About
I am a PhD Candidate in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University, Adelaide Australia. My research focuses on cultural memory, historical narrative, and Anglo-Scandinavian acculturation in the tenth-thirteenth centuries, with a particular focus on the history of early medieval England as portrayed in the sagas of Icelanders. Education
[2019-Present] Flinders University, Adelaide
PhD – English/History
Thesis: English Kingship in the Saga Age: Memory, Transmission and the Evolution of Narrative
[2015-2017] University of New England, Armidale
Graduate Certificate in Classical Languages (Latin)
[2015-2017] University of New England, Armidale
Master of History
Thesis: Cultures of Punishment: Brutality and the Body in Anglo-Scandinavian England
[2000-2003] University of Sydney
Bachelor of Arts (Studies of Religion) Work Shared in CORE
Articles
Other Publications
Matthew Firth, ‘On the Dating of the Norse Siege of Chester,’
Notes and Queries 69 (2022) (
link)
Matthew Firth, ‘Deconstructing the Female Antagonist of the Coronation Scandal in B’s
Vita Dunstani,’
English Studies 103 (2022) (
free eprint)
Matthew Firth, ‘Æthelred II ‘the Unready’ and the Role of Kingship in
Gunnlaugs saga Ormstungu,’
The Court Historian 25 (no.1, 2020), 1-14 (
free eprint).
Matthew Firth and Erin Sebo, ‘Kingship and Maritime Power in 10th-Century England,’
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 49 (no. 2, 2020), 329-40 (
free eprint).
Blog Posts
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From Æthelflæd to Ælfthryth: The Idea of Queenship in Tenth-Century England
(Dr Matthew Firth,
2021-10-21)
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Interview with Matthew Firth
(Dr Matthew Firth,
2021-04-06)
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HDR Students in Focus, Matthew Firth
(Dr Matthew Firth,
2021-04-06)
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Isolation, Loneliness and Risk Taking in Medieval Icelandic Outlaw Sagas
(Dr Matthew Firth,
2021-04-06)
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The St. Brice’s Day Massacre: History, Archaeology, and Myth
(Dr Matthew Firth,
2021-04-06)
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Hello world!
(Matthew Firth,
2019-12-29)
Projects
Matthew Firth, Early English Queens, 850-1000: Potestas reginae (Routledge, under contract).
‘Vikings and Francia, 799–936,’ in Routledge Handbook of French History, ed. David Andress (Routledge, forthcoming).
‘Queenship in Pre-Conquest England: Continuity and Change,’ in English Consorts: Power, Influence, Dynasty, Vol. 1, ed. by Danna Messer and Elena Woodacre (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming). Memberships
Australian Early Medieval Association (Reviews Editor)
Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Cerae: An Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (Editor, vol. 9)
Royal Historical Society (Postgraduate Member)
Royal Studies Network
Viking Society for Northern Research
