David Williams (1939–2015) was an expert on Medieval literature, as well as a college professor and department chair at McGill University. He has authored several books.

Williams's book Deformed Discourse: The Function of the Monster in Mediaeval Thought and Literature won the 1997 Raymond Klibansky Prize.^[1] In the book, "Williams explores the concept of monsters in the Middle Ages by examining its theological and philosophical roots and its symbolic function in mediaeval art and literature."^[2]

This large book was a logical follow-up to his smaller 1982 book, Cain and Beowulf: A Study in Secular Allegory, which draws on and elucidates the Cain tradition.