Peter Dendle

Who is Peter Dendle?

Peter Dendle is an Associate Professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on Old and Middle English, folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, and the monstrous. Dendle has written books and articles on a number of topics, including cryptozoology, philology, the demonic in literature, zombie movies, and Medieval plants and medicine. His work on zombies reached perhaps its largest popular audience through his commentary on NPR.

His education includes a B.A. in English and Philosophy and an M.A. in Philosophy, both from the University of Kentucky, as well as an M.A. in English from Yale and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Toronto.

In 2007, National Geographic featured some of the research results from Dendle's forthcoming monograph The Devil in Anglo-Saxon England. Other recent works include peer-reviewed articles on medieval charms, demon possession, and a translation and analysis of The Old English Life of Malchus and Two Vernacular Tales from the Vitas Patrum in MS Cotton Otho C.i: which appeared in English Studies, 2010.