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Dr Stephen Gordon
(he/him)
Lecturer
School of English, Communication and Philosophy
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I am a lecturer in medieval literature at Cardiff University. I am particularly interested in the literary articulations of the belief in the supernatural in the medieval world, with a specific focus on ghosts, demonology and the walking dead. My most recent monograph, Supernatural Encounters: Demons and the Restless Dead in Medieval England, c.1050-1450, was published in 2020.
I recently co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Medieval History with Prof. Scott Bruce (Fordham University), titled Vigor Mortis: The Vitality of the Dead in Medieval Cultures
Publication
2024
- Bruce, S. and Gordon, S. eds. 2024. Vigor Mortis: The vitality of the dead in Medieval societies. London: Routledge.
- Gordon, S. 2024. Sexual sin and the walking dead in the Chronicle of Lanercost. Viator
2023
- Gordon, S. 2023. 'This carpenter wende he were in despeir': Misinterpretation and the Nightmare in Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 122(4), pp. 482-506. (10.5406/1945662x.122.4.03)
2022
- Gordon, S. 2022. "Ayenst trauelynge fendys by nyghte": Simple medicines, practical innovation, and the premodern conceptualization of the nightmare. Preternature 11(2), pp. 225–257. (10.5325/preternature.11.2.0225)
- Gordon, S. 2022. 'Agite, agite et uenite!' Corrupted breath, corrupted speech and encounters with the restless dead in Geoffrey of Burton's Vita sancte Moduenne virginis. Journal of Medieval History 48(2), pp. 183-198. (10.1080/03044181.2022.2060485)
- Gordon, S. 2022. The vitality of the dead in medieval cultures. Journal of Medieval History 48(2), pp. 155-165. (10.1080/03044181.2022.2049516)
2021
- Gordon, S. 2021. Sensory satires and the virtues of herbs in Sir Thopas's Fair Forest. Studies in Philology 119(2), pp. 191-208. (10.1353/sip.2021.0033)
2019
- Gordon, S. 2019. Supernatural encounters: Demons and the restless dead in Medieval England c.1050-1450. Routledge.
2018
- Gordon, S. 2018. The three living and the three dead in the Horaeof Galiot de Genouillac (Rylands Latin MS 38). Source: Notes in the History of Art 37(2), pp. 97-107. (10.1086/697230)
- Gordon, S. 2018. 4 Dealing with the Undead in the Later Middle Ages. In: Dealing With The Dead: Mortality and Community in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Explorations in Medieval Culture, Volume: 5 Brill, pp. 97-128., (10.1163/9789004358331_006)
- Gordon, S. 2018. Necromancy for the masses? A printed version of the compendium magiae innaturalis nigrae. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 13(3), pp. 340-380. (10.1353/mrw.2018.0045)
2017
- Gordon, S. 2017. Emotional practice and bodily performance in early modern vampire literature. Preternature 6(1), pp. 93-124. (10.5325/preternature.6.1.0093)
- Gordon, S. 2017. Parody, Sarcasm, and Invective in the Nugae of Walter Map. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 116(1), pp. 82-107. (10.5406/jenglgermphil.116.1.0082)
2016
- Spinks, J., Handley, S. and Gordon, S. 2016. Magic, witches and devils in the early modern world: exhibition catalogue. John Rylands Library, University of Manchester.
- Gordon, S. 2016. Necromancy and the Magical Reputation of Michael Scot: John Rylands Library, Latin MS 105. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 92(1) (10.7227/BJRL.92.1.4)
- Spinks, J., Handley, S. and Gordon, S. 2016. Curating magic at the John Rylands Library: The 2016 exhibition magic, witches and devils in the early modern world. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 92(1), pp. 105-114. (10.7227/BJRL.92.1.5)
2015
- Gordon, S. 2015. Social monsters and the walking dead in William of Newburgh's Historia rerum Anglicarum. Journal of Medieval History 41(4), pp. 446-465. (10.1080/03044181.2015.1078255)
- Gordon, S. 2015. Monstrous words, monstrous bodies: irony and the walking dead in Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium. English Studies 96(4), pp. 379-402. (10.1080/0013838X.2015.1011891)
- Gordon, S. 2015. Medical condition, demon or undead corpse? Sleep paralysis and the nightmare in medieval Europe. Social History of Medicine 28(3), pp. 425-444. (10.1093/shm/hkv005)
- Gordon, S. 2015. Domestic magic and the walking dead in Medieval England: A diachronic approach. In: Houlbrook, C. and Armitage, N. eds. The Materiality of Magic: An Artifactual Investigation into Ritual Practices and Popular Beliefs. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 65-84.
2014
- Gemi-Iordanou, E. et al. eds. 2014. Medicine, healing and performance. Oxbow.
- Gordon, S. 2014. Disease, sin and the walking dead in Medieval England, c.1100-1350: A note on the documentary and archaeological evidence. In: Gemi-Iordanou, E. et al. eds. Medicine, Healing and Performance. Oxford, UK: Oxbow, pp. 55-70.
Articles
- Gordon, S. 2024. Sexual sin and the walking dead in the Chronicle of Lanercost. Viator
- Gordon, S. 2023. 'This carpenter wende he were in despeir': Misinterpretation and the Nightmare in Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 122(4), pp. 482-506. (10.5406/1945662x.122.4.03)
- Gordon, S. 2022. "Ayenst trauelynge fendys by nyghte": Simple medicines, practical innovation, and the premodern conceptualization of the nightmare. Preternature 11(2), pp. 225–257. (10.5325/preternature.11.2.0225)
- Gordon, S. 2022. 'Agite, agite et uenite!' Corrupted breath, corrupted speech and encounters with the restless dead in Geoffrey of Burton's Vita sancte Moduenne virginis. Journal of Medieval History 48(2), pp. 183-198. (10.1080/03044181.2022.2060485)
- Gordon, S. 2022. The vitality of the dead in medieval cultures. Journal of Medieval History 48(2), pp. 155-165. (10.1080/03044181.2022.2049516)
- Gordon, S. 2021. Sensory satires and the virtues of herbs in Sir Thopas's Fair Forest. Studies in Philology 119(2), pp. 191-208. (10.1353/sip.2021.0033)
- Gordon, S. 2018. The three living and the three dead in the Horaeof Galiot de Genouillac (Rylands Latin MS 38). Source: Notes in the History of Art 37(2), pp. 97-107. (10.1086/697230)
- Gordon, S. 2018. Necromancy for the masses? A printed version of the compendium magiae innaturalis nigrae. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 13(3), pp. 340-380. (10.1353/mrw.2018.0045)
- Gordon, S. 2017. Emotional practice and bodily performance in early modern vampire literature. Preternature 6(1), pp. 93-124. (10.5325/preternature.6.1.0093)
- Gordon, S. 2017. Parody, Sarcasm, and Invective in the Nugae of Walter Map. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 116(1), pp. 82-107. (10.5406/jenglgermphil.116.1.0082)
- Gordon, S. 2016. Necromancy and the Magical Reputation of Michael Scot: John Rylands Library, Latin MS 105. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 92(1) (10.7227/BJRL.92.1.4)
- Spinks, J., Handley, S. and Gordon, S. 2016. Curating magic at the John Rylands Library: The 2016 exhibition magic, witches and devils in the early modern world. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 92(1), pp. 105-114. (10.7227/BJRL.92.1.5)
- Gordon, S. 2015. Social monsters and the walking dead in William of Newburgh's Historia rerum Anglicarum. Journal of Medieval History 41(4), pp. 446-465. (10.1080/03044181.2015.1078255)
- Gordon, S. 2015. Monstrous words, monstrous bodies: irony and the walking dead in Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium. English Studies 96(4), pp. 379-402. (10.1080/0013838X.2015.1011891)
- Gordon, S. 2015. Medical condition, demon or undead corpse? Sleep paralysis and the nightmare in medieval Europe. Social History of Medicine 28(3), pp. 425-444. (10.1093/shm/hkv005)
Book sections
- Gordon, S. 2018. 4 Dealing with the Undead in the Later Middle Ages. In: Dealing With The Dead: Mortality and Community in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Explorations in Medieval Culture, Volume: 5 Brill, pp. 97-128., (10.1163/9789004358331_006)
- Gordon, S. 2015. Domestic magic and the walking dead in Medieval England: A diachronic approach. In: Houlbrook, C. and Armitage, N. eds. The Materiality of Magic: An Artifactual Investigation into Ritual Practices and Popular Beliefs. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 65-84.
- Gordon, S. 2014. Disease, sin and the walking dead in Medieval England, c.1100-1350: A note on the documentary and archaeological evidence. In: Gemi-Iordanou, E. et al. eds. Medicine, Healing and Performance. Oxford, UK: Oxbow, pp. 55-70.
Books
- Bruce, S. and Gordon, S. eds. 2024. Vigor Mortis: The vitality of the dead in Medieval societies. London: Routledge.
- Gordon, S. 2019. Supernatural encounters: Demons and the restless dead in Medieval England c.1050-1450. Routledge.
- Spinks, J., Handley, S. and Gordon, S. 2016. Magic, witches and devils in the early modern world: exhibition catalogue. John Rylands Library, University of Manchester.
- Gemi-Iordanou, E. et al. eds. 2014. Medicine, healing and performance. Oxbow.
Research
- Ghost and Revenant Belief
- Medical Humanities
- Irony and Satire
- Chaucer
- Historiography and Hagiography
- Magic and Witchcraft
- Interdisciplinary methodologies
My main reseach focus concerns medieval and early modern conceptions of the supernatural. My first monograph Supernatural Encounters: Demons and the Restless Dead in Medeival England, c.1050-1450 (Routledge, 2020), explored the ways in which conflicting ideas about the intention and agency of walking corpses ('revenants') were understood and articulated in different social and literary contexts.
This work feeds into my ongoing interests in the relationship between medical and supernatural belief in the medeival world, specifically literary articulations of the nightmare experience (sleep paralysis) and the aetiology of contagion. I am also interested in interdisciplinary theory and the relationship between written and material 'texts', specifically how the literary evidence for supernatural belief can be used to inform our understanding of ambiguous archaeological data.
Teaching
In the 2024/25 academic year I will be teaching on the following modules:
- Medieval Arthurian Literature (convener)
- Medieval Misfits (convener)
- Transgressive Bodies in Medieval Literature (convener)
- Heroes and Villains: Chaucer to Shakespeare (convener)
- Dissertation Module (convener)
Biography
I joined Cardiff University in 2022, having previously taught at Royal Holloway and the University of Manchester.
Supervisions
I welcome enquiries from potential PhD students would like to pursue research on any of the following medieval topics:
- Ghost and revenant belief
- Magic and the supernatural
- Death literature and culture
- The medical humanities
Current supervision
Contact Details
GordonS3@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 75615
John Percival Building, Room Room 2.39, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
+44 29208 75615
John Percival Building, Room Room 2.39, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU
Research themes
Specialisms
- Medieval literature
- Medieval history