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听 Email: richard.north@ucl.ac.uk |  |
Education
Richard North got his BA from Oxford in 1983 and his PhD from Cambridge in 1987.
He held a postdoc in Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in 1987-88, and was appointed lecturer in Old and Middle English at 果冻影院 a year later. Since then he has taught English literature of all kinds, but mainly Old and Middle English, to undergraduates and MA students, as well as supervising a small posse of PhD students.
Early medieval research interests
These follow works which he teaches, keeping in mostly with Editions. In his book on English heathen gods (1997) North argued for the existence of Ingui, divine focus of a massive fertility cult permeating Anglian Britain from the fifth century to the late seventh.
Later he tried to prove that the Icelandic chieftain Sighvatr Sturluson, older brother of the more famous Snorri, wrote the first draft of V铆ga-Gl煤ms saga in c. 1225.
Later still, his book on Beowulf (2006) made a case not only for the poem鈥檚 date of composition in 826-27, but also for a place, Breedon-on-the-Hill (NW Leics.), as well as an author in Eanmund, abbot of Breedon in 816 - c. 848. This book has a simple premise, that the resemblance between Beowulf and his sidekick Wiglaf on one hand and the Mercian kings Beornwulf (823-26) and Wiglaf (827-39) on the other is not a coincidence.听By chance, however, many scholars听took exception to this book.
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With Joe Allard (and Patricia Gillies) of the University of Essex, North edited and translated most of the Old English and Old Icelandic poetry and prose in the Longman Anthology of Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures (2011): a reader to go with the much-loved 鈥楤eowulf鈥� & Other Stories which came out in 2007 (and again, in 2011).听
The offerings in his vast Anthology include many sections from Beowulf and Andreas as well as the whole of Genesis B; The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, Vainglory, some Old English Riddles, among other poems and prose; some poems in Old Welsh, Gaelic, Old High German and Castilian; some more in Occitan from the south of France as well as an extract from the Chanson de Roland; and from the Viking side, extracts from the Sagas of Icelanders, the great Sonatorrek 鈥榟ard loss of sons鈥� of Egill Skalla-Gr铆msson (c. 960), the Vellekla 鈥榞old-shortage鈥� of Einarr 蝉办谩濒补驳濒补尘尘 鈥榗up-tinkle鈥� Helgason and the 脼贸谤蝉诲谤谩辫补 鈥榚ulogy on 脼贸rr鈥� of Eil铆lfr Go冒r煤narson (c. 985).
North had already made separate editions and translations of the 贬补耻蝉迟濒谦苍驳 鈥榟arvest-long鈥� of 脼j贸冒贸lfr of Hvinir (c. 900) and the 贬煤蝉诲谤谩辫补 鈥榚ulogy on the house鈥� of 脷lfr Uggason (c. 995). He听contends that Skaldic verse should be read not as听the periodic table听or glyphs on a Mayan stele, but as a kind of machote poetry like the lyrics of Rap.
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More recently, he has collaborated with Martin Worthington in a comparative study of Beowulf and Gilgamesh. With Mike Bintley he has published an edition, with parallel text and translation, of the Old English Andreas (a verse epic on St Andrew in the land of the cannibals).听
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He sees a Cervantesque mockery of Beowulf within听this poem, which he dates to c. 890; and he has also written on the Ynglingatal 鈥榣ist of the sons of Ingvi-freyr鈥� of 脼j贸冒贸lfr of Hvinir, a parody, also datable to c. 890, of the old kings of Uppsala and their descendants living around Oslo.
Later medieval research interests
At the moment North is trying to prove the influence of Beowulf on The Saga of Grettir the Strong, to translate Loki: Beweger der Geschichten by Yvonne Bonnetain (Rudolstadt: Roter Drache, 2013), and to help create a new app of The Canterbury Tales (1390s). The last project, undertaken in concert with (i.a.) Terry Jones and Prof Peter Robinson of the University of Saskatchewan, promises to fill the rest of his life, but so far an app has been produced for The General Prologue in Fragment I: 听.
Para-academic activity
For two years North acted as President of the London-based Viking Society for Northern Research, for which he has since been working as Hon. Assistant Secretary. For two more years North was Director of the 果冻影院 MARS Centre (i.e. Medieval and Renaissance Studies). In 2015 North and Vicky Symons helped advise on the content for software design in the project Playing Beowulf, a Digital Transformations project funded by the AHRC (). In July 2016 North and听Erin Goeres of SELCS got a major听AHRC award听to stage听鈥橳he Siege of London 1016鈥�, a conference in commemoration of Kings听脝thelred II and Cnut the Great, in 果冻影院 and the University of Winchester.
Presently听North is adviser on Medieval literature and history to his team (the Brockley Badgers) in the local pub quiz. What other impact his scholarship has made on the outside world, if not lost in the ephemera of BBC radio and independent TV (and lately German TV!), may be found in the short history of his stand-up appearances in 果冻影院 Bright Club. He has informed on paganism for the Vocabulary of the Study of Religions, lectured on the solar alignments of the old royal site in Yeavering, Northumberland, and written on Angelina Jolie for Time Out.
Publications
Books
1. Pagan Words and Christian Meanings, Costerus New Series 81 (Amsterdam and Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 1991), 198 pp. ISBN 90 5183 305 9
2. The 鈥槺岵钩懿醭俦羟圆碘�� of 脼j贸冒贸lfr of Hvinir, edited, with introduction, translation, commentary and glossary (London: Hisarlik Press, 1997), lxvii and 105 pp. ISBN 1 874312 20 6
3. Heathen Gods in Old English Literature, Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England 22 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), x and 374 pp. ISBN 0 521 55183 8
4. The Origins of 鈥楤eowulf鈥�: From Vergil to Wiglaf (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), xviii and 365 pp., 6 Illustrations, 10 Figures, ISBN 0-19-926776-6
5. The Longman Anthology of Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures, Richard North, Joe Allard, and Patricia Gillies (London: Pearson Education Ltd, 2011), 888 pp. ISBN 978-1-4082-4770-9
6. Andreas: An Edition, edited, with introduction, translation, commentary and glossary by Richard North and Michael D. J. Bintley, Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2016), xiv and 378 pp. ISBN 978-1-78138-271-4
Edited Books
1. Latin Culture and Germanic Europe: Proceedings of the First Germania Latina Conference, ed. Richard North and Tette Hofstra, Germania Latina I (Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1992), 128 pp. ISBN 90 0980 059 7
2. F贸tarkefli rist Peter Foote 26.v.99 [birthday Festschrift], ed. Alison Finlay, Richard North and Svanhildur 脫skarsd贸ttir, 2 vols. (London: Birkbeck Press, 1999), 55 and 33 pp.
3. 鈥楤eowulf鈥� & Other Stories: A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic, and Anglo-Norman Literatures, ed. Richard North and Joe Allard (London: Pearson Education Ltd, 2007), c. 500 pp., 15 Illustrations. ISBN 1405835729
4. 鈥楤eowulf鈥� & Other Stories:听 A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic, and Anglo-Norman Literatures, 2nd edition, ed. Richard North and Joe Allard (London:听 Pearson Education Ltd, 2011), 556 pp., 29 illustrations, one new chapter.听 ISBN 978-1-4082-8603-6
Articles and Chapters
1. 鈥�Jeux d鈥檈sprit in 鈥淒eor鈥濃��: Geat and M忙冒hild鈥�, Amsterdamer Beitr盲ge zur 盲lteren Germanistik 27 (1988), 11-24
2. 鈥楰ening Finn en it ferdrach fan Finnsboarch yn de Beowulf鈥�, Us Wurk 38 (1989), 1-11
3. 鈥楾ribal Loyalties in the Finnsburh Fragment and Episode鈥�, Leeds Studies in English New Series 21 (1990), 13-43
4. 鈥楾he Pagan Inheritance of Egill鈥檚 Sonatorrek鈥�, Atti del 12. Congresso internazionale di Studi sull鈥檃lto Medioevo, ed. Teresa P脿roli (Rome: Il Calamo, 1991), pp. 147-67
5. 鈥楪etting to Know the General in The Battle of Maldon鈥�, Medium 脝vum 60 (1991), 1-15
6. 鈥楽axo and the Swedish Wars in Beowulf鈥�, in Saxo Grammaticus. Tra Storiografia e Letteratura, ed. Carlo Santini (Rome: Il Calamo, 1992), pp. 175-88
7. 鈥楰ing 脝thelwulf and the Goths in 鈥淒eor鈥濃��, Amsterdamer Beitr盲ge zur 盲lteren Germanistik 40 (1994), 7-20
8. 鈥樷�淲yrd鈥� and 鈥渨ear冒 ealuscerwen鈥� in Beowulf鈥�, Leeds Studies in English New Series 25 (1994), 69-82
9. 鈥楳etre and Meaning in Wulf and Eadwacer: Sign媒 Reconsidered鈥�, in Loyal Letters: Studies in Mediaeval Alliterative Poetry and Prose, ed. L. A. J. Houwen and A. A. MacDonald (Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1994), pp. 29-54
10. 鈥楤oethius and the Mercenary in The Wanderer鈥�, Pagan and Christian Themes in Medieval Germanic Literature: Proceedings of the Second Germania Latina Conference, ed. L. A. J. R. Houwen and A. A. MacDonald, Germania Latina 2 (Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1995), pp. 45-68
11. 鈥樏撁癷nn gegen Freyr: Elemente heidnischer Religion in der V铆ga-Gl煤ms Saga鈥�, in International Scandinavian and Medieval Studies in Memory of Gerd Wolfgang Weber, ed. M. Dallapiazza, O. Hansen, P. Meulengracht S酶rensen and Y. S. Bonnetain, Hesperides: Studies in Western Literature and Civilization 12 (Trieste: Edizioni Parnaso, 2000), 347-365
12. 鈥楢nglo-Saxon and Scandinavian Attitudes to 999/1000鈥�, in Fins de Si猫cle / New Beginnings, ed. Ib Johansen, The Dolphin 31 (Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 2000), 17-38
13. 鈥�Go冒 geyja: the Limits of Humour in Old Norse-Icelandic Paganism鈥�, Quaestio Insularis: Selected Proceedings of the Cambridge Colloquium in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, 1 (2000), 1-22
14. 鈥楲oki鈥檚 Gender, or Why Ska冒i Laughed鈥�, in Monsters and the Monstrous in Medieval Northwest Europe, ed. K. E. Olsen and L. A. J. R. Houwen, Mediaevalia Groningana, New Series 3 (Louvain, 2001), 141-51
15. 鈥楶aganism, Anglo-Saxon鈥�, in The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. L. Jones, Macmillan Reference series (New York: Macmillan Reference, 2005), s.v.
16. 鈥楳oney and Religion in F忙reyinga saga鈥�, in Viking and Norse in the North Atlantic: Select Papers from the Proceedings of the Fourteenth Viking Congress, T贸rshavn, 19-30 July 2001, ed. A. Mortensen and S. V. Arge, Annales Societatis Scientiarum F忙roensis, Supplementum XLIV (T贸rshavn, 2005), 60-75
17. 鈥業mage and Ascendancy in 脷lfr鈥檚 贬煤蝉诲谤谩辫补鈥�, Image, Word, Text: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature and its Insular Context in Honour of 脡amonn 脫 Carrag谩in, ed. Alastair Minnis and Jane Roberts, Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 18 (Turnhout, 2006), 369-404
18. 鈥楨nd Time and the date of 痴谦濒耻蝉辫谩: Two Models of Conversion鈥�, in Conversion and Colonization in Anglo-Saxon England, ed. Catherine E. Karkov and Nicholas Howe, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 318 (Tempe, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2006), 213-236
19. 鈥楢n Introduction to this Book鈥�, by Richard North, David Crystal and Joe Allard (2007)
20. 鈥極ld English Minor Heroic Verse鈥�, in above
21. 鈥�The Dream of the Rood and Anglo-Saxon Northumbria鈥�, by 脡amonn 脫 Carrag谩in and Richard North, in above
22. 鈥極E scop and the Singing Welsh Bishop鈥�, in Northern Voices: Essays on Old Germanic and Related Topics offered to Professor Tette Hofstra, ed. Kees Dekker, Alasdair MacDonald and Hermann Niebaum, Germania Latina VI, Mediaevalia Groningana, N.S. 11 (Leuven: Peeters, 2008), 199-122
23. 鈥楽ighvatr Sturluson and the authorship of Viga-Glums saga鈥�, in Analecta Septentrionalia. Beitr盲ge zur nordgermanischen Kultur- und Literaturgeschichte. Festschrift an Kurt Schier, ed. Wilhelm Heizmann and Astrid van Nahl, Erg盲nzungsb盲nde zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, March 2009), pp. 20-36.
24. 鈥楻evenue and Real estate: Archbishop Wulfred and the Strange Case of Cynehelm鈥�, in Anglo-Saxon Traces, ed. Jane Roberts and Leslie Webster, Essays in Anglo-Saxon Studies 4, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 405 (Tempe, AZ, 2011), 181-99
25. 鈥極E wopes hring and the Old Norse Myth of Baldr鈥�, in Early Archaeology and Art in the British Isles: Studies in Honour of James Graham-Campbell, ed. Andrew Reynolds and Leslie Webster (Leiden: Brill, 2012), pp. 893-910
26. North, Richard and Martin Worthington, 鈥�Gilgamesh and Beowulf: Foundations of a Comparison鈥�, in Decoding Gilgamesh, ed. Martin Worthington, KASKAL: Rivista di Storia, Ambienti e Culture del Vicino Oriente Antico, 9 (Florence, 2012), 157-97
27. 鈥楰urzweilige Wahrheiten: 鈥楢ri und das Ynglingatal in den Prologen der Heimskringla鈥�, in Snorri Sturluson 鈥� Mythologe, Dichter, Politiker, ed. Heinrich Beck, Willhelm Heizmann and Jan Alexander van Nahl, Erg盲nzungsb盲nde zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, 85 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2014), 171-216
28. 鈥楳LA or MIA? Thoughts on Modernity in the Medieval Novel鈥�, in News from the Raven: Essays from Sam Houston State University on Medieval and Renaissance Thought, ed. Darci N. Hill (Newcastle upon Tyne, 2014), pp. 2-36
29. 鈥楳organ le Fay and the Fairy Mound in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight鈥�, in Airy Nothings: Imagining the Otherworld of Faerie from the Middle Ages to the Age of Reason: Essays in Honour of Alasdair A. MacDonald, ed. Karin E. Olsen and Jan R. Veenstra (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2014), pp. 75-98
30. 鈥楩rom Pandaro to Pandarus: Sexuality and Power in Chaucer鈥檚 Troilus and Criseyde鈥�, in Boccaccio and the European Literary Tradition, ed. Piero Boitani and Emilia Di Rocco, Temi e Testi, 134 (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2014), 123-38
31. 鈥榊ou Sexy Beast: the Pig in a Villa in Vandalic North Africa, and Boar-Cults in Old Germanic Heathendom鈥�, in Representing Beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia, ed. Michael D. J. Bintley and Thomas J. T. Williams, Anglo-Saxon Studies 29 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2015), 151-75
32. 鈥楶aganism鈥�, in Vocabulary for the Study of Religion, ed. Robert A. Segal and Kocku von Stuckrad, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 2015) III, 3-9
33. 鈥楬eaven ahoy! Sensory perception in The Seafarer鈥�, in Sensory Perception in the Medieval West, ed. Simon Thomson and Michael J. Bintley, Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy 34 (Turnhout, 2016), 7-26
34. 鈥楽leeping dogs and stasis in The Franklin鈥檚 Tale鈥�, in Stasis in the Medieval West? Questioning Change and Continuity, ed. Michael D.J. Bintley, Martin Locker, Victoria Symons and Mary Wellesley (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), pp. 205-30
35. 鈥楳eet the Pagans: On the Misuse of Beowulf in Andreas鈥�, in Aspects of Knowledge: Preserving and Reinventing Traditions of Learning in the Middle Ages, ed. Marilina Cesario and Hugh Magennis (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2018), pp. 185-209
36. 鈥楬rothulf鈥檚 childhood and Beowulf鈥檚: a comparison鈥�, in听Childhood and Adolescence in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, ed. Susan Irvine and Winfried Rudolf (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2018), pp. 222-43
37. 鈥楪old and the heathen polity in Beowulf鈥�, in听Gold in der europ盲ischen Heldensage, ed. Heike Sahm, Wilhelm Heizmann und Victor Millet, Erg盲nzungsb盲nde zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, 109 (Berlin and Boston, MA: Water de Gruyter, 2019), 72-114.
38. 鈥楧eath ere the Afternoon:听J贸msv铆kinga saga and a Scene in Hemingway鈥檚 For Whom the Bell Tolls鈥�, in The Vikings Reimagined: Reception, Recovery, Engagement, ed. Tom Birkett and Roderick Dale, The Northern Medieval World: On the Margins of Europe (Berlin and Boston, MA: Walter de Gruyter, 2020),听pp. 145-161.
39.鈥橠er Teufel im s盲chsischen Garten: Loki und eine Jenseitsreise in der alts盲chsisch-altenglischen听Genesis B鈥�, in Between the Worlds: Contexts, Analogues and Sources of Scandinavian Otherworld Journeys, ed. Wilhelm Heizmann and Matthias Egeler (Berlin and Boston, MA: Walter de Gruyter, 2020), pp. 79-117.
40. 鈥楲ady 脝thelfl忙d and the Danelaw in the West Saxon Judith鈥�, Poetica 93 [and 94] (2020), 29-48.
41. 鈥樷�淚n hethenesse鈥�:听Chaucer鈥檚 Knight and Sultan Mu岣mmad V of Granada鈥�, in听Of ye Olde Englisch Langage and Textes: New Perspectives on Old and Middle English Language and Literature, ed. Rodrigo P茅rez Lorido, Carlos Prado Alonso and Paula Rodr铆guez-Puente, Studies in English Medieval Language and Literature (Berlin: Peter Lang, 2020), pp. 301-321.
42. with Peter Robinson, Barbara Bordalejo, Claire Pascolin-Campbell and Vicky Symons, Geoffrey Chaucer: CantApp: The General Prologue: An Edition in an App (2020):听听
43. [Forthcoming] 鈥楻esident Stranger: S忙mundr in the Ashkenaz鈥�, in Strangers at the Gate: The (Un)welcome Movement of People and Ideas in the Medieval World, ed. Simon C. Thomson, Explorations in Medieval Culture (Leiden: Brill)
44. [Forthcoming] 鈥楤ehold the Front Page: Cnut and the Scyldings in Beowulf鈥�, in Anglo-Danish Empire: A Companion to the Reign of King Cnut the Great, ed. Richard North, Alison Finlay and Erin Goeres [see above]
45. [Forthcoming] 鈥業celand鈥檚 Alexander: Gunnarr and pale corn in Nj谩ls saga鈥�, in听Medieval Stories and Storytelling: Multimedia and Multi-Temporal Perspectives, to be published by Brepols, in a new series called 鈥淢edieval Narratives in Transmission: Cultural and Medial Translation of Vernacular Traditions鈥�, ed. Simon Thomson
46. [Forthcoming] 鈥楻adegund and Amalfrid in The Wife's Lament鈥�
47.听[Forthcoming] 鈥楰ing John's Envoy: Patronage and Date in The Book of the Duchess鈥�
48. [Forthcoming] 鈥楨ostre the 鈥済oddess鈥� and the free-standing posts of Yeavering鈥�, in Starcr忙ft: Watching the Heavens in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Eric Lacey and Martin Locker (Amsterdam University Press)
Translated Books
1. The First Universities: Studium Generale and the Origins of University Education in Europe, by Olaf Pedersen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) [orig. Studium Generale: De europ忙iske universiteters tilblivelse (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1979), 338 pp.] ISBN 0 521 59431 6
Other publications
1. 鈥楾he Pagan Inheritance of Egill鈥檚 Sonatorrek鈥�, in 鈥楶oetry in the Scandinavian Middle Ages鈥�, VII International Saga Conference, Preprints, 4-10 September, 1988 Centro Italiano di Studi sull鈥� Alto Medioevo, Spoleto), pp. 289-300
2. 鈥楬ow was 贬谩惫补尘谩濒 performed?鈥�, in 鈥楾he Audience of the Sagas鈥�, VIII International Saga Conference, Preprints, 11-17 August, 1991 (Gothenburg University)
3. 鈥楬eathen religion in 贬补耻蝉迟濒枚苍驳鈥�, in 鈥楽agas and the Norwegian Experience鈥�, X International Saga Conference, Preprints, 3-9 August, 1997 (Trondheim University), pp. 511-20
4. 鈥楩贸tardr谩pa鈥� [20-stanza Skaldic poem in honour of Peter Foote], in F贸tarkefli rist Peter Foote 26.v.99, ed. Alison Finlay, Richard North and Svanhildur 脫skarsd贸ttir, 2 vols. (London: Birkbeck Press, 1999) I, 30-32
Some reviews
1. On Ursula Dronke, ed., The Poetic Edda, Volume 2, in Saga-Book of the Viking Society 25 (1999), 219-26
2. On Magn煤s Fjalldal, The Long Arm of Coincidence: the Frustrated Connection between Beowulf and Grettis Saga, in Envoi 8 (1999), 52-8
3. On Klaus von See, Europa und der Norden im Mittelalter, in Saga-Book of the Viking Society 26 (2002), 139-42
4. Richard North on Beowulf in Time Out
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