Authentically Medieval

This collection compiles essays by medievalist scholars that examine the variety of ways authors have fictionalized the medieval period while meeting the challenge of creating engaging literature. More significantly, this project seeks to explore the importance of authenticity in these works of medievalism. The works discussed represent a variety of genres, including historical, young adult, Arthurian detective fiction, paranormal romance and fantasy, as well as adaptations of Beowulf and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Opening the collection are three essays by author-scholars who share their processes of creating an authentic medieval world appealing to a wide audience. The remaining seven essays by medievalist scholars examine a variety of medievalist texts, addressing the extent to which their authors adhere to the facts of the period, while at times necessarily filling in historical gaps in the process of creating these works. Each of the essays addresses the concept of authenticity in fiction about the Middle Ages; together, they become a lively conversation about authenticity in narratives of various genres.

Debra E. Best is a professor of English at California State University-Dominguez Hills.
Elizabeth L. Rambo is an associate professor of English at Campbell University.
Patricia H. Ward is a professor emerita at the College of Charleston.

Edited by Debra E. Best, Elizabeth L. Rambo and Patricia H. Ward
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 188
Bibliographic Info: 13 photos, notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8855-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5487-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction

Debra E. Best, Patricia H. Ward and Elizabeth L. Rambo 1

A Nun, a Werewolf and a Medievalist Walk into a Romance Novel: Writing Fantasy Medievalism

Emily Lavin Leverett 9

Riding with Chaucer on the Bus of Anachronism: Modernizing the Canterbury Tales

Kim Zarins 23

“God’s elbows, boy, don’t burn me with the facts”: Faithful Revisionism in the “Merlin Mysteries” Series

Jay Ruud 49

Mind the Gaps: ­­World-Building in Rebecca Barnhouse’s The Coming of the Dragon and Peaceweaver

Patricia H. Ward 65

“Her life was no heroic adventure of daring and greatness”: Susan Signe Morrison’s Grendel’s Mother: The Saga of the ­­Wyrd-Wife and the Hidden Violence of Beowulf

Alison Gulley 82

Playing Chaucer’s Game in Paul Doherty’s Canterbury Tales Series

M. Wendy Hennequin 92

The Fantasy Space of Medieval History: Authenticity in Bruce Holsinger’s A Burnable Book

Debra E. Best 105

Justice as Women’s Work in the Novels of Candace Robb

Teresa Marie Hooper 120

Nuns and ­­Nun-Sense: Recreating Medieval Spirituality in the Dame Frevisse Novels of Margaret Frazer

Josephine A. Koster 146

Accidental Medievalist: Dorothy Dunnett and King Hereafter

Elizabeth L. Rambo and Heike Meyer 162

About the Contributors 173

Index 175