Research areas
John Joseph Gallagher is an Honorary Lecturer in the School of English and the Assistant Editor of Fontes Anglo-Saxonici, the most comprehensive database of sources for Old English and Anglo-Latin literature. John was involved in the 2020 revival and redevelopment of Fontes, and currently works on the database’s content and expansion. Enter Fontes Anglo-Saxonici here: https://arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/fontes/texts
John’s research interests lie in biblical cultures of translation, interpretation, and literary adaptation in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Primarily, John’s work concerns religious literature, textual criticism, exegesis, philology, and theology within the spheres of Gothic, Latin, Old English, Old Norse-Icelandic, Old Saxon, and related textual cultures.
John gained a PhD from St Andrews and has taught extensively in the School of English, the School of Divinity, the School of Modern Languages in the Department of Comparative Literature, and the St Andrews Institute of Medieval Studies. John maintains strong research links with St Mary’s College, the School of Divinity, particularly in relation to his ongoing work on the Gothic Bible.
He is a Scientific Associate of the Orthodox Academy of Crete; a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; a Member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland; an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; and an External Member of the Sheffield Centre for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies.
Alongside colleagues from Europe and North America, John is a co-organiser of the international conference “Entangled Christianities: 100–1500 CE,” to be held at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in 2025. For more details visit: https://sites.google.com/view/entangled-christianities/about-call-for-papers?authuser=0
Research Interests
Biblical exegesis and textual criticism; translation and literary adaptation; source criticism; religious poetry; cosmology and eschatology; computus and the calendar; medieval hermeneutics; liturgy; homiletics; classical reception; digital humanities.
Selected publications
-
Aithbhreac Inghean Coirceadail
Gallagher, J., 14 Jan 2026, The Palgrave encyclopedia of medieval women's writing in the global Middle Ages. Sauer, M. M., Watt, D. & Herbert McAvoy, L. (eds.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 1–2Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
-
Demonization and Conversion in Early Medieval England, Francia, and Saxony
Gallagher, J., 2025, (Submitted) Uses of the Satanic . Hughes, S., Morris, K. & Dendle, P. (eds.). Boydell & Brewer, p. 33 64 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
-
Of saints and scholars: encyclopaedic knowledge and instruction in the Old English Martyrology
Gallagher, J., 12 Nov 2025, (In preparation) Martyrologies in the insular world. Volmering, N. (ed.). Turnhout: Brepols PublishersResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
-
Oxford psalter
Gallagher, J., 14 Jan 2026, The Palgrave encyclopedia of medieval women's writing in the global Middle Ages. Sauer, M. M., Watt, D. & Herbert McAvoy, L. (eds.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 1–2Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
-
St. Boniface's correspondence
Gallagher, J., 14 Jan 2026, The Palgrave encyclopedia of medieval women's writing in the global Middle Ages. Sauer, M. M., Watt, D. & Herbert McAvoy, L. (eds.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 1–2Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
-
Old English Bible: I. The Heptateuch (Genesis to Judges)
Gallagher, J. (Editor) & Everson, M. (Editor), 1 Aug 2024, Dundee: Evertype. (Corpus textuum anglicorum; vol. 1)Research output: Book/Report › Book
-
Open access
Rewriting the psalter: classical poetics and late antique stylistics in Bede’s metrical psalms
Gallagher, J. J., 1 Aug 2024, The Anglo-Latin poetic tradition: sources, transmission, and reception, ca. 650–1100. Curran, C. M. (ed.). York: Arc Humanities Press, p. 135-176 42 p. (Medieval media and culture).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
-
Biblical-textual criticism in Bede's commentary on Genesis
Gallagher, J. J., 27 Jun 2023, Bede the scholar. Darby, P. & MacCarron, M. (eds.). Manchester: University of Manchester Press, p. 198-222 25 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
-
Open access
Liturgy and learning: the encyclopaedic function of the Old English Martyrology
Gallagher, J., 10 Mar 2022, In: Religions. 13, 3, 23 p., 236.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
History, eschatology, and the development of the six ages of the world: Part II: from Tyconius to Bede
Gallagher, J., 1 Dec 2021, In: Augustinianum. 61, 2, p. 361-380 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review