PhD supervision

I am currently the co-supervisor of:

• Sander Stolk, Semantic Treasure Troves: Sharing and Reusing Topical Thesauri on Historical Periods (Leiden University; with prof.dr. Rolf H. Bremmer Jr & prof.dr. Piek Vossen; 2016-)

BA and MA thesis supervision

I will happily supervise any thesis on Old and Middle English language and literature; the culture and history of early medieval England; medievalism; and fantasy literature (especially Tolkien). For an overview of BA and MA theses I have supervised as a first reader, see 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)