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's Inferno to promote a positivist, transhumanist agenda, disjuncturesfrom medieval literature to medievalist film in portrayals of human sacrifice, the influence of Beowulf on horror films and vice versa, portrayals of war in Beowulf films, socialism in William Morris's translation of Beowulf, bias in Charles Alfred Stothard's Monumental 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 NoteThe Dangers of the Search for Authenticity?: The Ethics of Hallowe'en - M J ToswellLiving Memory and the Long Dead: The Ethics of Laughing at the Middle Ages - Louise D'ArcensJustice Human and Divine: Ethics in Margaret Frazer's Medievalist Dame Frevisse Series - Lisa HicksJustice Human and Divine: Ethics in Margaret Frazer's Medievalist Dame Frevisse Series - Lesley E. JacobsThe Song Remains the Same: Crossing Intersections to Create an Ethical World via an Adaptation of Everyman for Everyone - Daniel-Raymond NadonThe Song Remains the Same: Crossing Intersections to Create an Ethical World via an Adaptation of Everyman for Everyone - Nancy M. ReshThe Song Remains the Same: Crossing Intersections to Create an Ethical World via an Adaptation of Everyman for Everyone - Carol L. RobinsonBringing Elsewhere Home: A Song of Ice and Fire's Ethics of Disability - Pascal J. Massie and Lauryn S. MayerThe Ethical Movement of Daenerys Targaryen - Christopher RomanWhat if the Giants Returned to Albion for Vengeance?: Crusade and the Mythic Other in the Knights of the Nine Expansion to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Jason PitruzzelloThe Dark Ages of the Mind: Eugenics, Amnesia, and Historiography in Dan Brown's Inferno - Brent MoberlyThe Dark Ages of the Mind: Eugenics, Amnesia, and Historiography in Dan Brown's Inferno - Kevin MoberlyPlastic Pagans: Viking Human Sacrifice in Film and Television - Harry BrownMeat Puzzles: Beowulf and Horror Film - Nickolas HaydockWords, Swords, and Truth: Competing Visions of Heroism in Beowulf on Screen - Mary R. BowmanSocialism and Translation: The Folks of William Morris's Beowulf - Michael R. Kightley"We Wol Sleen this False Traytor Deeth": The Search for Immortality in Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale and J. K. Rowling's The Deathly Hallows - Alison GulleyIntention or Accident? Charles Alfred Stothard's Monumental Effigies of Great Britain - Philip G Lindley