe bludy menyson”: Dysentery in Old and Middle English Medical Texts” (MA thesis)
  7. “Leoðcræftig, Skilled in Song: Translating the Old English Deor Into Modern English Verse” (MA thesis)
  8. “Between Heroic Epic and Courtly Romance: Blending Genres in Middle High German and Middle English Literature” (MA thesis)

2018/2019

  1. “Bitre breostcaere: Trauma Theory in Old English Poetry” (BA thesis)
  2. “”Runes Carved to My Memory”: The Adaptation of Old Norse Saga and Viking History in Metal Music” (BA thesis)
  3. “Geswince, geswell ond wyrmas: Understanding Cancer in Anglo-Saxon England” (BA thesis)
  4. “What’s in a Name? The Influence of Old English Onomastic Practices on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” (BA thesis)
  5. “The Two-Faced Viking: The Representation of Cnut the Great in The Love-Sick King and Vinland Saga” (BA thesis)
  6. “Oral Residue and Literate Authority: Transitional Literacy in Anglo-Saxon Manumissions” (BA thesis)
  7. “Anglo-Saxon Medicine: How Magical Was It?” (BA thesis)
  8. “Đysum eadigan lareowum and ðysum halgum bocum: Old English Sermons and Caesarius’ Influence on Assmann XII” (BA thesis)
  9. “Reshaping Northern Heroism: Tolkien’s Definition of Courage in The Children of Húrin” (BA thesis)
  10. “Monstrous Motherhood: The Cultural Context of Grendel’s Mother” (BA thesis)
  11. “The State of the Feud: Examnining Feud and fæhð in Early Medieval English History and Beowulf” (MA thesis)
  12. “Drihtne gecoren, snotor and soðfæst: The Ideal Anglo-Saxon Counsellor in the Old English Daniel” (MA thesis)
  13. “From Beowulf to Barrow-wights: The Roots of Liminality in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” (MA thesis)
  14. “Dating the Outdated Dative: The Disappearance of the Dative Inflections in The Peterborough Chronicle” (MA thesis)
  15. “Grendles Mōdor: Academics versus Arts. The Scholarly and Popular Reception of Beowulf’s Grendel’s Mother” (MA thesis)

2019/2020

  1. “Fira modor and se alwalda: Mother Earth and the Holy Father in Anglo-Saxon Metrical Charms (BA thesis)
  2. “B oþþe nān B: Beowulf, Bodvar Bjarki and Other Berserkers as Sources for Tolkien’s Beorn” (BA thesis)
  3. Trauma and Tolkien: Reading The Lord of the Rings through Trauma Theory (BA thesis)
  4. “Ongan þā word sprecan wudu sēlesta: Translating the Old English Poem The Dream of the Rood into Dutch” (BA thesis)
  5. “Swa sceal mæg don: Community in the Nowell Codex” (BA thesis)
  6. “On Creation-Stories: A Social Network Analysis of Leadership in The Silmarillion” (BA thesis)
  7. “Gods and Dragons: A Comparative Study of Supernatural Beings in The Poetic Edda and The Saga of the Volsungs” (BA thesis)
  8. “Property, Inheritance and the Restrictions of ‘Mund’: A Comparative Analysis of Female Inheritance and Property Rights in Early Medieval Germanic Law” (BA thesis)
  9. “Migration in the Myth: The Role of Migration in Tolkien’s Fiction” (MA thesis)
  10. “Polishing the Grail: Adaptation and medievalism in T.H. White’s The Once and Future King” (MA thesis)

2020/2021

  1. “Curses found in early medieval English legal texts: Development and changes” (BA thesis)
  2. “The Value of Digital Humanities for the Study of Medieval Literature: Analysing the Exeter Book Riddles with Lexos” (BA thesis)
  3. “From Hildeleoma to Flame-Fang: A Comparative Study of Kennings in Translations of Beowulf” (BA thesis)
  4. “Occulta Similitudo Aenigmatum: Sexual Riddles in the Old English and the Anglo-Latin Riddle Traditions” (BA thesis)
  5. “From a Golden Age to a Sorry State? The Legal Status of Women Before and After the Norman Conquest” (BA thesis)
  6. “Heroics’ Hazy History: The Effects of Heroic Ideals on the Historicity of The Battle of Maldon and The Battle of Brunanburh” (BA thesis)
  7. “How Æthelred Was Made even More Unready and Cnut even Greater: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Royal Propaganda” (BA thesis)
  8. “Imperialist Ideology: The Portrayal of Early Medieval England and Its Invaders in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla” (BA thesis)
  9. “The conceptualisation of emotions in Old English: dream ‘joy’ as LIFE, PRIVILEGE, and HEAVEN in Anglo-Saxon prose and poetry” (MA thesis)
  10. “After Ælfric: Tracing the Lexical Influence of Ælfric of Eynsham in Two Twelfth-Century English Texts” (Research MA thesis)

2021/2022

  1. “Human, Monster, Hero: Female Monsters in the Beowulf Manuscript” (BA thesis)
  2. “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Bitch: A Comparative Analysis of Old Norse and Old English Bynames” (BA thesis)
  3. “A Judith for Every Age. Representations of Judith in the Old English Judith and the Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of the Old Testament” (BA thesis)
  4. “Drenga and Dragonborn: An Exploration of Old English in Video Games” (BA thesis)
  5. “When Heroes Lose: A Comparative Analysis of the Purpose of Heroism in Beowulf and the Epic of Gilgamesh” (BA thesis)
  6. “Medieval Dragons in a Modern Genre: A Comparison of J. R. R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling” (BA thesis)
  7. “Demystifying the Dual: A Data-oriented Analysis of an Old English Pronoun” (BA thesis)
  8. “The Other Woman Using Feminist and Translation Theory to Compare Two Translations of Grendel’s Mother” (BA thesis)
  9. “The Foe of the Gods: A Comparative Study of Loki in The Eddas and The Gospel of Loki” (BA thesis)
  10. “A Babel of Shadows: The Meaning and Function of Shadows in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” (MA thesis)
  11. “Non videbis quid videre non vis: On Sexual Elements in Anglo-Saxon Riddles” (MA thesis)
  12. “In sorrow we must go, but not in despair: J. R. R. Tolkien and the Modern Philosophies of Death and Immortality” (MA thesis)
  13. “The feats of the princes of the Noldor: Heroes and Heroism in the Quenta Silmarillion” (MA thesis)
  14. “When last we saw our heroes: Medieval Oral Tradition and Formulaic Narrative in Dungeons & Dragons” (MA thesis)

2022/2023

  1. “Ofermod in The Silmarillion” (BA thesis)
  2. “Leasan spellan: The Reception of Classical Mythology in the Old English Boethius” (BA thesis)
  3. “The Beowulf Manuscript Meets the Middle East: An Unlikely Encounter? An Examination of the Representation of the East in the Beowulf Manuscript” (BA thesis)
  4. ““Afysed on forðwege”: How the Dreamer in The Dream of the Rood is Transformed and Becomes an Inspiration for the Reader” (BA thesis)
  5. “Monster Mashing the Patriarchy: An Analysis of Medusa and Grendel’s Mother as Humanized Monsters in Feminist Revisionist Adaptations” (MA thesis)
  6. “Dragons in Literature: From Medieval Hagiography to Ursula K. Le Guin” (MA thesis)