About

I set up this blog after my long-held desire to translate Beowulf into Cork slang was finally pushed to its limit – I put the idea to twitter and got a pretty enthusiastic response, and so, here we are.

My name is Alison Killilea, and I have a doctorate from University College Cork (stress on the Cork), where I also received my BA and MA. You may know me as the girl with the giant pile of Beowulf translations.

My PhD dissertation focused on the reception history of Beowulf (focusing on the Grendel-kin) in translations and adaptations from the Victorian era to those produced in our contemporary times. A large part of my thesis also explored specific Old English terms used of these characters, and attempted to reconsider their meanings, and how an Anglo-Saxon audience may have interpreted them.

While I am currently not in academia, I am still passionate about the subject and will one day, hopefully, return.

For anyone interested, my Academia page can be found here. Please feel free to contact me with suggestions or anything to do with Beowulf, especially if it has to do with translations, adaptations, or the Grendel-kin.