Kristin Bovaird-Abbo

Faculty

Professor & Director of Undergraduate Studies

Location Ross 1170B
Office Hours MWF 10-11am and by appointment
Kristin Bovaird-Abbo

Education

Ph.D., University of Kansas, Dissertation:Geoffrey Chaucer’s use of the Arthurian legend

Professional Experience & Affiliations

Full Professor, English, سԹ

Research Expertise & Interests

Prof. Bovaird-Abbo’s areas of special interest include medieval language and literature, particularly Middle English and Arthurian studies, and she regularly teaches classes onMedieval Literature, History of the English Language, Linguistics, the Arthurian Legend (medieval to modern),Speculative Fiction, The History of the Book, Young Adult Literature,Medievalism,and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Her current research project explores the effects of gender and class on depictions of the Arthurian character of Gawain in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Middle English romances, particularly in terms of Gawain’s interactions with women and younger knights, as a reflection of changing values among the English gentry.

Publications

  • “The Great River and the Great War: Entering the Trenches of World War I in theFellowship of the Ring.”Critical Insights: J.R.R. Tolkien. Ed. Joseph Michael Sommers. Grey House Publishing. (Forthcoming)
  • “‘Webeoðunderuote’: Ecofeminism in Layamon’sBrutand the Women of Scotland.”MedievalEcocriticisms. Ed. Heide Estes. Amsterdam University Press. (Forthcoming)
  • “Harts, Hounds, Humans: Hunting inA LytellGesteof Robyn Hode.”The Bulletin of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies5.1 (2024): 26-47.
  • “Safe Behind Doors? Sleep Deprivation inSir Gawain and the Green Knight.”Arthuriana32.3 (2022): 3-19.
  • “Switching Shields in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”.”Becoming the Pearl-Poet: Perceptions, Connections, Receptions. Ed. Jane Beal. Rowman & Littlefield, Lexington Books, 2022.169-181.
  • Food and Feast in Premodern Outlaw Texts. Eds. Melissa Ridley Elmes, Kristin Bovaird-Abbo. Routledge, 2021.
  • “Why an Issue on “The Medieval in Children’s Literature”?” Special Issue: “The Medieval in Children’s Literature,”Children’s Literature Association Quarterly,vol. 45, no. 4(2020): 301-307.
  • “Redeeming Wastelands, Building Communities in the Old EnglishGuthlac A.”ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, vol.24, no.2,2017: 196–223.
  • “In the Shadow of Balder: Breaking the Cycle of Ragnarok inAmerican Gods.” Critical Insights: Neil Gaiman. Ed. Joseph Michael Sommers. Grey House Publishing, 2016: 31-46.
  • “Is Geoffrey Chaucer’s Tale of SirThopas a Rape Narrative? ReadingThopasin light ofthe 1382 Statute of Rapes.ŨįQuidditas 35 (2014): 7-28.
  • “Neglected yet Noble: Nyneve and Female Heroism in Thomas Malory’s Le MorteDarthu.ŨįA Quest of Her Own: Essays on the Female Hero in Modern Fantasy. Ed.LoriM. Campbell. McFarland, 2014. 35-54.
  • “Tough Talk or Tough Love: Lynet and the Construction of Feminine Identity in Thomas Malory’s Tale of Sir Gareth.ŨįArthuriana, vol.24, no.2 (2014): 126-157.
  • “‘Reirditonanericherochebesideaneriveir’: Martial Landscape and James IV of Scotland in The Knightly Tale ofGolagrosandGawane.ŨįNeophilogus, vol.98, no.4 (2014): 675-688.
  • “SireNonnesPreest’—Reading Lancelot in Geoffrey Chaucer’sThe Nun’s Priest’s Tale.”CEA Critic, vol.76, no.1 (2014): 84-97.
  • “Alison’s Antithesis in The Marriage of Sir Gawain.” Medieval Feminist Forum, vol.49, no.2 (2013): 29–69.
  • “‘he is com of full noblebloode’: The Brotherly Love of Gareth and Gawain in Thomas Malory’s MorteDarthur.ŨįEnarratio, vol.17 (2010): 91-105.