Born in Chios, Greece, Damico emigrated to the United States in 1937.
At the University of New Mexico she began teaching in 1981, later founding the Institute for Medieval Studies.
The author of Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition, Damico made important contributions to the study of women in Old English and Old Norse literature, and her work on Wealhþeow is frequently cited.
[1][2][3] She saw representations of the valkyrie in both Wealhþeow and Grendel's Mother in the Old English poem Beowulf (c. 700–1000 AD).
[4] Damico was a recipient of the New Mexico Humanities Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Humanities, and a recipient of the Medieval Academy of America's CARA Award for Outstanding Service to Medieval Studies.