From Westeros to Valhalla. How Fantasy recalibrates the Perception of the Middle Ages

In the interview with Dr. Theresa Specht (project B04) Professor Carolyne Larrington (St. John’s College, Oxford University) talks about Game of Thrones (GoT) as popular neomedieval fantasy fiction, the reception of Norse Myths and their fusion with popular discourses in nowadays popular culture. Besides the adaption and transformation of the Middle Ages in the series, Prof. Larrington explains what influence popularity has on the production of the series as well as on the search for ‘the next Game of Thrones’. Referring to the film The Northman (2022) and the TV series Vikings () the talk enlarges on the pressure that academia faces to engage with the popular and the involvement of its expertise in the production of popular artefacts, such as films or series. (3:20-15:14) Building a neomedieval world in Game of Thrones (15:14-19:03) Differences between scholarly and popular knowledge (19:03-26:40) George R.R. Martin’s claim for authenticity and the reconfiguration of the Middle Ages (26:40-32:00) Popularity and its influence on the production of big budget fantasy (32:00-36:45) Popular culture’s fascination with the Vikings (36:45-44:45) Engagement of the Academia with popular culture (The Northman and The Vikings) (44:45-55:30) Norse Myths in the 21st century and their fusion with popular discourses (55:30-#) Prospects on investigating popular neomedieval fantasy fiction