Jennifer Westwood Chandler (May 1, 1940-May 12, 2008) studied at St. Anne's College, Oxford University, and at New Hall, Cambridge. Originally an archaeology student, she decided that she "hated the bones and things," so transferred to the Anglo-Saxon tripos (honors course) at Cambridge. For her Ph.D. thesis she researched medieval Icelandic literature. In addition to English, she spoke several modern languages, but considered herself more adept at dead languages, such as Old English, Old Icelandic and Old French.
As a folklorist, educator, television and radio personality, Ms. Westwood loved to travel and sometimes worked as a tour guide. She also authored books for both children and adults; her writing all began, she once commented, when her son craved stories. She always enjoyed reading children's books herself, especially about magic, folklore, and mythology. She read a great many of them and collected seriously those published from the 1890s to the 1930s. She considered rummaging in bookshops and at book sales her only real hobby. Among her favorite children's book writers were Laura Ingalls Wilder and Elaine Konigsburg in the United States and J. R. R. Tolkien in England. Jennifer Westwood lived in London with her husband and son, Jonathan.
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