Hana Videen

Hana is interested in Anglo-Saxon (particularly Old English) literature in all its forms, poetry as well as homilies, hagiography, and leechbooks. Her PhD dissertation examined the presence (and absence) of blood in material, poetic, and religious discourses of Anglo-Saxon literature. The topic of blood in the later Middle Ages has acquired much more notice over the last twenty years, but this newer literature consistently glosses over or ignores the Anglo-Saxon period. The Anglo-Saxon period, if considered at all in these studies, is thought of as merely a precursor to the more significant blood symbolism of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. What does blood signify in Old English literature, and what is wrong with applying research on the later Middle Ages to the Anglo-Saxon period?

Hana is also interested in how medieval studies can impact new audiences, both within and outside of the university. She enjoys collaborating with experts and non-experts to inspire new audiences to learn about the past, communicating with other people interested in the study of history, and using documents and images to make history more accessible to people, especially through the use of digital tools. She tweets the Old English Word of the Day (@OEWordhord) and blogs about Old English and medieval studies (oldenglishwordhord.com, beoshewulf.wordpress.com).

Old English literature, blood in Anglo-Saxon literature, medieval studies, translation studies, public engagement

Hana received her BA at Smith College (Northampton, Mass.), majoring in English Language and Literature with a minor in Medieval Studies. After working as a children’s ESL teacher in South Korea for two years, she moved to London, returning to her love of Old English poetry. Hana did her MA in Medieval Studies at King’s College London, for which she wrote her dissertation on trees in Anglo-Saxon literature. She was recently awarded a PhD in English for her dissertation Blōd, Swāt, and Drēor: Material, Poetic, and Religious Discourses on Blood in Anglo-Saxon Literature, supervised by Professor Clare Lees and examined by Professor Catherine Clarke (Southampton) and Dr Jennifer Neville (Royal Holloway). She is a teaching assistant at King's College London and has taught on the "Medieval Literary Culture" and "Subjects of Desire" undergraduate modules.