Dr Aisling Byrne
Responsibilities
I teach medieval literature in the Department of English Literature and my primary research interest is the literature of medieval England. I have published on the transmission and translation of medieval romance, on writers such as Gerald of Wales and Thomas Malory, and on themes such as marvels, feasting, chivalry, and territorial politics. I am also interested in multilingualism, medieval geographies, and the history of the book.
My monograph, Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature, was published in 2015 by Oxford University Press.
Areas of Interest
Much of my work seeks to situate writing from medieval England within a broader insular context. I am co-convenor of the Crossing Borders in the Insular Middle Ages project. The project's conference series brings together international scholars to discuss cultural connections across the medieval insular world - Britain, Iceland and Ireland.
I studied at University College, Dublin (BA) and at the University of Cambridge (MPhil, PhD). Before coming to Reading, I spent four years working at the University of Oxford as Fitzjames Research Fellow in Old and Middle English at Merton College.
Teaching and Convening
I currently convene or teach undergraduate modules on Old English Literature, Chaucer and Medieval Narrative, Medieval Romance and Medieval Otherworld descriptions.
I also supply teaching for the interdisciplinary MA in Medieval Studies run by the Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies (GCMS) at Reading and teach medieval options for the MA in English.
Research groups / Centres
Publications
2017
- Byrne, A. (2017) The evolution of the critical canon. In: Tether, L. and McFadyen, J. (eds.) Handbook of Arthurian Romance: King Arthur’s Court in Medieval European Literature. De Gruyter Reference. De Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 43-58. ISBN 9783110440614
2016
- Byrne, A. (2016) The Geraldines and the culture of the wider world. In: Crooks, P. and Duffy, S. (eds.) The Geraldines and medieval Ireland: the making of a myth. Trinity Medieval Ireland Series (1). Four Courts Press, Dublin, pp. 278-292. ISBN 9781846825712
- Byrne, A. (2016) Cultural intersections in Trinity College Dublin MS 1298. In: Harlos, A. and Harlos, N. (eds.) Adapting texts and styles in a Celtic context: interdisciplinary perspectives on processes of literary transfer in the Middle Ages. Studien und Texte zur Keltologie (13). Nodus Publikationen, Münster, pp. 289-304. ISBN 9783893236237
- Byrne, A. (2016) Writing westwards: medieval English literature and its early modern Irish audiences. In: King, A. and Woodcock, M. (eds.) Medieval Into Renaissance: A Festschrift for Helen Cooper. D. S. Brewer, Cambridge, pp. 73-89. ISBN 9781843844327
- Byrne, A. (2016) Otherworlds: fantasy and history in medieval literature. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp224. ISBN 9780198746003
2015
- Byrne, A. (2015) Language networks, literary translation and the friars in late medieval ireland. In: Carruthers, M. (ed.) Language in Medieval Britain: Networks and Exchanges. Harlaxton Medieval Studies (25). Paul Watkins Publishing, Donington, UK, pp. 166-178. ISBN 9781907730429
- Byrne, A. (2015) The circulation of romances from England in late-medieval Ireland. In: Perkins, N. (ed.) Medieval Romance and Material Culture. D. S. Brewer, Cambridge, pp. 183-198. ISBN 9781843843900
- Byrne, A. and Flood, V. (2015) The romance of the Stanleys: regional and national imaginings in the Percy Folio. Viator, 46 (1). pp. 327-351. ISSN 0083-5897 doi: https://doi.org/10.1484/J.VIATOR.5.103512
2014
- Byrne, A. (2014) Medieval romance, English. Oxford Bibliographies Online. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199846719-0115
- Byrne, A. (2014) Fairy lovers: sexuality, order and narrative in Medieval romance. In: Hopkins, A., Rouse, R. A. and Rushton, C. J. (eds.) Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain. D. S. Brewer, Cambridge, pp. 99-110. ISBN 9781843843795
- Byrne, A. (2014) A lost insular version of the romance of Octavian. Medium Aevum, 83 (2). pp. 288-302. ISSN 0025-8385
2013
- Byrne, A. (2013) The Earls of Kildare and their books at the end of the Middle Ages. The Library, 14 (2). pp. 129-153. ISSN 0024-2160 doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/library/14.2.129
- Byrne, A. (2013) Family, locality and nationality: vernacular adaptations of the Expugnatio Hibernica from late medieval Ireland. Medium Aevum, 82 (1). pp. 101-118. ISSN 0025-8385
- Byrne, A. (2013) Malory’s sources for the 'Tale of the Sankgreal': some overlooked evidence from the Irish 'Lorgaireacht an tSoidhigh Naomhtha'. Arthurian Literature, 30. pp. 87-100. ISSN 0261-9946
- Byrne, A. (2013) The king's champion: re-enacting Arthurian romance at the English coronation banquet. English Studies, 94 (5). pp. 505-518. ISSN 1744-4217 doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2013.795720
2012
- Byrne, A. (2012) Faithful Teate’s 'Ter Tria' as an influence on Edward Taylor. Notes and Queries, 59 (2). pp. 206-209. ISSN 1471-6941 doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjs015
2011
- Byrne, A. (2011) Arthur’s refusal to eat: ritual and control in the romance feast. Journal of Medieval History, 37. pp. 62-74. ISSN 0304-4181 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmedhist.2010.12.009
- Byrne, A. (2011) West is east: the Irish Saracens in 'Of Arthour and of Merlin'. Nottingham Medieval Studies, 55. pp. 217-230. ISSN 0078-2122 doi: https://doi.org/10.1484/J.NMS.1.102424
2010
- Byrne, A. (2010) The intruder at the feast: negotiating boundaries in Medieval insular romance. Arthurian Literature, 27. pp. 33-57. ISSN 0261–9946