Popularising the Middle Ages in Modern Fantasy (eBook)

Neomedievalism, Video Games, and Vikings

Carolyne Larrington, Hans Rudolf Velten, Helen Young (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2026
288 Seiten
Boydell & Brewer Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-80543-924-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Examines the development, nature, and significance of gritty (neo)medievalism in popular culture, from Assassins Creed: Valhalla and Berserk to Robert Eggers' The Northman.Twenty-first-century popular culture has a fascination for the medieval. Its imagery, tropes and settings have become an integral part of the epic fantasy genre across different media, demonstrated by and following the success of such globally acclaimed television shows as Game of Thrones and Vikings. This volume studies this phenomenon, aiming to establish a broader understanding of why the Middle Ages have become so popular in an era of transmedia productions; it argues that concepts of accuracy and "e;authenticity"e; are key to this popularity, alongside engagement with contemporary debates about identity, race and gender, and agile responses to fan-community and media critiques.The essays address a variety of topics, from worldbuilding and narrative structures to female agency and the reception of Vikings, across a wide range of media, including film, television, literature, video games and manga. It also explores how contemporary fantasy engages with both academic knowledge and developments in imagination more widely, responding to ever-changing ideas about how an "e;authentic"e; Middle Ages may be created.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 6.1.2026
• Co-Autor: Charlotte Braun, Tobias Winnerling, Helen Young, Carolyne Larrington, Tom Pinsker, Lukas Schrage, Angela Schwarz, Theresa Specht, Minjie Su, Hans Rudolf Velten, Milan Weber
• Sprache: englisch
• ISBN-10: 1-80543-924-3 / 1805439243
• ISBN-13: 978-1-80543-924-0 / 9781805439240