Thomas Hill

About

Thomas Hill is a Professor Emeritus in the Medieval Studies Program at Cornell University. He was educated in private schools in Florida, earned his BA from Harvard University in 1961, his MA from the University of Illinois in 1963, and his PhD from Cornell University in 1967. He has taught at the University of Illinois and Cornell University, as well as participating in NEH Summer Programs at Harvard University. As a medievalist, his work focuses on Old and Middle English, Old French, Old Norse-Icelandic, and Medieval Latin literature. His current interests include patristic and medieval Biblical exegesis, medieval folklore, and Old English and early Germanic legal texts. Though primarily interested in literature, he has served on committees of students interested in linguistics.

Research topics

• History
• Art
• Literature
• Philosophy
• Classics

Selected publications

• Hrothgar’s Speech of Adoption: A Danish–Latin Analog

  Notes and Queries · 2019-03-28 · 4 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  After Beowulf has defeated Grendel, the Danes gather in the morning to wonder at the destruction in the hall and to admire the bloody trophy of Beowulf’s victory—the arm and shoulder of Grendel that Beowulf has ripped from the body of the monster. Among the admirers of Beowulf’s heroism is Hroðgar who takes the occasion to stand up and celebrate this victory in a relatively lengthy speech.

  PublisherDOI

• A New Commentary on the Old English ‘Prose Solomon and Saturn’ and ‘Adrian and Ritheus’ Dialogues

  Brepols Publishers eBooks · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  bookOpen accessSenior author

  Who was not born, was buried in his mother’s womb, and was baptized after death? Who first spoke with a dog? Why don’t stones bear fruit? Who first said the word ‘God’? Why is the sea salty? Who built the first monastery? Who was the first doctor? How many species of fish are there? What is the heaviest thing to bear on earth? What creatures are sometimes male and sometimes female? The Old English dialogues The Prose Solomon and Saturn and Adrian and Ritheus, critically edited in 1982 by J. E. C…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Raising the Roof in <i>Cædmon's Hymn</i>

  The Journal of English and Germanic Philology · 2022-10-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Next to Beowulf, Cædmon's Hymn is probably the most famous poem in Old English, and the fact that Bede admired it heightens its intrinsic interest. The poem, brief as it is, consists of two parts. The first four lines praise God as the originator of all miracles, and the next five relate his creation of heaven and earth: Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard, metudæs maecti, end his modgidanc, uerc uuldurfadur— sue he uundra gihuaes, eci dryctin, or astelidæ!5 He aerist scop eordu barnum heben til…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• ‘On Fæder Bearme’: <i>Beowulf</i>, Line 21

  Notes and Queries · 2018-12-26 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The language of Beowulf is fluently and idiomatically Christian. The poet casually and readily draws upon Christian phrasing and ideas in expressing himself both in ‘Christian’ or ‘religious’ contexts and in simply narrating or elaborating upon the secular narrative which is at the centre of the poem. When Beowulf and his men have a smooth and easy sea voyage from the land of the Geats to Denmark, they thank God (gode þancedon, line 227).1 When Scyld dies, he (his soul) goes into the protection…

  PublisherDOI

• North or East: The Pilgrim Child’s Journey

  Notes and Queries · 2025-06-18

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Charles D. Wright

  8 shared

• Thomas N. Hall

  3 shared

• Susan E. Deskis

  Northern Illinois University

  2 shared

• Leonard Neidorf

  Nanjing University

  2 shared

• Frederick M. Biggs

  2 shared

• Paul E. Szarmach

  2 shared

• Robert D Fulk

  Brewer Science (United States)

  1 shared

• Phoebe Boyd

  1 shared

Similar researchers at Cornell University

• Sturt Manningh-45
• Benjamin Andersonh-8
• Courtney Ann Robyh-7