Margaret Laing, 1953–2023

Margaret Laing, in a pub, smiling

Meg Laing, 1953–2023

Our dear colleague, friend and Honorary AMC Member, Margaret Laing, passed away early this year. Still recovering from a months-long infection that hospitalised her in late 2022, Meg suffered an unexpected and fatal brain haemorrhage on 5 January.

Meg was a research fellow Edinburgh for her entire academic career, until her retirement in 2013. She was a prolific and groundbreaking scholar in the field of early Middle English. To those of us who knew her, however, she was also a singularly warm, enthusiastic and generous human being who will be sorely missed.

We invite you to read Professor Michael Benskin’s personal memoir of Meg Laing’s life and work [here], as well as a brief tribute from Professor Donka Minkova [here].


A celebration of Meg’s work was hosted by the Philological Society on 19 January 2024, with a talk by Keith Williamson entitled ‘3wat ech lettre signefie’: In celebration of the scholarship of Dr Margaret Laing. During the same event, Rhona Alcorn also gave a video tribute, which you can see below.

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