Meet Riley Quartermain, a senior majoring in English and minoring in biology and history! With a concentration in American and British literature, Quartermain is deeply engaged with Old English and medieval literature, exploring its historical context and lasting impact. Currently, she’s working on translating Old English literature, a research project that combines her interest in language with a deeper understanding of the past.
She first started these projects by enrolling in ENGL 620 with Professor Leinbaugh last spring on a whim! She said, “I ended up going to the first day of class and loving it. The class was very thought-provoking, as we talked about first-century history and archeological artifacts; it was much more than a basic language class.”
At that point in time, Quartermain was sure she wanted to pursue biology as her major. However, she was drawn to the diversity of studying humanities in English classes–learning not only about literature, but Latin, ancient history, religious figures, rulers in time, and much more. Further, she found she enjoyed being surrounded by people “who were each very knowledgeable about something unique to themselves.”
She added, “In the class, I was introduced to Old English, detailed grammar, and the power of translation. After having a wonderful time in the class, I ended up doing an independent study with Dr. Leinbaugh over the summer and the following semester, Fall 2024, continuing my work on translations.”
Quartermain’s initial attempt at translating was the Old English spoken religious poem, Caedmon’s Hymn: “I looked at a Northumbrian version, the earliest surviving Old English version of the poem, and then two different later Old English versions. I compared word usage in each version, looking at how the dialect has evolved over time.”
She then translated Deor, another Old English religious poem, and then collaborated with a peer to compose a combined glossary for the Battle of Maldon and The Seafarer. Most recently, Quartermain worked on some passages from the bible including the books of Jonah and Luke. These translations were her particular favorite because she was “fascinated by participating in the historical act of translating the bible to modern English.”
Quartermain starts her projects by choosing a text and typing the words out on Word document:
“From there, I look up each word in my glossary and choose what meaning, clause, person, or tense fits in relation to the sentence structure and surrounding words. I compare definitions from different glossaries, as a single word can have quite different definitions. For example, the word grāp means both grasp and claw. The translator has to make a decision on what they think the word means in the context of the text. Therefore, much of the translation process is personal to the translator; each word is one taking a stance, even if it does not feel like it.”
Moving forward, Quartermain is hoping to continue this research at a graduate school level.
She also encourages anyone interested in learning more about literature and history of the first century to look into ENGL 620- Introduction to Old English or PWAD 489- Empire and Diplomacy!
