Helen Damico (January 30, 1931 – April 14, 2020) was a Greek-born American scholar of

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

and

Old English literature Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman conquest of England, Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. Th ...

Career

Damico was a professor emerita at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

, where she began teaching in 1981 and founded the Institute for Medieval Studies. She was previously on the faculty of

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. She earned her B.A. from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1952, and received her Ph.D. from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1980. The author of ''Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition'', Damico made important contributions to the study of women in Old English and Old Norse literature, and her work on

Wealhþeow Wealhtheow (also rendered Wealhþēow or Wealthow; ang, Ƿealhþēoƿ ) is a queen of the Danes in the Old English poem, '' Beowulf'', first introduced in line 612. Character overview Wealhtheow is of the Wulfing clan, Queen of the Danes. She i ...

is frequently cited. She saw representations of the

valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...

in both Wealhþeow and

Grendel's Mother Grendel's mother ( ang, Grendles mōdor) is one of three antagonists in the anonymous Old English poem ''Beowulf'' (c. 700-1000 AD), the other two being Grendel and the dragon. Each antagonist reflects different negative aspects of both the hero ...

in the Old English poem Beowulf (c. 700–1000 AD). Damico was a recipient of the New Mexico Humanities Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Humanities, and a recipient of the Medieval Academy of America's CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies.

Personal life

Born in Chios, Greece, Damico emigrated to the United States in 1937. She died on April 14, 2020, as a result of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Books authored and edited

Monographs

*''Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition'' (1984) *''Beowulf and the Grendel-kin: Politics and Poetry in Eleventh-Century England'' (2015)

Edited collections

* *''Medieval Scholarship: Biographical Studies on the Formation of a Discipline'' (3 vols) *''Heroic Poetry in the Anglo-Saxon Period: Studies in Honor of Jess B. Bessinger, Jr.'' (with John Leyerle; Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 1993) * ''New Readings on Women in Old English Literature.'' Eds. Helen Damico and Alexandra Hennessey Olsen. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. 176–89

Essays

*"The Valkyrie Reflex in Old English Literature." In ''New Readings on Women in Old English Literature.'' Eds. Helen Damico and Alexandra Hennessey Olsen. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. 176–89

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Damico, Helen 1931 births 2020 deaths Writers from Chios Greek emigrants to the United States Anglo-Saxon studies scholars New York University alumni University of Iowa alumni Old Norse studies scholars University of New Mexico faculty Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio