Draft:Richard Fahey(Professor)

Richard Fahey
Born	October 22, 1985(age 39) Lawrence, Massachusetts
Occupation	Professor
Notable work	Enigmatic Design and Psychomachic Monstrosity in Beowulf

Richard Fahey(born October 22 1985) is an American professor at Orchard Street Academy High School and the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Early life and education

Fahey was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He received a bachelor's degree in History and Religion in 2008 from the University of Vermont and went on to get a master's degree in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto in 2011. After this he worked as managing editor and research and teaching assistant before getting his Ph.D. in English at the University of Notre Dame in 2020.

Dissertation and career

Dissertation

Fahey's interest in Beowulf was first sparked when he became obsessed with the language of poem while he was getting his bachelors in History and Religion. However, it was only later that his interest was truly piqued when he took an introduction to Old English class as well as a class that focused on Beowulf itself. The class was a struggle for him as he had to complete his own translation and derive its meaning on his own and his Old English skills were lacking at the time. However, in the end it gave him a greater appreciation for the poem and its differences as well as similarities to other works from the time. This inspired him to write his honors thesis in undergrad on on Beowulf, in which he focused on how it implemented both Christian and pagan aspects simultaneously. He continued his work on Beowulf during his masters degree where his masters advisors Sean Field and Chris Vaccaro encouraged him to do deep dive into Grendel. During the deep dive he learned that Grendel was called many unique words, as well as many compounds, for example, Grendel being called a Hellegast which could be interpreted as him being either a hall guest or a hell guest. That type of intricate language and double meanings that accompanied Grendel are what convinced him that very few people are close to the true meaning of Beowulf and cemented his interest in Beowulf. For his Ph.D. Fahey wrote his dissertation on the “Enigmatic Design and Psychomachic Monstrosity in the Beowulf” where he analyzed Beowulf through the lens of popular texts in Anglo-Saxon England, particularly Psychomachia, and concluded that the depiction of the monsters in Beowulf matched with the depiction of monsters in those texts, contrary to contemporary opinion on the topic. He first concluded that the author of Beowulf must have went through a monastic education to know how to write, with this education starting first with grammar and then focusing on riddles, with these riddles and double meanings being seen throughout Beowulf. The types of riddles most frequently used at the time and in Beowulf were imitation,esotericity, and paradox. Imitation is essentially breaking the expectations of the reader by describing something in such a way that it seems to describe something else, for example like making a needle look like a monster by describing it as having one eye and a sharp pointed tooth, esotericity relied on facts that few people knew as way to make the riddle hard to understand, and paradox was something seemingly impossible, for example describing a phoenix with "my life is my death and my death is my birth". Monastic education at the time placed a lot of focus on how to interpret deeper meaning in language and texts through riddles, most commonly applied to the Bible, where they would look at riddles and how playing with language and popular texts well known and studied at time could lead to a better understanding. In his dissertation Fahey explores how these different types of riddles are used in Beowulf and how that is similar to other works of the time. He also explores how Beowulf takes lots of language from the original epic and gives it a Christian flip, making it specifically about Christian vices and virtues. Fahey argues that in Beowulf the vices are portrayed as monsters who eventually self destruct, much like in Psychomachia, he also argues that in Beowulf typical virtues like seeking glory and plunder are portrayed as vices and monsters, much like in Psychomachia, heroes and monsters are same from the point of view of Prudentius, and this idea is mirrored in Beowulf. He argues that, generally, people wanted Beowulf to be different due to its paganism, yet that its not different and it falls right into the historial context. He writes that Beowulf and the dragon killing each other is due to both riddling and rhetorical strategies of the time as well as due to the influence of texts like Psychomachia. He believes that the author was doing a sophisticated and nuanced treatment of heros and monsters, treating traditional virtues such as hubris, vengence and plunder as vices. His argument is that in each fight Beowulf (literally meaning the angry one) mirrors his opponent, first he fights Grendel(literally meaning the famous one) who represents pride, and he only defeats him because of his hubris to challenge him to a fight without weapons. This allows him to win because Grendel was immune to blades so if they fought with weapons Beowulf would have lost. Grendel's mother represents wrath as seen by attack against Heorot and once again Beowulf defeats her by being a mirror, in this case by promoting vengence to Hrothgar. In the end his vices undo him as he mirrors greed in multiple ways, first he only fights the dragon because of his greed to have his servant steal the cup of the dragon, after that when he fights him and is dying his only wish is to look at the gold before his death showcasing his greed. Fahey's belief is that Beowulf is meant to be a riddle and a challenge to understand is due to its complex language combined with how Beowulf is so flawed and how he has his monsterous qualities acknowledged, with him being described in the same language as the monsters he fights. This view of Heroes and monsters as the same is a very psychomacic view and that is why Fahey is a major proponent of Beowulf's similarity to Psychomachia.

Current Projects

Fahey is currently project manager and a contributor for the University of Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute’s Medieval Studies Research Blog where he focuses on Beowulf and poetry translations as well as Public Medievalism which focuses on the ways in which Medievalism is alive today through looking at a variety of avenues such as adaptations of literature, films, renaissance faires, and overall the ways the medieval world presents in pop culture today. One of his most popular blogs was on how racialized and orientalized sorcerers as well as female witches are typically portrayed as evil while white male wizards are portrayed as good.

He served as creative director, general manager and academic consultant for the inaugural Wyndonshire Renaissance Faire in Winchendon, MA on April 27 and 28 of 2024 as well as for the Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire in Phillipston, MA on May 4 and 5 of that same year. In those roles he creatively directed the fair, wrote lore, and planned the story-line and main pieces. The faires were a success and he is currently planning to continue them as well as direct a new faire based on Beowulf.

Current Jobs

Fahey is currently employed by the University of Massachusetts Lowell as professor for its First Year Seminar in Honors(FYSH) program. He also works as an English and humanities teacher at Orchard street academy in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Personal life

Fahey lives in Winchendon,Massachusetts and speaks Old English, Middle English, Old Norse-Icelandic, and Middle English at an Advanced level. He is married to Rajuli Fahey and has two children, Kalina, and Lorien, aged 9 and 5 respectively.