If people seem to like films as a whole, and they seem to like the Middle Ages in general, why are they so frequently dissatisfied with films made about the Middle Ages in particular?
Story of Richard III inspiring graphic novels
June 12, 2013 By
The discovery of King Richard III has inspired comic book artists to take up their pencils to tell the tale of the controversial monarch’s dramatic life and death.
Top Ten ‘Medieval’ Commercials
June 11, 2013 By
Using the Middle Ages is always a good way to sell stuff! Here are our top ten commercials that have something medieval in them.
The Meaning of the Middle Ages: Fans, Authors, and Industry
May 15, 2013 By
This was a very enjoyable paper given on the topic of medievalism and the predominance of a European perspective in almost all fantasy literature. Young examined three authors who were moving away from the traditional telling of fantasy by subverting the typical pseudo-medieval narrative or by moving away from European cultures towards embracing Eastern, Aztec and other non-European worlds.
George R. R. Martin’s Quest for Realism in A Song of Ice and Fire
May 14, 2013 By
This was my last session of KZOO this year and it was the perfect way to end a great conference. This series was dedicated to examining medievalism in fantasy literature with the dominant topic being George R. R. Martin and Tolkien.
Book Review: Medievalisms: Making the Past the Present
March 19, 2013 By
In the book Medievalisms: Making the Past the Present, Tison Pugh and Angela Jane Weisl recognize the enduring influence of the Middle Ages and address how medievalisms are interpreted and represented in modern culture.
“What do we do? Hop on a bus to medieval times?”:Medievalisms of Robin of Sherwood and Charmed
January 8, 2013 By
Three different medievalist narrative styles have been identified for the purposes of this volume, Medieval in Motion: modernist medievalism, post-modernist medievalism and neo-medievalism.
Call for Papers: Ethics in medievalism
December 29, 2012 By
What role do ethics play in post-medieval responses to the Middle Ages?
The Influence of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Masculinist Medievalism
December 14, 2012 By
Tolkien, unlike other influential critics or popular fantasy writers, shapes perception of the Middle Ages from both the top down and the bottom up.
Up Helly Aa: an ancient Viking festival?
December 11, 2012 By
Each year on the last Tuesday of January the town of Lerwick is awash with Vikings. The day culminates with the burning of an ornate longship, complete with dragon head and tail, thus creating a striking image of a Norse sea – king’s funeral pyre.
Male Friendship in The Lord of the Rings: Medievalism, the First World War, and Contemporary Rewritings
December 10, 2012 By
I would like to present this research about male friendships in the First World War and to discuss how Tolkien’s work reflects what we see in other writers who represented their experiences in the First War
Beowulf and Boyology: The Processes of Medievalism
December 8, 2012 By
Between 1870 and 1914 more than twenty children’s versions of Beowulf were published, with twenty more done in rest of 20th century.
Sometimes a Codpiece Is Just a Codpiece: The Meanings of Medieval Clothes
September 26, 2012 By
I am going to take you on a small tour of clothing production and of the many roles that clothing played in medieval life.
Call for Papers: The Society for the Public Understanding of the Middle Ages at Kalamazoo and Leeds
September 13, 2012 By
Call for Papers – ‘The Middle Ages in Modern Politics’ and ‘The Public Understanding of the Middle Ages Gone Wrong’
Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament – a Review
September 10, 2012 By
What is Medieval Times? Medievalists.net decided to see for ourselves and go to the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament in Toronto, Canada. Here is our review of the show:
The Middle Ages after the Middle Ages. Medievalism in the Study of European Drama and Theatre History
August 15, 2012 By
If we are going to acknowledge the afterlife of medieval genres, subject matters, motifs and techniques, three methods of research are preferable: 1. looking for simple continuity, 2. taking into account residual afterlife of medieval items in popular culture including folklore, and 3. recognizing the phenomena of the renewal of medieval genres in later ages.
Medieval Reimaginings: Female Knights in Children’s Television
July 26, 2012 By
This paper will consider three medievalist children’s television programmes, Jane and the Dragon, Sir Gadabout and Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, each of which grant knightly roles to their central female characters.
Reading Beowulf in the Rubble of Grozny
July 7, 2012 By
From December of 1994 through January 1995, and again in August 1996, Russia launched bombing campaigns against Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, as part of its war against Chechen separatists.
The Kalamazoo Diaries – new play takes on the crazy world of the International Congress on Medieval Studies
July 1, 2012 By
Medievalists might be cringing or laughing until they cry soon, as a new play is in the works that takes a look at one of their most famous gatherings: the International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Saturday Morning Medieval: Medievalisms and Children’s television programming
July 1, 2012 By
This paper could alternately be called medieval puns, or how many ways can you replace the word night with knight.
Ottawa School of Medieval Armed Combat
June 22, 2012 By
We speak with John Woods, President and Co-founder of the Ottawa School of Medieval Armed Combat, during a medieval festival in eastern Ontario.
Shooting Arrows Through Myth and History: The Evolution of the Robin Hood Legend
June 12, 2012 By
This study begins with an examination of Robin Hood as he appeared in popular media from the fourteenth century through the twenty-first century.
Mixing Memory and Desire: The Re-Emergence of the Grail In the Industrial World
June 8, 2012 By
This pagan relic is constantly returning to Western consciousness in new forms, always reflecting the society which grapples with it. But why? What is it about this particular myth which seems to resonate with people?
Byte-Sized Middle Ages: Tolkien, Film, and the Digital Imagination
June 5, 2012 By
I wish to examine in historical perspective how and why this modern visual/cinematic understanding of Tolkien’s Middle-earth in particular, and consequently of the Middle Ages in general, has come to rely upon and be shaped by a shared stock of stylized referents related to the virtual reality of computers
No Game for Knights: The Arthurian Legend in Hardboiled Detective Fiction
May 22, 2012 By
In America, novels ranging from The Great Gatsby to John Steinbeck’s Cup of Gold borrowed Arthurian conventions to discuss contemporary American life.
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