Dr Laura Varnam
@drlauravarnam.bsky.social
Tutor in English Lit at Univ, Oxford. Medievalist. Poet. She/her. Co-founder @guildmedmak. Church as Sacred Space (2018). Encountering Margery Kempe (2021). Primers Volume Seven: Grendel’s Mother Bites Back (2024). Next books on Du Maurier, and Beowulf.
Hwæt! Love my new #Beowulf inspired artworks by brilliant former student Raven! Check out her Etsy shop for more designs, including Julian of Norwich and #Chaucer inspired pieces www.etsy.com/shop/imitati...
November 13, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Hwæt! Love my new #Beowulf inspired artworks by brilliant former student Raven! Check out her Etsy shop for more designs, including Julian of Norwich and #Chaucer inspired pieces www.etsy.com/shop/imitati...
I really like Meyer’s translation that breaks the poem down into lyric poems.
"HEY now hear"
Beowulf: A Translation, 2012
Thomas Meyer 🇬🇧
Beowulf: A Translation, 2012
Thomas Meyer 🇬🇧
November 11, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I really like Meyer’s translation that breaks the poem down into lyric poems.
The PH Wodehouse of Beowulfs!
"What ho!"
Beowulf, a New Verse Translation for Fireside and Classroom, 1923
William Ellery Leonard 🇬🇧
Beowulf, a New Verse Translation for Fireside and Classroom, 1923
William Ellery Leonard 🇬🇧
November 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
The PH Wodehouse of Beowulfs!
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Just a few days left until @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social ! I’ll be at Table C12a in the Comixology Hall and also hosting a Saturday panel on comics and medieval texts (SWOON). I’ll have copies of a new book and some other fun stuff for you, so say hello!
November 11, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Just a few days left until @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social ! I’ll be at Table C12a in the Comixology Hall and also hosting a Saturday panel on comics and medieval texts (SWOON). I’ll have copies of a new book and some other fun stuff for you, so say hello!
This is a fantastic post from @jonathanfruoco.bsky.social 👏
'Translating Chaucer is a strange and humbling act. It’s like listening through centuries of static to a voice that is both foreign and familiar, comic and solemn, earnest and ironic.'
Jonathan Fruoco writes about his experience translating Chaucer for our Meet a Medievalist Maker blogpost series👇
Jonathan Fruoco writes about his experience translating Chaucer for our Meet a Medievalist Maker blogpost series👇
Meet a Medievalist Maker: Jonathan Fruoco — The Guild of Medievalist Makers
“ Meet a Medievalist Maker ” is an ongoing series of blog posts introducing our members and the work they are doing. Each post is organized around our Four P’s: a project they are working on...
www.guildmedmak.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:05 PM
This is a fantastic post from @jonathanfruoco.bsky.social 👏
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
The second poem in PERVERSE 9E is 'It Is Voice' by Philip Gross (@vaikuspg.bsky.social). Read all five poems in this section here: perverse.substack.com/p/perverse-9e
November 11, 2025 at 8:55 AM
The second poem in PERVERSE 9E is 'It Is Voice' by Philip Gross (@vaikuspg.bsky.social). Read all five poems in this section here: perverse.substack.com/p/perverse-9e
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Senior Librarian role in Oxford👇 www.asc.ox.ac.uk/fellow-libra...
Fellow Librarian | All Souls College
www.asc.ox.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Senior Librarian role in Oxford👇 www.asc.ox.ac.uk/fellow-libra...
Absolutely fantastic night rockin’ along to the Status Quo tribute band Break the Rules 🤘🎸 They were even joined by original Quo drummer John Coghlan for a couple of numbers! 🥁 Went with my Dad and it was brilliant. (We reckon we’ve seen the original Quo 20+ times together!!)
November 9, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Absolutely fantastic night rockin’ along to the Status Quo tribute band Break the Rules 🤘🎸 They were even joined by original Quo drummer John Coghlan for a couple of numbers! 🥁 Went with my Dad and it was brilliant. (We reckon we’ve seen the original Quo 20+ times together!!)
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Bonjour, fellow medievalists! I'm very pleased to announce a conference on Beowulf next March at the @cema-su.bsky.social Sorbonne. I have the honour of joining Francis Leneghan in giving one of the keynotes. Link below has the CFP and registration info, please spread the word!
cemasorbonne.org
cemasorbonne.org
(no title)
CEMA
cemasorbonne.org
November 8, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Bonjour, fellow medievalists! I'm very pleased to announce a conference on Beowulf next March at the @cema-su.bsky.social Sorbonne. I have the honour of joining Francis Leneghan in giving one of the keynotes. Link below has the CFP and registration info, please spread the word!
cemasorbonne.org
cemasorbonne.org
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Would any successful Bodleian visiting fellow recipients be willing to share their application materials with me? Especially if medieval/early modern. Ta!
November 8, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Would any successful Bodleian visiting fellow recipients be willing to share their application materials with me? Especially if medieval/early modern. Ta!
Ooh I like this!
'Neither poet, poem nor reader is led into a closed room, but a play area for imaginative patterning.'
Carol Rumens on Éireann Lorsung's poem 'Simile', which was chosen as the Guardian's Poem of the Week this week!
Read the article:⬇️
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Carol Rumens on Éireann Lorsung's poem 'Simile', which was chosen as the Guardian's Poem of the Week this week!
Read the article:⬇️
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...
Poem of the week: Simile by Éireann Lorsung
An elegant reflection on experience and imagination complicates a very familiar figure of speech
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Ooh I like this!
Terrible news. Universities are being decimated.
'Music and modern foreign languages degrees are among courses being suspended at the University of Nottingham, with the institution saying it “cannot rely on additional income” from the coming tuition fee rises.' 1/3
Nottingham suspends music, language and nursing courses
University says financial uncertainties continue as government’s proposed student levy will ‘wipe out any benefits’ from rising tuition fees
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Terrible news. Universities are being decimated.
HWÆT! My annual repost of the Lego Battle of Maldon with Old English subtitles ⚔️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuxv...
The Battle of Maldon (Subtitled Version)
YouTube video by DTGProductions
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:54 PM
HWÆT! My annual repost of the Lego Battle of Maldon with Old English subtitles ⚔️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuxv...
🤭😆
November 6, 2025 at 5:50 PM
🤭😆
Such a lovely surprise parcel from Backlisted listener Cindy Vincent! Julian of Norwich postcard, dragon brooch, beautifully crocheted gifts made by Cindy’s daughter… on brand or what! 🔥 The @backlisted.bsky.social family are the best!! 🥰
November 5, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Such a lovely surprise parcel from Backlisted listener Cindy Vincent! Julian of Norwich postcard, dragon brooch, beautifully crocheted gifts made by Cindy’s daughter… on brand or what! 🔥 The @backlisted.bsky.social family are the best!! 🥰
Attention @guildmedmak.bsky.social! Look forward to reading this, Nik!
New post up: a translation of Hallfreðr "troublesome poet" Óttarson's conversion verses.
If genuine, they provide an amazing insight into a Viking Age pagan grappling with a change in religion.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2025/11/03/p...
If genuine, they provide an amazing insight into a Viking Age pagan grappling with a change in religion.
nikolasgunn.co.uk/2025/11/03/p...
November 4, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Attention @guildmedmak.bsky.social! Look forward to reading this, Nik!
It was a pleasure to read some of my Grendel’s Mother poems at Univ’s Poetry Share-In last night in hall! 🩵
November 4, 2025 at 7:24 AM
It was a pleasure to read some of my Grendel’s Mother poems at Univ’s Poetry Share-In last night in hall! 🩵
Thank you so much, Susie! So looking forward to our readings and discussion together on 16 Nov at Blackwells! Link for free tickets below 👇
Showcasing @drlauravarnam.bsky.social my brilliant guest at Oxford Blackwell's Wastelands launch Nov 16 3pm. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1668864280...)
Laura is Lecturer in Old & Middle English Literature at University College, Oxford. Her poetry is inspired by the medieval texts that she teaches.
Laura is Lecturer in Old & Middle English Literature at University College, Oxford. Her poetry is inspired by the medieval texts that she teaches.
November 4, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Thank you so much, Susie! So looking forward to our readings and discussion together on 16 Nov at Blackwells! Link for free tickets below 👇
Ooh this sounds great! Been meaning to read the book since I heard the @backlisted.bsky.social episode! www.backlisted.fm/episodes/142...
November 4, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Ooh this sounds great! Been meaning to read the book since I heard the @backlisted.bsky.social episode! www.backlisted.fm/episodes/142...
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Horatio: goodnight, sweet prince...🥲
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
I do love Horatio, the best of Shakespeare's many friends... Stephen Dillane as Horatio in Hamlet, dir. Zeffirelli, 1990. Also, Milton liked this bit (of course he did, the angels❤️) in the @freelibrary.bsky.social folio.
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
I do love Horatio, the best of Shakespeare's many friends... Stephen Dillane as Horatio in Hamlet, dir. Zeffirelli, 1990. Also, Milton liked this bit (of course he did, the angels❤️) in the @freelibrary.bsky.social folio.
November 3, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Horatio: goodnight, sweet prince...🥲
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
I do love Horatio, the best of Shakespeare's many friends... Stephen Dillane as Horatio in Hamlet, dir. Zeffirelli, 1990. Also, Milton liked this bit (of course he did, the angels❤️) in the @freelibrary.bsky.social folio.
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
I do love Horatio, the best of Shakespeare's many friends... Stephen Dillane as Horatio in Hamlet, dir. Zeffirelli, 1990. Also, Milton liked this bit (of course he did, the angels❤️) in the @freelibrary.bsky.social folio.
So thrilled with this wonderful artwork gifted to me by my former student Raven! The first inspired by Julian of Norwich’s hazelnut vision and the second by the dragon in Beowulf! Check out Raven’s Etsy shop (and follow @ imitatio.artistry on Instagram!) www.etsy.com/shop/imitati...
November 2, 2025 at 10:55 AM
So thrilled with this wonderful artwork gifted to me by my former student Raven! The first inspired by Julian of Norwich’s hazelnut vision and the second by the dragon in Beowulf! Check out Raven’s Etsy shop (and follow @ imitatio.artistry on Instagram!) www.etsy.com/shop/imitati...
V intrigued by this!
Reading this book, in which the protagonist details her strange experiences in the afterlife. At one point, she is walking through a store now underwater. “The Sound of Silence” still plays on the speaker; she says, “It warbles in the murk.”
What a perfect, clean, precise sentence.
What a perfect, clean, precise sentence.
November 2, 2025 at 8:05 AM
V intrigued by this!
Do it! It’s a wonderful book! ✨
Hey, Portland Oregon!
I'm visiting your fine city and took advantage of this opportunity to drop 6 signed copies of BeaWolf (and one of Augie and the Green Knight) at @powells.bsky.social
If you are around, you can try to get one before they're all gone!
Cc: @zachweinersmith.bsky.social
I'm visiting your fine city and took advantage of this opportunity to drop 6 signed copies of BeaWolf (and one of Augie and the Green Knight) at @powells.bsky.social
If you are around, you can try to get one before they're all gone!
Cc: @zachweinersmith.bsky.social
November 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Do it! It’s a wonderful book! ✨