My primary field of research is Old Norse-Icelandic literature, and I have secondary research interests in Old and Middle English literature. I am particularly interested in questions of gender, sexuality, and emotion, and of identity more broadly. I am also interested in questions of poetics and style. I am author of Men and Masculinities in the Sagas of Icelanders (Oxford University Press, 2019) and co-editor of Masculinities in Old Norse Literature (D. S. Brewer, 2020).
My current research focuses on the representation of emotion in saga literature, and I am working on a book (The Poetics of Emotion in Saga Narrative) and a co-edited collection of essays (Saga Emotions) in this area. I'm also co-editing a special issue of the journal English Studies on 'Deconstructing Masculinities in Old English Literature' that will appear in 2024.
I welcome enquiries from prospective doctoral students. I am currently supervising one doctoral student - Grace O'Duffy - who works on sexual violence against women in Old Norse literature. For further information about studying Old Norse at graduate level at Oxford, click here.

- Old and Middle English
- Old Norse-Icelandic
- English Language
- Literary and Critical theory
I teach widely throughout the medieval period. At St Hilda’s, I teach Prelims Paper 1a (‘Introduction to English Language’), Prelims Paper 2 (‘Early Medieval Literature, c. 650-1350’), Course I FHS Paper 2 (‘Literature in English, 1350-1550’), and specialist papers for Course II (the medieval-focussed pathway through the Oxford degree). I also teach Old Norse for various Oxford colleges and for Oxford's English Faculty (at both BA and MSt/MPhil level). Before coming to St Hilda’s, I was Teaching Fellow at Durham University where I taught Old Norse and Old English.
I hold a PGCert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (with Distinction) from the University of Oxford.