Associate Lecturer
College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Matthew is is an Associate Lecturer in medieval literature and history at Flinders University. His research focuses on historiography, cultural memory, and the transmission of historical narrative across time and place. With research specialities in the history of early medieval England and in Scandinavian saga literature, he has published numerous articles on various aspects of society and culture in England and Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, and their intersections. He is currently working on his first monograph, a biographical study of English queens-consort in the years 850-1000, scheduled for publication the Routledge Lives of Royal Women series.
Matthew is the current editor of Cerae Journal, an assistant editor of the Brepols published series East Central Europe, 476–1795, the reviews editor for the Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association (AEMA), and an AEMA committee member..
Most recent publications:
Matthew Firth, 'Identifying Queenship in Pre-Conquest England,' in Norman to Early Plantaganet Consorts: Power, Influence, Dynasty, ed. Aidan Norrie et al. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), 17-45.
Matthew Firth and Cassandra Schilling, 'The Lonely Afterlives of Early English Queens', Neophilologus 107 (2023), 127-43.
Erin Sebo and Matthew Firth, 'Saxo Grammaticus's Account of the Viking Age Site on the Danish Island of Hjarnø in Gesta Danorum', Scandinavian Studies 95, 2 (2023), 166-82.
John Mccarthy, Erin Sebo and Matthew Firth, 'Parallels for cetacean trap feeding and tread-water feeding in the historical record across two millennia', Marine Mammal Science (2023, eprint).
Bachelor of Arts, Religion, University of Sydney (2003)
Master of History, University of New England (2017)
Graduate Certificate in Arts, Classical Languages, University of New England (2018)
2021 Best HDR Publication - Runner Up (Flinders University)
2021 Horizon Award Platinum (Professional Engagement Award, Flinders University)
2020 Best HDR Publication - Runner Up (Flinders University)
2019 Society for Court Studies Essay Prize
2019 The Mediæval Journal Essay Prize - Proxime accessit
2018 New England Award (Professional Engagement Award, University of New England)
2017 Cerae Journal Essay Prize – Best Postgraduate/ECR Paper (Volume 3)
Topic Coordinator
ENGL2147 Medieval Myths: The Origins of Modern Fantasy (2023)
ENGL3113 Heroes, Monsters and Vikings: Early Medieval Language and Literature (2022)
ENGL3115 Medieval and Renaissance Women's Literature and Lives (2023)
Lecturer
ENGL2133 Vikings and Anglo-Saxon Literature (2020)
ENGL2147 Medieval Myths: The Origins of Modern Fantasy (2022-23)
Tutor
ENGL1101 The Art of Storytelling (2021, 2022)
ENGL2147 Medieval Myths: The Origins of Modern Fantasy (2022)
HIST2009 Nazi Germany: Its Origins and Nature, 1870-1945 (2021)
Marking
ENGL1101 The Art of Storytelling (2021-23)
ENGL2146 The Gothic Tradition (2020)
ENGL2147 Medieval Myths: The Origins of Modern Fantasy (2022)
HIST2009 Nazi Germany: Its Origins and Nature, 1870-1945 (2021)