[1] She is an emeritus professor of English at Portland State University, having worked on the faculty there for over thirty years.
[3][4] Burns co-edited the J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, and contributed four articles to it on topics including Old Norse literature and the giant spider Shelob.
[5][6] C. W. Sullivan III, reviewing her 2005 book Perilous Realms for the Journal of Folklore Research, found it both praiseworthy and problematic.
But she had written a "valuable window into Tolkien's sources"; he liked the way he blended "Celtic enchantment and Norse vitality", and the book was accessible to scholars and the public alike.
[7] Kathryn Stelmach, reviewing the book for Comitatus, found her exploration of Norse "more compelling" than her "overly simplified" approach to the "Celtic" identity and the use of unreliable sources.