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Professor Francis Leneghan

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Professor Francis Leneghan

  • Stipendiary Lecturer in English
  • Professor of Old English

I am Professor of Old English in the English Faculty and a Fellow of St Cross College. At St Peter's, I teach Medieval English Language and Literature, primarily Old and Early Middle English. Before coming to Oxford in 2008, I taught at Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin.

My research focuses on intersections between politics, religion and literature in Anglo-Saxon England. I am especially interested in all aspects of the Old English heroic poem "Beowulf", the translation and adaptation of scripture in early England, and writings associated with King Alfred. I am also co-organiser of The Oxford Psalms Network, a TORCH Network.

Selected publications

Old English Biblical Prose: Translation, Adaptation, Interpretation, Anglo-Saxon Studies 54 (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2026)

The Dynastic Drama of 'Beowulf', Anglo-Saxon Studies 39 (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2020)