Robert Dennis Fulk (born October 2, 1951) is an American

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

who is Professor Emeritus of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Germanic Studies Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary tex ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

Biography

Robert Dennis Fulk was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on October 2, 1951. He received a BA in

from

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

in 1973, a MA in English from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1974, an MFA in Fiction 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 1976, and a PhD in English from the

in 1982. From 1982 to 1983, Fulk was Visiting Assistant Professor of English at

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

. At

, Fulk served as Assistant Professor of English from 1983-1987, and as Associate Professor of English from 1987 to 1992. From 1987 to 1988, Fulk was Visiting Associate Professor of English at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. He became a tenured professor at Indiana University Bloomington in 1990. At Indiana University Bloomington, Fulk has been Professor of English since 1992, and Adjunct Professor of

since 2005. Fulk specializes in Germanic studies,

Celtic studies Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art histor ...

and

Indo-European studies Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pro ...

, with a particular focus on language and literature. He is a known expert on

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 Icelandic Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. Particular areas of research are Old and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

dialectology, phonological and morphological change, textual criticism, and early Germanic metrics. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in honor of Fulk was edited by

Leonard Neidorf Leonard Neidorf (born ) is an American philologist who is Professor of English at Nanjing University. Neidorf specializes in the study of Old English and Middle English literature, and is a known authority on '' Beowulf''. Biography Raised in Voo ...

, Rafael J. Pascual, and

Tom Shippey Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the ...

. It was published in 2016 as ''Old English Philology: Studies in Honour of R. D. Fulk'' (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer).

Selected works

* ''Interpretations of Beowulf: A Critical Anthology'', 1991 (contributions by

Jane Chance Jane Chance (born 1945), also known as Jane Chance Nitzsche, is an American scholar specializing in medieval English literature, gender studies, and J. R. R. Tolkien. She spent most of her career at Rice University, where since her retirement she ha ...

, Stanley B. Greenfield, Francis P. Magoun,

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

and others) * ''A History of Old English Meter'', 1992 * ''A History of Old English Literature'', 2008 * ''Klaeber's Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg'', 2008 * ''The Beowulf Manuscript: Complete Texts and The Fight at Finnsburg'', 2010 * ''A Grammar of Old English, Volume 2: Morphology'', 2012 * ''An Introduction to Middle English: Grammar, Texts'', 2012 * ''The Old English Canons of Theodore'', 2012 *
An Introductory Grammar of Old English, with an Anthology of Readings
', Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 463/MRTS Texts for Teaching, 8 (Tempe, Arizona: Arizona Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2014) * ''Studies in the History of the English Language VI: Evidence and Method in Histories of English'', 2015 * ''The Old English Pastoral Care'', 2021

References

External links

R. D. Fulk
at the website of

Website
of R. D. Fulk {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulk, Robert D. 1951 births Living people American medievalists American philologists Anglo-Saxon studies scholars Celtic studies scholars Germanic studies scholars Indiana University Bloomington faculty Indo-Europeanists Linguists of Germanic languages Linguists of Indo-European languages Oakland University alumni Old Norse studies scholars People from Chicago University of Chicago alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen University of Iowa alumni Wabash College faculty Historians from Illinois

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

External links