Aisling Byrne
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100
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Associate Professor
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.
Teaching
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.
I also look at how modern authors, like Tolkien, took inspiration from medieval texts.
Background
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.
Publications
- Byrne, A. (2023) Fictions of Britain. In: Boffey, J. and Edwards, A. , (eds.) Medieval Poetry: 1400-1500. The Oxford History of Poetry in English , 3. Oxford University Press , Oxford. pp. 341-354. ISBN: 9780198839682 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198839682.003.0020
- Byrne, A. (2022) Irish. In: Radulescu, R. and Rikhardsdottir, S. , (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Medieval English Literature. Routledge , Abingdon. pp. 88-97. ISBN: 9780367186494 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429197390-9
- Byrne, A. (2022) Charlemagne in Ireland: manuscripts and audiences. In: Fulton, H. and Rikhardsdottir, S. , (eds.) Charlemagne in the Norse and Celtic Worlds. Bristol Studies in Medieval Cultures D. S. Brewer (10). , Cambridge. pp. 160-190. ISBN: 9781843846680 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2nv8c3x
- Byrne, A. (2022) Between epic and romance: the Matter of England and the Chansons de Geste. In: Flood, V. and Leitch, M. , (eds.) Cultural Translations in Medieval Romance. Studies in Medieval Romance D. S. Brewer , Cambridge. pp. 192-208. ISBN: 9781843846208
- Byrne, A. (2021) The Island of Sicily and the Matter of Britain. In: Edwards, A. , (eds.) Medieval Romance, Arthurian Literature: Essays in Honour of Elizabeth Archibald. D. S. Brewer , Cambridge. pp. 34-45. ISBN: 9781843846161
- Byrne, A. (2021) Guy of Warwick in Iberia: England, Portugal and the background to "Tirant lo Blanch". Medium Aevum , 90 (1). pp. 92 -109. ISSN: 0025-8385
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Lloyd-Morgan, C.
and
Byrne, A.
ORCID: 0000-0001-7211-7118
(2020)
Later Arthurian traditions in Wales and Ireland.
In:
Ferlampin-Acher, C.
, (eds.)
La matière arthurienne tardive en Europe: 1270-1530.
Presses Universitaires de Rennes
, Rennes.
pp.
807-821.
ISBN:
9782753577787
- Byrne, A. (2020) From Hólar to Lisbon: Middle English literature in medieval translation, c.1286-c.1550. Review of English Studies , 71 (300). pp. 433-459. ISSN: 1471-6968 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/res/hgz085
- Byrne, A. (2019) Translating Europe: imported narratives and Irish readers at the end of the Middle Ages. Paul Walsh Memorial Lecture , 4 ISBN: 9781091127142
- Byrne, A. (2019) Irish translations and romances. In: Lloyd-Morgan, C. and Poppe, E. , (eds.) Arthur in the Celtic Languages: The Arthurian Legend in Celtic Literatures and Traditions. Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages , 9. University of Wales Press , Cardiff. pp. 344-357. ISBN: 9781786833433
- Byrne, A. and Flood, V. (2019) Insular connections and comparisons in the later Middle Ages. In: Byrne, A. and Flood, V. , (eds.) Crossing Borders in the Insular Middle Ages. Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe , 30. Brepols , Turnhout. pp. 7-22. ISBN: 9782503566733
- Byrne, A. (2019) Translating the Crusades in late Medieval Ireland. In: Byrne, A. and Flood, V. , (eds.) Crossing Borders in the Insular Middle Ages. Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe , 30. Brepols , Turnhout. pp. 125-136. ISBN: 9782503566733
- Byrne, A. and Flood, V. , eds. (2019) Crossing borders in the insular Middle Ages. Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe , 30. Brepols , Turnhout. pp 243. ISBN: 9782503566733
- 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
- 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 Four Courts Press (1). , 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 Nodus Publikationen (13). , 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. pp 224. ISBN: 9780198746003
- Byrne, A. (2015) The circulation of romances from England in late-medieval Ireland. In: Perkins, N. , (eds.) 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://dx.doi.org/10.1484/J.VIATOR.5.103512
- Byrne, A. (2015) Language networks, literary translation and the friars in late medieval ireland. In: Carruthers, M. , (eds.) Language in Medieval Britain: Networks and Exchanges. Harlaxton Medieval Studies Paul Watkins Publishing (25). , Donington, UK. pp. 166-178. ISBN: 9781907730429
- Byrne, A. (2014) Medieval romance, English. Oxford Bibliographies Online | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199846719-0115
- Byrne, A. (2014) A lost insular version of the romance of Octavian. Medium Aevum , 83 (2). pp. 288-302. ISSN: 0025-8385
- Byrne, A. (2014) Fairy lovers: sexuality, order and narrative in Medieval romance. In: Hopkins, A. , Rouse, R. , Rushton, C. , (eds.) Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain. D. S. Brewer , Cambridge. pp. 99-110. ISBN: 9781843843795
- 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) 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) 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://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2013.795720
- 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://dx.doi.org/10.1093/library/14.2.129
- 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://dx.doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjs015
- 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://dx.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://dx.doi.org/10.1484/J.NMS.1.102424
- Byrne, A. (2010) The intruder at the feast: negotiating boundaries in Medieval insular romance. Arthurian Literature , 27 pp. 33-57. ISSN: 0261–9946