Inspiration drawn from the Middle Ages can be found in many forms of modern pop culture. In fact, so-called ‘neomedievalism’ has emerged onto the global scene, and has become almost as widespread...Show moreInspiration drawn from the Middle Ages can be found in many forms of modern pop culture. In fact, so-called ‘neomedievalism’ has emerged onto the global scene, and has become almost as widespread and as often referenced as when the Roman and Greek cultures were rediscovered during the Italian Renaissance. Neomedievalism is described as the postmodern ‘use’ of medieval cultures which often deliberately denies historical accuracy and is usually a nostalgic or romanticized version - or a crude representation - of medieval culture. This way of appropriating medieval themes and stories is possible because it is still “productive in the contemporary imagination”. This claim is substantiated by the popularity of countless medieval-inspired TV-series, films, medieval-styled ‘role playing games’, books such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book and TV series - and of course music containing neomedievalist themes. This thesis will explore the role of neomedievalism in Viking Metal, Anglo-Saxon Metal and Neofolk, to find out how neomedievalism fits in with the counter-culture of these music subgenres.Show less
This thesis analyses George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire from a medievalist perspective. By comparing Martin’s representation of several significant themes to his medieval...Show moreThis thesis analyses George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire from a medievalist perspective. By comparing Martin’s representation of several significant themes to his medieval and medievalist sources, we can see how he deviates from his sources to problematize the medieval. Firstly, Martin’s portrayal of women is discussed, highlighting strong female characters such as Daenerys. Another important aspect that is addressed is chivalry, discussing both the romantic side of chivalry and court life, as well as chivalry in regards to honour and righteousness. Altogether, this thesis analyses how Martin’s depiction of gender roles and chivalry may be interpreted as subverting the medieval ideals that Martin so clearly based himself on.Show less
The Early Anglo-Saxons did not split Middle-Earth in continents like we divide the earth now. This thesis will attempt to answer the question of how the influx of Christian and Greco-Latin...Show moreThe Early Anglo-Saxons did not split Middle-Earth in continents like we divide the earth now. This thesis will attempt to answer the question of how the influx of Christian and Greco-Latin literature influences the representation of Africa and Asia in Anglo-Saxon England.Show less
Despite the lack of a physical description on the poet’s part, Grendel’s mother is more often than not depicted as a monstrosity. Yet her monstrous nature is the topic of much scholarly debate (e.g...Show moreDespite the lack of a physical description on the poet’s part, Grendel’s mother is more often than not depicted as a monstrosity. Yet her monstrous nature is the topic of much scholarly debate (e.g., Carlson 1967; Kiernan 1984). Generally, scholars group the mother together with her son Grendel and the dragon, and paint her as a monstrous being consumed by evil intent. However, this traditional view has recently been called into question. Hennequin (2008), for instance, reads Grendel’s mother as a human female fighter, disregarding the ‘monster tradition’ of earlier scholars. The aim of the current study is to look closely at arguments both for and against the humanity of Grendel’s mother, before presenting its own critical view on this subject to strengthen the case that she should not be read as a monster but, indeed, as a human. Analysing the poem through a psychoanalytical lens and using Freud’s theory of the id, the ego and the superego shows that the text of Beowulf constructs the female antagonist as a human rather than a monster. Debating this ‘monster tradition’ and accepting Grendel’s mother as human will pave the way for new explorations of Beowulf and its characters, medieval conventions of ‘otherness’ and femininity.Show less
Being J. R. R. Tolkien’s most celebrated work, The Lord of the Rings has been subject to a myriad of academic studies and analyses regarding both its language and its contents. For instance,...Show moreBeing J. R. R. Tolkien’s most celebrated work, The Lord of the Rings has been subject to a myriad of academic studies and analyses regarding both its language and its contents. For instance, scholars such as Provost have studied how the language elucidates the central conflict. Additionally, Agøy and Drout have examined the story’s themes through its stylistic attributes, as well as the general aesthetic effects of these stylistic choices. Meanwhile, feminist readings like those of Enright and Green discuss the number and roles of female characters in the books, countering common criticisms that their paucity betrays Tolkien’s supposed sexist stance. However, the language and contents of the trilogy have yet to be combined into a single systematic study, which is where this thesis comes in. Using the stylistic approach to Politeness Theory (Brown and Levinson), Speech-Act Theory (Searle), and keynoting (Carter and Nash), this thesis will examine the text surrounding female characters in an attempt to reveal how stylistic choices affect their presentation. By focussing on stylistic choices, this study aims to clarify how the characters are portrayed, which may not be as obvious from their actions or their role in the plot. This way, this study explores whether the criticism of too few bland female characters in The Lord of the Rings holds true by examining how language contributes to nuances in their characterization.Show less
This thesis describes the evolution of the characters of Guinevere and Morgan le Fay throughout Arthurian literature in the Middle Ages and the twentieth century, and analyses how Guinevere and...Show moreThis thesis describes the evolution of the characters of Guinevere and Morgan le Fay throughout Arthurian literature in the Middle Ages and the twentieth century, and analyses how Guinevere and Morgan le Fay are depicted in the television series "Merlin" and "Camelot", comparing the shows' versions to their counterparts from medieval and modern times and elaborating on how they fit into the contemporary trend of portraying "strong females characters" in modern fantasy.Show less
In History’s Vikings (2013-), the writer Michael Hirst wants to show the female empowerment of women in Viking culture and how this empowerment differs from women in medieval Christian culture....Show moreIn History’s Vikings (2013-), the writer Michael Hirst wants to show the female empowerment of women in Viking culture and how this empowerment differs from women in medieval Christian culture. This thesis first considers the medieval source material that Hirst adapted. This thesis analyses the characterisation of Lagertha (in the Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum) and Aslaug (in Ragnars saga Loðbrókar) and compares their portrayals with the idea of the medieval woman described by Eileen Power and Carolyne Larrington. Following this analysis, this thesis provides a close-reading of the first three seasons of Vikings and looks at the Viking female characters, subdivided into three groups: the warrior woman who wishes to become equal to men (Lagertha), the wife who desires independence (Aslaug) and the woman who wants power and uses manipulation to obtain this (Siggy). Secondly, this thesis analyses the empowerment of the Christian women (Judith, Kwenthrith and Gisla) and demonstrates how religion and social customs pose obstacles to their empowerment. Consequently, this thesis demonstrates that the creators of Vikings try to focus on the strong Viking female characters and give them more agency, which is juxtaposed to the Christian women who cannot achieve the same level of empowerment.Show less
This thesis provides a linguistic analysis of the corrections to the Old English gloss of five psalms (Psalms 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45) in the twelfth-century Eadwine Psalter. These corrections are...Show moreThis thesis provides a linguistic analysis of the corrections to the Old English gloss of five psalms (Psalms 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45) in the twelfth-century Eadwine Psalter. These corrections are especially prevalent in the first part of the Eadwine Psalter (Psalms 1-77) and derive from the tenth-century Regius Psalter. The corrections are analysed in order to determine whether they can be characterised in terms of their type, frequency and the degree to which they adhere to Old English, i.e. whether the corrector introduced any modernisations into the gloss. Besides showing that the corrected glosses in the Eadwine Psalter generally conform quite well to the corresponding glosses in the Regius Psalter, the results of the analysis demonstrate that the corrector has used relatively few lexical and morphological modernisations in his corrections. This may be seen as surprising for a corrector who was working in the early Middle English period. It is also clear that nouns and verbs are among the most heavily corrected word classes and that there are very few individual recurring lemmata among the corrections. Generally, the results conform to current scholarship on the Eadwine Psalter.Show less
