Essays on the modern reception of the Middle Ages, built round the central theme of the ethics of medievalism.

Essays on the modern reception of the Middle Ages, built round the central theme of the ethics of medievalism.

Ethics in post-medieval responses to the Middle Ages form the main focus of this volume. The six opening essays tackle such issues as the legitimacy of reinventing medieval customs and ideas, at what point the production and enjoyment of caricaturizing the Middle Ages become inappropriate, how medievalists treat disadvantaged communities, and the tension between political action and ethics in medievalism. The eight subsequent articles then build on this foundation as they concentrate on capitalist motives for melding superficially incompatible narratives in medievalist video games, Dan Brown's use of Dante'sInferno to promote a positivist, transhumanist agenda, disjuncturesfrom medieval literature to medievalist film in portrayals of human sacrifice, the influence ofBeowulf on horror films and vice versa, portrayals of war inBeowulf films, socialism in William Morris's translation ofBeowulf, bias in Charles Alfred Stothard'sMonumental Effigies of Great Britain, and a medieval source for death in the Harry Potter novels. The volume as a whole invites and informs a much larger discussion on such vital issues as the ethical choices medievalists make, the implications of those choices for their makers, and the impact of those choices on the world around us.

Karl Fugelso is Professor of Art History at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Contributors: Mary R. Bowman, Harry Brown, Louise D'Arcens, Alison Gulley, Nickolas Haydock, Lisa Hicks, Lesley E. Jacobs, Michael R. Kightley, Phillip Lindley, Pascal J. Massie, Lauryn S. Mayer, Brent Moberley, Kevin Moberley, Daniel-Raymond Nadon, Jason Pitruzello, Nancy M. Resh, Carol L. Robinson, Christopher Roman, M.J. Toswell.

Editorial Note
The Dangers of the Search for Authenticity?: The Ethics of Hallowe'en - M J Toswell
Living Memory and the Long Dead: The Ethics of Laughing at the Middle Ages - Louise D'Arcens
Justice Human and Divine: Ethics in Margaret Frazer's Medievalist Dame Frevisse Series - Lisa Hicks
Justice Human and Divine: Ethics in Margaret Frazer's Medievalist Dame Frevisse Series - Lesley E. Jacobs
The Song Remains the Same: Crossing Intersections to Create an Ethical World via an Adaptation ofEveryman for Everyone - Daniel-Raymond Nadon
The Song Remains the Same: Crossing Intersections to Create an Ethical World via an Adaptation ofEveryman for Everyone - Nancy M. Resh
The Song Remains the Same: Crossing Intersections to Create an Ethical World via an Adaptation ofEveryman for Everyone - Carol L. Robinson
Bringing Elsewhere Home:A Song of Ice and Fire's Ethics of Disability - Pascal J. Massie and Lauryn S. Mayer
The Ethical Movement of Daenerys Targaryen - Christopher Roman
What if the Giants Returned to Albion for Vengeance?: Crusade and the Mythic Other in theKnights of the Nine Expansion toThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Jason Pitruzzello
The Dark Ages of the Mind: Eugenics, Amnesia, and Historiography in Dan Brown'sInferno - Brent Moberly
The Dark Ages of the Mind: Eugenics, Amnesia, and Historiography in Dan Brown'sInferno - Kevin Moberly
Plastic Pagans: Viking Human Sacrifice in Film and Television - Harry Brown
Meat Puzzles:Beowulf and Horror Film - Nickolas Haydock
Words, Swords, and Truth: Competing Visions of Heroism inBeowulf on Screen - Mary R. Bowman
Socialism and Translation: The Folks of William Morris'sBeowulf - Michael R. Kightley
"We Wol Sleen this False Traytor Deeth": The Search for Immortality in Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale and J. K. Rowling'sThe Deathly Hallows - Alison Gulley
Intention or Accident? Charles Alfred Stothard'sMonumental Effigies of Great Britain - Philip G Lindley