New essays attempt to survey and map out the increasingly significant discipline of medievalism. Medievalism has been attracting considerable scholarly attention in recent years. But it is also suffering from something of an identity crisis. Where are its chronological and geographical boundaries? How does it relate to the Middle Ages? Does it comprise neomedievalism, pseudomedievalism, and other "medievalisms"? Studies in Medievalism XVII directly addresses these and related questions via a series of specially-commissioned essays from some of the most well-known scholars in the field; they explore its origins, survey the growth of the subject, and attempt various definitions. The volume then presents seven articles that often test the boundaries of medievalism: they look at echoes of medieval bestiaries in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, the influence of the Niebelungenlied on Wagner's Ring cycle, representations of King Alfred in two works by Dickens, medieval tropes in John Bale's Reformist plays, authenticity in Sigrid Undset's novel Kristin Lavransdatter, incidental medievalism in Handel's opera Rodelinda, and editing in the audio version of Seamus Heaney's Beowulf. CONTRIBUTORS: KATHLEEN VERDUIN, CLARE A. SIMMONS, NILS HOLGER PETERSEN, TOM SHIPPEY, GWENDOLYN A. MORGAN, M. J. TOSWELL, ELIZABETH EMERY, KARL FUGELSO, EMILY WALKER HEADY, MARK B. SPENCER, GAIL ORGELFINGER, DOUGLAS RYAN VAN BENTHUYSEN, THEA CERVONE, WERNER WUNDERLICH, EDWARD R. HAYMES

Studies on the influence of the middle ages, and in particular the Arthurian legends, on the culture of North America. Fifteen essays trace North America's enthusiastic engagement with the middle ages from the Revolution to Disney. There are eight studies of the American reception of Arthur: in art (Abbey, Rosenthal), literature (Canadian writers,John Ciardi), scholarship (R.S. Loomis), politics (JFK), and popular culture (Arthurian youth groups, Disneyland, the Excalibur Casino). Other topics include Tom Paine, Elbertus Hubbard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, C.B. DeMille, popular treatments of Villon, the roots of the New Mexican cuento, and the rhetoric of the Gulf War. Contributors: ROGER WOOD, KYMBERLEY N. PINDER, ERICA E. HIRSHLER, ALAN LUPACK, CHARLOTTE OBERG, RAYMOND H. THOMPSON,STAN GALLOWAY, ROBIN BLAETZ, ROBERT D. PECKHAM, JEFF RIDER, KLAUS P. JANKOFSKY, MARY MORSE, PAMELA S. MORGAN, SUSAN ARONSTEIN, NANCY COINER, JONATHAN M. ELUKIN

The second study of medievalism in Europe shows how the influence of the middle ages has been manifested itself in various forms, throughout the modern age, in Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden - and Brazil. How have the middle ages been constructed in modern European culture? How have these constructions both reflected and refashioned national and political ideology? What has characterised the interplay between literary and artisticmedievalism and the rise of formal medieval studies in the academy? This international collection addresses medievalism in Germany, France, Scandinavia, and postcolonial South America. Contributors: RICHARD J. UTZ, ALBRECHT CLASSEN, OTFRID EHRISMANN, NILS HOLGER PETERSEN, ROBERT E. BJORK, MARTHA L. MACFARLANE, ADAM KNOBLER, WILLIAM CHESTER JORDAN, SUZY BEEMER, WILLIAM CALIN, ROY ROSENSTEIN

Twelve essays discuss how the middle ages are reflected in English culture from the sixteenth century to the present day. Eleven essays, by scholars from America, Australia and the United Kingdom, investigate reinventions of the middle ages in English culture from the end of sixteenth century to the present day. Topics addressed include medievalism in English popular literature; Sir Walter Scott's Sir Tristrem; Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Chaucer; George Stephens and Old Northern philology; Anglo-Saxonism and the Franco-Prussian War; Dante and the Victorian historical sense; the Grail paintings of G.F. Watts; heterogeneity and the Kelmscott Chaucer; revivals of the Chester Mystery plays; and the cinematic art of Terry Gilliam. KATHLEEN VERDUIN is Professor of English, Hope College,Michigan. Contributors: JOHN SIMONS, DAVID MATTHEWS, ALAN LUPACK, KAREN HODDER, ANDREW WAWN, MARILYNN LINCOLN BOARD, CLARE SIMMONS, ALISON MILBANK, DIANA ARCHIBALD, DAVID MILLS, RICHARD H. OSBERG