Birgitte Breemerkamp graduated cum laude from the MA Literary Studies: English Literature and Culture programme at Leiden University, the Netherlands, in June 2020. Her thesis entitled The Phoenix as a Symbol of Succession Anxiety in Early Modern Literature examines the rise and fall of phoenix symbolism in early modern English literature and the symbol’s unique connection to Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603). Birgitte’s research interests, beside of Tolkien studies, are medieval and early modern British literature and culture, diplomatic history, and court studies.