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Casting Light on the Dark Ages:

Tropes of Medievalism in Fantasy Films

Kapri Pearl Crowley

University of Florida

Gainesville, Florida

April 03, 2013

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful for the University of Florida’s history department, which fostered my

enthusiasm to ask questions. I would like to thank my family who never ceased to encourage and

inspire my academic endeavors. I also extend my sincere thanks to the Ronald E. McNair

Scholars Program for their continual financial and academic support. Finally, I would like to

thank Dr. Nina Caputo, who read numerous drafts, provided invaluable advice, and shared the

experience of the medieval quest. I am deeply grateful for her guidance. This paper could not

have happened without her. Thank you. This work is dedicated to those who dream of the Middle

Ages.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ............................................................................................................4

Chapter 1: Background .......................................................................................10

Fantasy Films .....................................................................................................11

Nostalgia ............................................................................................................16

Chapter 2: Trope #1 Medieval Town ................................................................24

Background ........................................................................................................25

Theme One: Towns are dark and crowded. ........................................................25

Theme Two: Inhabitants live near nature ...........................................................32

Conclusion .........................................................................................................39

Chapter 3: Trope #2 Knight................................................................................40

Background ........................................................................................................41

Theme One: The brave hero ...............................................................................41

Theme Two: The legendary sword .....................................................................46

Conclusion .........................................................................................................53

Conclusion ............................................................................................................55

Bibliography .........................................................................................................58

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INTRODUCTION

In recent years, American culture has fallen in love with fantasy fiction. The top grossing

franchises include many successful fantasy fictions, such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the

Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Saladin Ahmed, an NPR journalist, questioned “what is it

that draws millions of readers and viewers to fantasy works? What is it about fantasy?” 1

Ahmed’s question has remained unsolved. There is no one-way to understand why the fantasy

genre draws in millions of readers and viewers. A more insightful approach would be to identify

the repeating elements within the top grossing fantasy films. Although these themes reoccur

throughout the entire series, I chose to focus on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Lord

of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the

Wardrobe, and Star Wars (1977).2 These films will provide insight on how the filmmakers make

the imaginary possible. These repeating elements could reflect what images and sounds the

audience expects to find within the fantasy genre, which can illuminate the deep aesthetic

appeals that underlie contemporary culture.

I believe that the Middle Ages are the “it factor” in fantasy films because filmmakers use

the medieval as an allegorical representation for contemporary about morality. The Middle Ages

serve as a pretext, a mythological stage on which to place contemporary characters in fantasy

films.3 As early, as the Renaissance individuals believed that the Middle Ages were a dark era in

human history, a time without a real historical record. Instead of historical figures like Alexander

the Great, Julius Caesar, or Napoleon Bonaparte, the Middle Ages has been associated with

myths, legends, and chivalric tales such as The Tale of the Death of King Arthur. Since American

1 Saladin Ahmed, “At Home In Fantasy's Nerd-Built Worlds,” NPR, (2013), http://www.npr.org/2013/01/06/168631403/at-home-in-fantasys-nerd-built-worlds.

2 In order to save space, I will abbreviate the films’ titles to: The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and Star Wars respectively.

3 Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyper Reality: Essays, San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986: 68.

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culture knows less about the historic Middle Ages and far more about the medieval romantic, this

era provides an excellent stage for the fantastic.

As Carl Rubino states in The Invisible Worm, the Middle Ages has been known as the

time without a proper name, held in contempt by the modern world. The era situated between the

more prestigious times of classical antiquity and the modern world. In the late twentieth century,

historians have recognized the Middle Ages as a broad and vital strand in the complex weave

that forms our present.4 When we use the medieval to read the present “what goes missing in this

process is a sense of the period as having ever had any real or independence existence.”5 The

Middle Ages is neither part of the classical antiquity nor the modern, instead it is timeless.6 This

allows the Middle Ages to serve as an allegorical representation of contemporary qualms for

fantasy films.

When Americans watch films that allude to the medieval, they are looking at a version of

the Middle Ages that has been carefully lifted out of historical sequence in order to serve as a

mirror and an alienating device for viewing the present and/or a timeless present of parable.7 To

identify the repeating elements that reflect medieval images and sounds found in fantasy films,

one has to understand the recurring American nostalgia for the medieval and the tropes of

medievalism. These theoretical concepts can illuminate the deep aesthetic appeals that underlie

20th and 21st century contemporary American culture. In order to understand how the medieval

draws millions of viewers to fantasy films one has to understand why nostalgia encompasses the

collective longing for a past (and very often a fiction past) from a cultural unconsciousness that

4 Carl A. Rubino, “The Invisible Worm: Ancients and Aoderns in ‘The Name of the Rose,’” Substance vol. 14, no. 2 (1985): 56.

5 Arthur Lindley, “The Ahistoricism of Medieval Film,” 4.

6 To learn more about why Americans prefer the Middle Ages over other time periods, please refer to Chapter Two. 7 Renée R. Trilling, The Aesthetics of Nostalgia: Historical Representation in Old English Verse, 2009: 3.

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is primarily concerned with the present.8 Americans desire for morality, in strict terms of black

and white, resonates in fantasy films.

According to Paul Freeman and Gabrielle Spiegel, the authors of “Medievalism Old and

New”, there was a shift in the American medieval representation in the 1980s. America began to

use the medieval past as the identity of capitalism, democracy, and nationalism. This relationship

seems strange considering America does not have a medieval past. However, Charles H. Haskin

declared that: "English history is in a sense early American history,"9 and this provided America

with a direct connection to the Middle Ages. Therefore, historians’ decision to represent (or not

represent or misrepresent) is a pathological rendering of cultural values.10 America’s dual

consciousness of the Middle Ages as a time and “place of non-origin and of capitalistic origin”11

has caused the medieval to serve as a mirror for the present. This alterity of the Middle Ages has

given filmmakers a device of strangeness and differences that make the medieval an ideal

backdrop for fantasy films.

In fantasy films, the present takes on the aura of the Middle Ages. This aesthetic

operation distances viewers from the present, and yet at the same time it allows the viewers to

experience the Middle Ages more immediately.12 In its simplest terms, nostalgia is the loss of an

unobtainable object, which causes a longing for that necessity.13 When American culture seeks a

Middle Ages that never existed (except as a narrative, which provides a continual absence) the

cultural unconsciousness continues to feel a lack of the Middle Ages. Therefore, what is lacking

8 Renée R. Trilling, The Aesthetics of Nostalgia, 4.

9 Charles H. Haskins, “European History and American Scholarship”, American Historical Review vol. 28 (1992): 218. 10 Paul Freedman and Gabrielle Spiegel, “Medievalisms Old and New: The Rediscovery of Alterity in North American Medieval Studies,” The

American Historical Review vol. 103, no. 3 (1998): 677-680.

11 Paul Freedman and Gabrielle Spiegel, “Medievalisms Old and New,” 679. 12 To learn more about the Aesthetics of Nostalgia please refer to The Aesthetics of Nostalgia: Historical Representation in Old English Verse by

Renée R. Trilling.

13 Susan Stewart, On longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984: 23.

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is not simply a lost past, but a sense of meaning in the present. Consequently, filmmakers

reconstruct the lost Middle Ages to help the present make sense. In Umberto Eco’s words “the

Middle Ages have always been messed up in order to meet the vital requirements of different

periods.”14 Although the decade’s requirements may change, similar medieval themes reoccur

throughout fantasy films.

In order to capture the aesthetic appeal of the Middle Ages, filmmakers continue to

recreate the Middle Ages from previous cinematic and literary representations. Leslie Workman

simply defined this as medievalism: the continual process of creating the Middle Ages.15 Hayden

White argues that a historian’s style can be determined from the figurative language that is used

in the story. Tropes, the generic term for figurative language, enable the historian to characterize

the historical record.16 This controversial statement has caused some critics to suggest that

White’s analysis reduces history to a “mere interpretation” rather than knowledge.17 Yet, White

continues to deny his critics’ claims and asserts his position that: “a historian’s representation

must be assessed in terms of its relation to the cultural context and social conditions obtaining at

the time of its production.”18 Although, White’s claims have provoked controversy among

historians, his arguments illuminate how historians conceptualize historical events. The

conceptual process is an act of narratization, in other words, tropes can identify how historians

characterize their representation of history. White insists:

In history, I have argued, the historical field is constituted as a possible domain of

analysis in a linguistic act which is tropological in nature. The dominant trope in which

14 Susan Stewart, On longing, 23.

15 Leslie J. Workman, “Medievalism Today,” Medieval Feminist Newsletter, 1997: 23: 29.

16 Hayden V. White, Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-century Europe, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973: 429.

17 Hannah Johnson, Blood libel: The Ritual Murder Accusation at the Limit of Jewish History, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2012:

13. 18 Hayden V. White, “Response to Arthur Marwick,” Journal of Contemporary History vol. 30, no. 2(1995): 239-40.

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this constitutive act is carried out will determine both the kinds of objects which are

permitted to appear in that field as data and the possible relationships that are conceived

to obtain among them.19

Many scholars seem to overlook one of White’s fundamental claims. Since the historical field is

constituted in a linguistic act, then all domains of human interpretation that use linguistics can be

tropological in nature. In essence, tropes hide within all forms of consciousness. Therefore, all

art forms include tropes, especially films, or in this case fantasy films. The common tropes that

reoccur in fantasy films, give insight on how modern ideas project onto the past and how certain

images and sounds generate an aesthetic appeal.

Two medievalist tropes appear throughout fantasy films. These are tropes representing

the “medieval town" and “knight.” Both tropes embody several thematic elements that appear

throughout the films that I have chosen. The medieval town trope represents a time when people

lived in a simpler world that was in harmony with nature. Directors invoke Americans’ desire for

a simpler state by placing townspeople close to nature and depicting the secondary world towns

as dark, narrow, and crowded. My argument here draws from various medieval images,

including the Allegory of Good Government painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Kermesse of St.

George by Pieter Bruegel, the illuminated manuscripts adapted from Jean Froissart’s Chronicle,

and The Book of Kells. On the other hand, directors use the knight trope to reinvigorate the

chivalric epic quest. The hero, often an orphaned child, embarks on an initiatory journey to a

distant land to face not only his internal struggles, but also the woes of good versus evil. I use the

Le Morte d'Arthur and the Song of Roland to demonstrate that the hero resembles the

characteristics of a medieval knight and the significance of the hero’s weapon. Modern

19 Hayden V. White, Metahistory, 430

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civilization comes at a steep price, and Americans desire to return to an era that values righteous

heroes who live in a simple society. In essence, I will use cinematic illustrations to demonstrate

how the tropes of medievalism identify how American desire for a simpler moral and social code

(more medieval behavior) resonates in cotemporary motion pictures.

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CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND

I have been discussing nostalgia and fantasy, but I have not yet clarified how I use these

terms in this paper. This chapter is in two sections. I begin by examining the fantasy genre and

explaining why I focus on fantasy films. Second, I will elaborate on what I mean by nostalgia

and why American society longs for the medieval. Americans during the post-Vietnam and 9/11

eras endured national turmoil. In both cases, the United States entered wars where American

victories seemed uncertain. The institutions in which Americans place their faith were being

undermined, therefore, the nation looked for something new in which to put its trust. During this

time, there was a resurgence of the Middle Ages depicted in fantasy films. Chivalric knights and

simple societies became popular among Americans. Fantasy films like The Sorcerer’s Stone, The

Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and Star Wars demonstrated these popular interests. These films’

immediate success demonstrate that in post-Vietnam and 9/11 American audiences not only

wanted, but more importantly, needed an altruistic hero. This hero resembles pastiches forms of

a medieval knight who lives in a society that lives close to nature. Although there was a rise of

superheroes in the post-9/11 society, the films in which the hero resembled a medieval knight left

a stronger and lasting impact on American popular culture. The medieval knight and town

resonate in the United States because they hearken back to a simpler time where the hero would

vanquish an opposing force of evil that sought to destroy freedom and individualism. Although

ideas of freedom and individualism are anachronistic to medieval times, they appeal to a grief-

stricken country. The Middle Ages are able to adopt these ideals, simply because Americans

have come to expect the medieval as timeless and both familiar and foreign. In the following

pages, I will demonstrate why there was surge in fantasy films and how the medieval was

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incorporated into them.

Fantasy Films:

Even though The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, and The Wardrobe are available as

books,20 I chose to focus on the films because they make the fantasy stories accessible to a wider

audience than books. Motion pictures easily and quickly grab the viewers’ attention through

appealing visual and auditor effects. In the following pages, I will provide a foundation for the

fantasy genre, introduce the films and the books on which they were based, and discuss how the

films address their audience.

Once fantasy films were considered “box office poison.”21 Now the twentieth-first

century applauds fantasy films such as: The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, The Wardrobe,

and Star Wars. Although the fantasy genre has gained respect, it still struggles for a place among

the dominant Hollywood genre because the fantasy genre has become as unruly as its fictitious

characters. Often times, a movie is placed in the fantasy genre if it does not fit with the generic

Hollywood genres such as: action, comedy, western, horror, and science fiction. This makes the

fantasy genre cluttered with a large range of films such as Edward Scissor Hands and Avatar.

Those who write about fantasy create individualistic idioms to organize the messy genre.

Therefore, theories on the fantastic tend to be territorial, which limits the objective contribution

the author provides to the scholarly discourse. For instance, John Clute and John Grant define

fantasy as “a self-coherent narrative, when set in our reality, tells a story which is impossible in

the world as we perceive it” or in an otherworld where the stories are set in the otherworld’s

terms.22 This definition seems concrete until you reach their chapter on themes. The

20 The Star Wars series was first introduced as a film and it was later turn into comic books.

21 Kristen Thompson, The Frodo Franchise. Berkerley: University Of California Press, 2007: 55. 22 John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. New York: St. Martin's, 1997: “Introduction.”

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Encyclopedia of Fantasy identifies over a thousand themes, which range from Arabian nightmare

to wormhole fantasy. Each theme includes additional information to embellish the fantasy

narrative. Clute and Grant’s approach merges an array of films under the umbrella of the

fantastic. By doing so, they imply that most films belong in the fantasy genre. In a way they are

right- motion pictures are illusions. Nevertheless, the genre needs distinctions that make fantasy

films unique. In another approach, David Hartwell lumps the fantasy genre into two themes:

“Lovecraftian” and “high fantasy.” In reference to the writer H.P. Lovecraft, who is known for

horror tales, Harwell argues that Lovecraft influence a mode of fantasy that intrudes into the

modern world. While, high fantasy is a self-contained reality, often in a medieval world that is:

“Pastoral, hierarchical, and politically conservative.”23 Hartwell’s definition of Loveraftian and

high fantasy fail to recognize the spectrum of fantasy films including but not limited to The

Wizard of Oz, The Matrix, and Tron where the fantastic neither enters the modern world nor do

the main character(s) enter a recognizable medieval world. Even though the fantasy genre is a

hodgepodge, most scholars can agree that the common element of fantasy narratives is that it

transports the audience from a realistic world into a realm full of possibilities. This element is

found within The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Wardrobe, The Fellowship, and Star Wars.

In these films the audience follows the hero, where the camera continuously captures the

action, facial expressions, and setting of the main characters. Occasionally, the camera follows

the archenemy’s actions, but the camera always returns to the hero. The director rarely captures

video through the hero’s eyes; instead, the audience consistently watches the characters in a third

person perspective. This effect distinguishes a difference between the audience and the film’s

characters. Unlike video games, in which the main character is the player, in fantasy films the

23 David G. Hartwell, “The Return of Fantasy” in Fantasy and Horror. Ed. Neil Barron, Scarecrow Press: Lanham, 1999: 2.

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main character is an identified subject. Only Star Wars addresses the audience. The opening line

of the film reads: “A long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away…” Star Wars offers the audience a

justification for the video that will follow. Neither The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Wardrobe, or The

Fellowship offer an explanation for the fantasy narrative. Since Star War is not rooted in

literature, director George Lucas strategically bases the film on a fairy tale to explain its sudden

existence in 1977. The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Wardrobe, or The Fellowship are rooted in

literature that appeared before the films were in production.

The Sorcerer’s Stone was adapted from J. K. Rowling’s book Harry Potter and the

Philosopher’s Stone. The book was originally released in the United Kingdom in 1997, but was

adapted for American audiences in 1998 under the title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

In both editions, the story follows a young orphan boy living in modern England named Harry

Potter, who finds out not only that is he a wizard, but that he is destined to defeat the evil wizard

Lord Voldermort. Director Chris Columbus released The Sorcerer’s Stone first in England on

November 4th 2001 then on the 16th in the United States. Although Warner Bros. Entertainment,

an American company, distributed the film, it was set in Britain with a British cast to match J. K.

Rowling’s version of the book. The Sorcerer’s Stone was well received; according to Forbes it is

the top grossing franchise of all time at $7.7 billion.24 The Sorcerer’s Stone largest audience was

the United States, which accounted for $435,003,000 adjusted domestic gross income.25 In

response to the United States book edition, author Megan K. wrote that: “After several months

on The New York Times bestseller list and with 350,000 copies in print, the book has reached a

level of success never achieved by a children's novel in the United States, say publishing

24 Dorothy Pomerantz, "Can 'The Hobbit' Make 'Lord Of The Rings' The Top Film Franchise Of All Time?" Forbes. (2012)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2012/12/13/can-the-hobbit-make-lord-of-the-rings-the-top-franchise-ever/. 25 Box Office Mojo, "Domestic Grosses Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation," http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm.

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experts.26 Both J. K. Rowling’s book and the film adaptation was an immediate success among

American audiences. The Sorcerer’s Stone provided children and adults alike a chance to escape

the mundane, and enter a magical realm full of possibilities.

On a similar note, The Wardrobe follows a group of four siblings living in modern era

who enter an unrealistic realm. C. S. Lewis published The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in

1950. This is the first book released in his Chronicles of Narnia. The book follows the Pevensie

children from oldest to youngest: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Their mother sends evacuates

them from London to a countryside house to escape the air raids of World War II. While in the

house, the youngest, Lucy stumbles upon a wardrobe, which transports her to the mythical land,

Narnia. Soon after, her siblings follow her into Narnia where they become involved with the

political battle against the evil White Witch. Walt Disney Pictures distributed the film version of

C. S. Lewis’ book in December 2005. Director Andrew Adamson produced the film mainly in

New Zealand, but he kept the C. S. Lewis’ British characters. Although Forbes does not list The

Chronicles of Narnia as a top franchise, The Wardrobe earned $351, 470, 900 adjusted domestic

gross income, thus, the film ranking #118 in the top films in the United States.27

Unlike The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Wardrobe, The Fellowship does not begin in the

modern world. Based from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings book published in 1954-5,

the book is set in Middle-earth, a secondary world. The main character, a hobbit named Frodo

Baggins, comes in possession of an evil ring that must be destroyed. The ring belonged to a dark

lord and can only be destroyed by throwing it into Mount Doom in Mordor. Tolkien’s earlier

work, The Hobbit which was published in 1937, set the stage for The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien’s imaginary Middle-Earth includes its own dress, language, races, and culture.

26 Megan K., “Britain's 'Harry Potter' finds success in America,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, World News (1999). 27 Box Office Mojo, "Domestic Grosses Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation.”

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According to Norman Cantor, “it is the most astonishing monument to the old historical

philology ever developed and the most extended and difficult piece of pseudomedievalism ever

imagined.”28 The Fellowship was highly acclaimed as well. Directed by Peter Jackson and under

the American distributor, New Line Cinema, The Fellowship was released in December 2001

worldwide. Forbes ranks The Lord of the Rings as the ninth top-grossing franchise.29 The

Fellowship earned $426,338,400 in adjusted gross income in the United States.30

Although Star Wars was not rooted in literature, Forbes ranks it the second top grossing

franchise at $4.5 billion in earnings.31 Director George Lucas released Star Wars in 1977. The

American company, 20th Century Fox distributed the film. Star Wars is set in a futuristic galaxy

far, far away. The plot follows a teenage boy Luke Skywalker adventures when he finds himself

amidst the war between the Rebel Alliance and the evil Galactic Empire with their commander

Darth Vader. Star Wars (1977) was immediately successful, the film earned $1,385,770,400

adjusted gross income in the United States.32

Shortly after the film The Sorcerer’s Stone was released, a journalist published a response

to the film’s success. In the article, an American eight-year-old boy named Ben told the

journalist that the movie lived up to the book’s high standards. Ben elaborated that film: “Really

stretched your imagination. When you’re reading, you could imagine it, but this really let you see

it.” 33 Ben statement is precise. Whether it is The Sorcerer’s Stone or Star Wars, fantasy films

stretch the audiences’ imagination. Movies capture the aesthetic visual and auditory effects that

28 Norman F Cantor, Inventing the Middle Ages: The Lives, Works, and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century, New York: W.

Morrow, 1991: 226. 29 Dorothy Pomerantz, "Can 'The Hobbit' Make 'Lord Of The Rings' The Top Film Franchise Of All Time?" Forbes.

30 Box Office Mojo, "Domestic Grosses Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation.”

31 Dorothy Pomerantz, "Can 'The Hobbit' Make 'Lord Of The Rings' The Top Film Franchise Of All Time?" Forbes. 32 Box Office Mojo, "Domestic Grosses Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation.”

33 Ryan Morgan “Potter' Spells Success Film Sets Record; Theaters Sell Out,” Denver Post, (2001),

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA80210143&v=2.1&u=gain40375&it=r&p=GRGM&sw=w.

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we dream and bring them to reality. American audiences enjoy fantasy films because they can

escape the mundane or burdensome modern world and enter an imaginary world full of

possibilities. It just so happens, that the imaginary worlds in The Sorcerer’s Stone, The

Wardrobe, The Fellowship, and Star Wars are the Middle Ages. The medieval elicit a longing for

a simpler righteous time in modern Western history. Since Americans cannot return to the

Middle Ages, directors project American fantasies on the movie screen.

Nostalgia:

In order to understand how American culture exhibits nostalgia for the medieval, I will

explore how nostalgia is the collective longing for an unobtainable memory or history and how

fantasy films incorporate nostalgia to satisfy this longing for the given past. Helen Dell argues

that fantasy provides a narrative for “an endemic human longing for an already-lost object which

persists under different forms in different historical moments.”34 Fantasy is the instrument that

allows the director to fabricate a realm to satisfy his fictitious desires about the impossible. In

this sense, fantasy and nostalgia share the elements of enjoyment and desire. Americans’

nostalgia for the Middle Ages can be integrated in movies for entertainment value. However,

Helen Dell describes nostalgia as the ability to lose an object that one cannot have and craves.

Dell emphasizes the word ability, implying that one is able to obtain and lose an object. Dell’s

work provides a foundation for understanding why a lost object has any value. Dell’s argument

implies that a lost object has value, simply because one can never possess it. Furthermore, the

object either becomes cherished or replaced. If the object were vital to the subject’s future or

present, where the subject can not escape the nostalgia. However, Americans’ longing for the

34 Helen Dell, “Nostalgia and Medievalism: Conversations, Contradictions, Impasses, ”Postmedieval: A Journal of Medieval Cultural Studies vol. 2, no. 2 (2011): 121.

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Middle Ages is surprising because of it lacks a medieval past. For the United States to lose or

return to the medieval it would have to a have a medieval past in the first place.

Svetlana Boym’s theory about nostalgia emphasize how the subject can question it’s

nostalgia. Boym bisects nostalgia into: restorative and reflective, where the former nostalgia

protects the truth and the latter nostalgia doubts it.35 Both, however, rely on a sense of home:

“Restorative nostalgia stresses nostes and attempts a transhistorica reconstruction of the lost

home. Reflective nostalgia thrives in algia, the longing itself and delays the homecoming.”36 In

both restorative and reflective nostalgia, the individual needs a home to desire. If the subject

were a country, then its home would be the country’s origins. In other words, the country would

be homesick. Although the origin’s of Western civilization is the Middle Ages, the United States

lacks a medieval past. Therefore, the United States cannot be homesick for a past that is not part

of its history. Linda Austin explains that the United States pursuit for the medieval with her

reconstruction of nostalgia as: “A memory of the past outside personal experience.”37 Austin

infers that nostalgia can manifest without a direct connection to an actual memory or experience.

In essence, the United States can adopt nostalgia for the medieval, without possessing this

memory. The United States adopted another path to the medieval with Charles Haskin’s theory

that English history is early American history.38 Therefore, medieval English can serve as

gateway for pre-American history. By casting British actors and scenery, English history can

become part of what Linda Austin calls the United States “immediate conscious recollection.”39

Directors recreate their imaginary secondary world from Medieval England. As a result,

audiences associate England as part of their origins in the American consciousness. Helen Dell’s

35 Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia, New York: Basic Books, 2001: 23. 36 Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia, 25.

37 Linda Austin, 2011, The Nostalgic Moment and the Sense of History, Postmedieval: A Journal of Medieval Cultural Studies 2 (2): 129.

38 Haskins, "European History and American Scholarship," 218. 39 Helen Dell, “Nostalgia and Medievalism,” 129

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theory about nostalgia elaborates on the American gateway to the medieval: “Fantasy in place of

memory masquerades as memory or history.”40 In this sense, fantasy serves as a device to insert

nostalgia. Fantasy films enable the director to insert artifacts from his desired memory or history

into the movie. Frequently, fantasy films incorporate medieval aesthetics. The Sorcerer’s Stone,

The Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and Star Wars glorify the Middle Ages as an era of

righteousness and simplicity by placing the characters in a space that resembles their version of

the medieval. The imaginary world provides a ‘better’ or ‘worse’ Middle Ages than history has

offered. As stated in Shadows of the Magic Lamp, “Nostalgia is when one looks into the past for

the future, so one can project a desired identity on a distant civilization.”41 Medievalism forces

the audience to experience a different society, other than their own, to rationalize their

contemporary problems and reminisce for a more natural people. American audiences vaguely

identify these people as themselves. Directors attempt to create a sense of the familiar and

forgotten past to arouse an appreciation for the romanticized chivalric values of the Middle Ages.

Although we understand how nostalgia operates in films, it does not answer the question:

why does American culture yearn for the Middle Ages? The medieval appeals to directors

because it is timeless and provides endless themes to employ into a film. Arthur Lindley

reflection on the ahistoricism of medieval film offers a starting point to understand how the

medieval relates to time. Lindley argues that the Middle Ages are less concerned with historical

accuracy than those set in other periods.42 He suggests that artists depict the medieval with

analogies rather than historical accuracy. Lindley argues that when films obscure the historical

40 Helen Dell, “Nostalgia and Medievalism,” 120

41 George Edgar Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, Shadows of the Magic Lamp: fantasy and science fiction in film, Carbondale: Southern Illinois

University Press, 1985: 89. 42 Arthur Lindley, “The Ahistoricism of Medieval Film,” Screening the Past, (1998), 4.

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Middle Ages, they deny it any real or independent existence.43 In fact, the name the “Middle

Ages” reflects the era’s break between classical antiquity and modernity. The medieval

relationship with time is problematic for history, but ideal for fantasy films. Consequently,

American culture considers the medieval as timeless and opens the era to the impossible. Since

the Middle Ages is the dawn of modernity, the era can either serve as the beginning of Western

issues or as an era untainted by contemporary fears about civilization. This flexibility enables

directors to transform the setting into an artistic interpretation of current affairs and a story

rooted in the current time-period’s desired dreams. Directors’ use fabricated images of the

medieval to allude to an era either pure or filthy. Either option allows the director to unfold

contemporary problems into a period filled myths rather than historical accuracies. This allows

the director to transform the medieval into his own fallacies rather than reconstruct historical

models. Since Americans lack an understanding of the historical medieval and expect pastiche

renditions, the medieval provides the ideal backdrop to introduce ones fantasies. American

audiences expect to find the imaginary in a medieval setting.

Since the Middle Ages have been associated with myths, directors can introduce an array

of themes into the medieval framework. The medieval welcomes both magic and religion;

barbarians and monarchs; violence and romance; and principles and filth. The medieval can

easily transform into the familiar or the foreign. The Middle Ages is never been reconstructed

from its historical roots. Instead, directors continue to shape the medieval from previous

renditions. This pastiche can be traced through popular culture in art, architecture, museums,

theme parks, universities, and apartment complexes named “Camelot.” The medieval themes

such as barbarity, suspicion, and creed circulate through American culture and become part of

43 Arthur Lindley, “The Ahistoricism of Medieval Film,” 4.

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the familiar cultural understanding of the Western past. As Umberto Eco states in Faiths in

Fakes: Travels in Hyperreality “all the problems of the Western world emerged in the Middle

Ages: Modern languages, merchant cities, capitalistic economy (along with banks, checks, and

prime rate) are inventions of medieval society.”44 The medieval consistently reemerges in

American culture as the dawn of modernity. Therefore, Americans associated and celebrated the

medieval as the origins of West advancements. Since the medieval is the infancy of western

culture, Americans can recognize themselves in the medieval, but the setting is starkly different

and detached from their own modern luxuries. The medieval setting appears remote and

distinctly not modern. This serves as a reminder that the medieval is a distant past, alienated

from contemporary culture. The medieval serves as the ideal past to enter when directors want to

examine how “we” or Westerners went wrong or reflect on the good ole days before modern

corruption. For this reason, the images of the medieval are frequently used to disguise new

conflicts as ones from the past. For example in the post-9/11 society, fantasy film directors

rooted their secondary world in the mundane and righteous medieval to escape the fear of the

terrorist attacks and how globalization infringes on individual freedoms. While, the medieval

was an ideal setting for Star Wars to harp on the uncertainty of the ultimate nuclear weapon. Star

Wars warns that the dangers of modernity are not limited to the 1970s but continue into “A

Galaxy far, far away.” In essence, the medieval has become the era to place contemporary

individuals in a distant, but still Western past.

September 11, 2001 transformed American culture. In response, Americans returned to

the Middle Ages to project contemporary desires in a recognizable past. In regards to the 9/11

44 Umberto Eco, Faith in Fakes: Travels in Hyperreality, London: Minerva, 1995: 64.

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tragedies President George W. Bush claimed that the United States was on a “new Crusade.”45

President Bush’s rhetoric invoked one of Western civilization’s darkest chapters; the medieval

Christian war against Islam. In The Ottawa Citizen Randy Boswell stated that: “Within hours of

Mr. Bush saying ‘crusade’ at a press conference on Sept. 16, critics around the world were

slamming the president for uttering a word that resonates so deeply in Islamic culture, conjuring

images of Muslim genocide, Christian zealotry and western imperialism.”46 Immediately the

September 11 attacks were associated with a virtuous past; the Middle Ages. Americans blamed

the extremist terrorist groups and President Bush waged war on Afghanistan and Iraq. The

United States unified as one nation for freedom and democracy. The post-9/11 America desired

virtue; therefore, storylines about lone heroes and epic journeys emerged from Hollywood.

The medieval epic appealed to the deepest desires of American society: the wish to make

the individual struggle righteous and yet to simplify society. In December 2001, Suman Guha

Mozumder argued that Americans shifted their religious behavior: “A survey by the Pew

Research Center in collaboration with the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, said the

September 11 attacks have increased the prominence of religion in the US to an extraordinary

degree.”47 Mozumder revealed that: “Since the terror attacks [the participants] have become

more actively religious, especially when it comes to prayer.”48 The September 11 attacks brought

war to the doorsteps of America and united the American culture. Americans hoped that freedom

and democracy would triumph over extremist terrorists.

This religious shift reflects a larger social pattern that developed in America after

September 11th 2001. In The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America, Susan

45 George W. Bush, The White House, “Remarks by the President Upon Arrival,” Washington D.C., (2001), http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010916-2.html.

46 Randy Boswell, “Medieval Crusades Revived in Terrorism-War Rhetoric," The Ottawa Citizen. (2001).

47 Suman Guha Mozumder, “America becomes More Religious Post 9/11,” India Abroad, (2001). 48 Suman Guha Mozumder, “America becomes More Religious Post 9/11.”

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Faludi discusses how the domestic attacks traumatized American society. American culture

responded to this assault by restoring traditional ideals in popular culture, media, and politics.49

In an interview with Alex Kingsbury, Faludi reveals that after 9/11 Americans fell into a “strange

and fevered dream” to bring back “traditional family arrangements, a John Wayne masculinity, a

Doris Day femininity.”50 This dream conceals American fear of foreign attacks and the

challenges of globalization. Although Faludi asserts larger claims about feminism, marriage, and

manhood, her analysis provides insight into the visible shift of American desires after 9/11.

Faludi’s argument can be applied to the emergence of fantasy films. American ideals of “heroic

masculinity”51 were transformed onto the movie screen. According to Melani McAlister the

September 11th images of firemen raising the flag crystallized the national search for heroes.52

Americans sought an Americanized hero who fought for justice. Directors capitalized on the

American desire, and fostered images of altruism.

In the New York Times Stan Lee proclaimed that Spider-Man has a “worldwide appeal”

where “any reader, of any race, in any part of the world, can image himself under that costume –

and fantasize that he himself is Spider-Man.”53 Anthropologist Diana Fox rejects Lee’s claims

and argues that: “I’m not so sure that Spidey’s all-American costume would appeal to those

flocking to the burgeoning number of anti-American rallies around the world protesting

American’s assumptions of its own ‘super-hero-ness.’”54 Fox is correct; the rise of fantasy films

in the post-9/11 society is a response to American, not universal appeals. The revival of

Superheroes and fantasy heroes alike, evoke a desire for simpler and chivalric times. In films of

49 Susan Faludi, The Terror dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America, New York: Metropolitan Books, 2007.

50 Alex Kingsbury, “Post 9/11, a More Macho America,” U.S. News & World Report vol. 143, no. 14 (2007): 30. 51Melani McAlister, Epic encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000. Berkeley: University of California Press,

2001: 269.

52 Melani McAlister, Epic Encounters, 268. 53 Stan Lee, "That's My Spidey," The New York Times, (2002), http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/03/opinion/that-s-my-spidey.html.

54 Diana Fox, "Letter to the Editor,” New York Times, 2002: 30.

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the fantastic Americans can escape the fears and challenges of 9/11 to enter a realm of their

desires. In particular, movies can fulfill the American nostalgia for the Middle Ages’ chivalric

knight and harmonious town. Americans find the medieval inviting because it is free of

feminism, diversity, technology, and globalization; the social issues that plague contemporary

society.

Similar to the post-9/11 period, the late 1970s and early 1980s produced an epic fantasy

film rooted in mythical romance. Star Wars (1977) is a political response to the American defeat

in Vietnam and the uncertainty about nuclear weapons’ role in space. By the 1970s US-Soviet

tension reduced. Americans who grew up in the 50s and 60s started to accept that nuclear

weapons were not going away. During the 1970s the United States and the Soviet Union agreed

to recognize each other’s power and influence. The two superpowers signed the Outer Space

Treaty, the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, and SALT agreements, which reduced the fear of a

nuclear threat. Although the US-Soviet treaties reduced hostility between the two super powers,

the tension did not escape Americans minds. Director George Lucas highlighted Americans fears

about nuclear space weapons in Star Wars (1977) with the Death Star, which he described as the

ultimate weapon that is capable of obliterating a planet with a super laser. Although Star Wars

takes place in a futuristic Galaxy, the setting of Tatooine, the hero’s home planet, resembles a

desolate, arid medieval city. Since the medieval is disconnected from classical antiquity and on

the verge of modernity, the medieval often becomes a timeless period that can be placed in any

realm. The timeless aspect of the medieval appeals to directors like George Lucas, who hope to

capture the universal myth of uncertainty of power and control throughout all times.

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CHAPTER TWO

TROPE #1: MEDIEVAL TOWN

Filmmakers situate the audience in a secondary world that resonates as medieval by

invoking the medieval town. Although the town resembles early capitalism and economic trade,

directors portray it as starkly different from modernity. Therefore, directors portray the town as

foreign by incorporating animals within and nature around the town. This transformation enables

the town to appeal both to nostalgia for returning to Western roots and simple lifestyle. In the

following pages, I focus on two thematic elements in the representation of the town that appear

in each of the films under consideration: the secondary characters live close to nature and the

towns are dark, narrow, crowded, and paved with clay or gravel. I will use historical document to

build a model of how modern Americans imagine the medieval town. Then, I will use medieval

illustrations to demonstrate how these fantasy films create a romanticized version of medieval

European towns for their imaginary world. My illustrations are drawn from the Allegory of Good

Government, Bruegel’s Kermesse of St. George, the illuminated manuscripts from Jean

Froissart’s Chronicle, and The Book of Kells. Not only do these sources provide clear visual

representations of a medieval town, but these images have also been widely circulated in popular

culture. Therefore, filmmakers would have had access to several comparable illustrations to

shape their version of a medieval town.

Background:

The stereotypical description of medieval towns consists of a jumble of narrow streets, a

market place, and a number of administrative and ceremonial buildings. The market place is the

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center for exchange. Therefore, townspeople held several non-agricultural occupations.55 The

collapse of the Roman Empire and the increasing Viking raids caused Europeans to relocate into

the countryside and out of towns. During the late 11th century, towns re-emerged as important

centers of exchange.56 Since the townspeople lived in compact areas, the community shared

religious and social customs where the common place of worship was center to the town. This

allowed towns to have their own social institutions with legal and administrative structures.57

This simple society rooted in capitalism appeals to American society.

Theme One:

Fantasy films use the medieval town trope to cinematically represent their secondary

world’s town as dark, narrow, and crowed. Since towns developed on top and around existing

buildings, they were not designed for the mass movement that occurred within them.58

Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1290-1348), an Italian painter, created a historically relevant panoramic

fresco called Allegory of Good Government, which depicts the benefits of city life in Siena

during the 14th century. Lorenzetti used lines and shadows to create multilevel buildings, narrow

streets, and dark alleyways that represent the typical layout of a medieval town. In addition,

Lorenzetti illustrated townspeople busy at work in the center of the city (see Figure 1).

55 George Sheeran, Medieval Yorkshire Towns: People, Buildings and Spaces, Edinburgh: Ediburgh University Press, 1998: 7.

56 Jill N. Claster, Sacred Violence: the European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009: 56.

57 George Sheeran, Medieval Yorkshire Towns, 23. 58 Brian Paul Hindle, Medieval Town Plans, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire: Shire, 1990.

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Figure 1: Allegory of Good Government 59

Lorenzetti’s Allegory of Good Government serves as a visual representation of an idealistic

medieval town. Similarly, the Kermesse of St. George by Pieter Bruegel (1525-1569) illustrates a

summer fair held inside a town (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Kermesse of St. George60

Both the Allegory of Good Government and the Kermesse of St. George illustrate a town filled

with people in an open space. This space is juxtaposed with several narrow streets, implying that

59 Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Effects of Good Government, fresco, Sala della Place, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY,

1338-9.

60 Pieter Bruegel, Kermesse of St. George, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), ARTstor, (1525-1569), http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=8CJGczI9NzldLS1WEDhzTnkrX3greF14cSg%3D

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the town only had one mass area for social interaction. The lively action of the engraving

expresses a loud and crowded town during a joyous event. The mass movement in the Kermesse

of St. George pays homage to the pleasures of medieval town life. Both the Allegory of Good

Government and Kermesse of St. George are widely available and circulated artwork from the

Middle Ages. I am using medieval illustrations to represent the modern imaginary medieval,

which is widely depicted in popular culture. The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, The

Wardrobe, and Star Wars use the medieval town trope to produce a nostalgic representation of

the medieval town as the origin of capitalist trade.

The Sorcerer’s Stone uses the medieval town trope as a visual reminder of the differences

between the non-wizard and wizard world. Before entering the wizard world, Hagrid guides

Harry to a pub. Director Chris Columbus depicts the pub as dark, dirty, and crowded. The festive

atmosphere resembles Bruegel’s Kermesse of St. George’s feast celebration, where townsfolk are

gathering to chat and partake in joyous activities. When Harry first enters the wizard world in

The Sorcerer’s Stone, Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies. The

cinematic experience of Diagon Alley resembles the inner streets of a medieval town (see Figure

Figure 3: Harry entering Diagon Alley

3). Diagon Alley has narrow streets lined with shops and paved with cobblestone. During this

scene, Diagon Alley’s background sound consists of loud chatter and movement. The sound is

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parallel with the noise expected from a bustling town. Yet, this racket resonates with the

medieval because of the consistent chatter, animal screeches, rustling of carts, and the distinct

noise of footsteps on stone. I would have to stress that these noises floods the previous whimsical

soundtrack. Director Columbus makes the noises in Diagon Alley parallel with the noises one

would expected to hear in the Allegory of Good Government and Kermesse of St. George. These

historical documents include mass movement, several unrelated conversations, and animals in

close quarters with the townsfolk. Director Columbus combines this babel to indicate that Harry

has departed from the modern world and entered a world that is both concrete in the terms of

film and imaginary.

Similar to Harry, Luke Skywalker from Star Wars (1977) visits a town before he embarks

on his long journey. Immediately as Luke lands in Mos Eisley, Director George Lucas depicts

the town as lively; which is a stark contrast with the city’s desolate planet. To make Mos Eisley

seem crowded, Director Lucas shoots from eye-level and had several individuals pass walk past

the camera from left to right and vice versa. In effect, several individuals continuously block the

camera’s focus of Luke and his friends. This camera angle makes Mos Eisley city feel crowded.

Director Lucas fills the background noise with chatter, engine rumbling, and animal moans to

reinforce the feeling that Mos Eisley is not only populous, but primitive. The composition

reflects Kermesse of St. George: both depict the foreground and background swarming with

people. Here too, the main character enters a pub in that is dark, crowded, and filthy. Although

the pub serves a reminder of the joyous atmosphere that Kermesse of St. George

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Figure 4: Imperial Storm troopers march through a street in Mos Eisley

implies, the pub also expresses a perilous and grimy that resonate with the dangers of a

swarming medieval town. In addition, Star Wars includes a scene where imperial storm troopers

are marching through a street in Mos Eisley (see Figure 4). Despite, the fact that Star Wars is set

in a realm that has spaceships and space stations, Mos Eisley has dimly lit streets, buildings are

crammed together, and streets are paved with dirt. Considering that Star Wars is set in the space

age, one would expect their towns to reflect this advance society. Instead, Mos Eisley is

evocative of the Middle Ages.

While Star Wars resembles the Middle Ages, The Fellowship is rooted in a medieval

society. The Fellowship juxtaposes from the Shire to the rest of Middle-Earth, the secondary

world in The Lord of the Rings, by having Frodo enter a medieval town. The town serves as a

doorway for Frodo to exit the Shire and enter the medieval Middle-Earth. Director Peter Jackson

depicts Frodo’s journey into the town is unpleasant because he is an outsider, similar to

Americans who do not belong in the Middle Ages. On their journey, Frodo and his friends arrive

at a town’s gate during a midnight downpour. Once Frodo and his friends enter the town, traffic

surrounds them. Through the slosh of mud and the splatter of the rain, the townspeople clamor at

Frodo. Meanwhile, Director Jackson used quick-framed shots of various images of the town to

capture Frodo’s feeling of being overwhelmed. One of the images The Fellowship captures is the

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street, which is paved with mud, and various dark cloaked individuals scurry past Frodo and his

friends (see Figure 5). The Fellowship uses buildings similar to the buildings in the Kermesse of

Figure 5: Street on the way to the Prancing Pony Inn

St. George. Director Jackson designed the town with thatched roof houses. This urban design is

not exclusive to Kermesse of St. George, this style is prevalent throughout art that depicts the

medieval. The effect of this compact town is that The Fellowship alludes to a dense medieval

town, rather than a fictional urban center. Once Frodo enters his destination, the Prancing Pony,

The Fellowship depicts the Inn as a darkly lit pub. Like The Sorcerer’s Stone and Star Wars, The

Fellowship uses loud background noise to depict the pub as dark and crowded. This cinematic

effect makes the audience feel as if Frodo does not belong in the Middle Ages, and since Frodo

is the audience guide into Middle-Earth, then one can assume that they do not belong either.

Nevertheless, the visual and auditory effects of the town seem familiar to the audience. The town

evokes thoughts of capitalism and economic trade; modernity. However, Director Jackson

represents the town as filthy, dark, and crowded to make the familiar uncomfortable for the

audience, hence distinguishing the modern from the medieval. The town serves as a transition to

indicate to the audience that they have exited a familiar space of modernity and enter an

uncomfortable foreign space; the medieval.

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Director Andrew Adamson from The Wardrobe emphasizes the transition from the

modern to the medieval by embellishing a medieval castle. Although The Wardrobe does not

include any town scenes, the film does conclude with the Pevensie children crowned in Aslan’s

castle. The first view of Aslan’s castle shows that it has many buildings and towers. Once inside,

the camera shoots from a bird’s eye perspective then to the ceremony’s audience perspective.

Director Adamson decorates the castle with coat of arms, banners, armory, and elaborate

architecture (see Figure 6). Aslan’s castle resembles an illuminated manuscript from a late

Figure 6: Inside Aslan’s castle Figure 7: Jean Froissart’s Coronation of Henry

IV61

15th century depiction of Jean Froissart’s chronicle. The illuminated manuscript depicts the

coronation of Henry IV from an audience perspective. Several individuals and banners surround

Henry IV. In addition, tall-decorated windows radiate golden sunshine around Henry IV (see

Figure 7). The Wardrobe emulates this illuminated manuscripts’ coronation of Henry IV.

Adamson placed the Pevensie Children on a multi-step platform, where several soldiers surround

them with banners. Similar to Coronation of Henry IV, The Wardrobe has tall windows that emit

golden sunshine. Adamson’s cinematic depiction of a coronation resembles an illuminated

manuscript’s illustration of a medieval coronation. Adamson’s cinematic depiction of a

61 Jean Froissart, “Coronation of Henry IV,” Chronicles of Jean Froissart, folio 186, British Library, ARTstor, (1470-1472), http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=%2FThWdC8hIywtPygxFTx5RngtU3ItcFE%3D

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coronation resonates with European monarchy and the role of divinity in Christianity. In a

medieval setting, the audience expects to see the Pevensie children rewarded for their heroic

actions. Adamson glorifies the Pevensie children by embellishing the castle with medieval

imagery. This scene effectively distinguishes the medieval from the modern by having the

castle’s decorations symbolize virtue.

Theme Two:

For fantasy films, medieval towns embody a time when people lived in harmony with the

nature world. Therefore, to cinematically express an advanced society with a direct relationship

with nature, The Wardrobe, The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, and Star Wars use the

medieval town trope to allude to a society where rolling hills, lushes floral, and wildlife surround

the townspeople. When fantasy films use the medieval town trope, the hero transports into a

secondary world where the countryside surrounds the secondary characters and they live among

Figure 8: Coronation of Charles V62 Figure 9: Charles VI Gives His Daughter

Isabelle to his English Cousin Richard II63

62 Jean Froissart, “Coronation of Henry IV, 1470-1472,” Chronicles of Jean Froissart.

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animals. In illuminated manuscripts, artists would decorate the page with floral patterns that

enclosed the main image, as seen in Coronation of Charles V (see Figure 8) and Charles VI

Gives His Daughter Isabelle to his English Cousin Richard II (see Figure 9). The focal point of

these illuminated manuscripts’ is a small painting and script, while a floral pattern, that includes

vegetation and animals within the swirls borders the page. This visual effect causes the viewer’s

eye to imagine the paintings’ subjects within the wilderness. In addition, the subjects in these

illuminations are in close contact with nature. In both the Coronation of Charles V and Charles

VI Gives His Daughter Isabelle to his English Cousin Richard II the castles are located in the

countryside where shrubbery and rolling hills are in the background. The illuminated

manuscripts consistent imagery of nature has made the Middle Ages associated with a period

where individuals lived with a close connection with wildlife.

Throughout The Wardrobe there are no distinctions between humans and animals. The

Pevensie children stay in the wilderness for most of their journey and enter a medieval city at the

end. When the White Witch’s power dwindles an everlasting spring renews the flora and faunal

in Narnia. This new Narnia contains beasts, animals, and humans that live in harmony. In

addition, while Aslan’s army encamps during battle there are no separations between the animals

and the humans (see Figure 10). Both illuminated manuscripts and the Kermesse of St. George

63 Jean Froissart, “Charles VI gives his Daughter Isabelle to his English cousin Richard II, ” Chronicles of Jean Froissart, folio 245, ARTstor, (1470-1475), http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=%2FThWdC8hIywtPygxFTx5RngtU3ItcFM%3D

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Figure 10: Aslan’s army encampment

serve as an example of how animals were within the town. In addition, leaves are able to take the

shape of humans and communicate with other animals in Narnia. The animal and flora human-

like behavior highlights how Narnia has a closer relationship with nature, than Earth. Also to

allude to closeness to nature, Director Andrew Adamson depicts Narnia as a continent covered in

rolling hills and dense forests. Adamson drew from well-recognized tropes in medieval paintings

and other films and even literature when depicting the children in the land of Narnia. Similar to

how the castles in Coronation of Charles V and Charles VI Gives His Daughter Isabelle to his

English Cousin Richard II are in the middle of the countryside, so are the homes from The

Wardrobe. In The Wardrobe, the characters’ homes are not isolated from nature; instead, The

Wardrobe portrays that natural elements make their homes. Lucy, the first to enter Narnia, met a

faun who lived in a small house built into a cliff. While the beavers’ house, an alley to the

Pevensie children, is a wooden dam coated in snow. Narnia’s harmony between nature and

animals is parallel with medieval town’s closeness to nature.

Furthermore, the town’s closeness to nature is also in The Sorcerer’s Stone. Although the

wizard world has modern conveniences, here again Director Columbus depicts the wizards as

living alongside nature. On Harry’s train ride to Hogwarts, Director Columbus pans scenic views

of English countryside, this implies that Hogwarts is located in the wilderness. Once Harry

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arrives at Hogwarts, he and his fellow classmates have to take an enchanted boat ride to enter

Hogwarts. Columbus portrays Hogwarts as a self-contained castle that is secluded from modern

Figure 11: Scenic Hogwarts

“muggle” or non-wizard society. To fulfill this independence, Columbus shows a bird’s eye view

of Hogwarts during scene transitions. The images place Hogwarts in the wilderness with rolling

hills in the background and forests surrounding the castle. The sweeping view resembles the

floral pattern that enclosed the castles in the illuminated manuscripts. This consistent reminder of

how close the wilderness is to Hogwarts indicates that it is a magical world. Several scenes show

a Hogwarts that is similar to Coronation of Charles V and Charles VI Gives His Daughter

Isabelle to his English Cousin Richard II, where floral patterns frame the painting and nature

surrounds the castle (see Figure 11). In addition, Director Columbus consistently places animals

in locations that share space with wizards. The marker of modern society, a clear divide between

nature and civilization does not exist in Hogwarts. For instance, in Diagon Alley bats and owls

sit on windowsills and screech at those who pass by. In Hogwarts, owls deliver mail by flying

over the students’ dining hall. While, beasts roam in the Forbidden Forest; a forest on the edge of

Hogwarts grounds. During their detention in the Forbidden Forest, Harry and his friends

encounter a unicorn and a friendly centaur; a magical beast that has the upper half of a human

joined with a horse’s body. Harry’s close encounters with animals reminds the audience that

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Hogwarts does not belong in the normal muggle world. The Sorcerer’s Stone depiction of

Hogwarts and Diagon Alley is parallel to how the countryside surrounds medieval towns and

how the town’s inhabitants live among animals.

Although the inhabitants in Middle-earth do not live among animals, The Fellowship

dedicates time to appreciate nature. Director Peter Jackson used the spectacular landscapes of

New Zealand as the backdrop for the film. In addition to several scenic views, the elves’ castles

highlight the relationship between nature and the inhabitants of Middle-Earth. Forests and

mountains surround one elf castle, Rivendel, while a waterfall passes underneath and through the

castle’s towers (see Figure 12). Without windows, the castle remains open to the mountainous

Figure 12: Elf Castle at Rivendel

environment. Instead, of nature being close to the towns in The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Wardrobe,

and Star Wars, in The Fellowship the towns are submerged in nature. In The Fellowship the

landscape becomes the central focus, not a backdrop. Also, Director Jackson includes few

animals, alluding to a cleaner Middle Ages. Only horses, which provide transportation for

humans and wizards are seen in Middle-Earth. The only other animal seen in The Fellowship is a

pig. The pig belong to the Hobbits in the Shire and the Tolkien’s intention was to depict the

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Hobbits as 18th to 19th century English farmers- not people from the Middle Ages.64 As a result,

Jackson exhibits an aesthetic appeal for the wilderness, where harmony with nature alludes to

aristocracy. On a similar note, the imagery of the Elf castle reflects the gothic structures depicted

in Coronation of Charles V and Charles VI Gives His Daughter Isabelle to his English Cousin

Richard II. For example, Jackson placed the castle in the middle of the wilderness. On a similar

note, an extremely tall cluster of trees engulfs a wooded-elf castle. Unlike the other fantasy films,

The Fellowship had trees intertwine with the walls and towers of the castle. Jackson creates a

visual effect that resembles medieval Celtic artwork. In the Book of Kells, the illuminated

manuscripts use an extravagant insular art style that originates from medieval Irish monasteries

(see Figure 13). Insular art intertwines vivid colored asymmetrical compass, curvilinear,

Figure 13: Book of Kells’ Celtic Art 65

floral, and other geometric patterns.66 Celtic art and culture has become associated with their

stubborn resistance to assimilation and their adept way of surviving cultural independence.67 As

seen in The Book of Kells the Celtic pattern is intricate and complex. Jackson garnishes the elves’

castles with Celtic artwork. By using Celtic patterns, Director Jackson provides a visual

expression of the fact that the elves are also royal and intricate.

64 Jane Chance, Tolkien the Medievalist, London: Routledge,2003: 72. 65 Book of Kells, Incarnation Chi-Rho page: “Cats and Rats with Wafer Creation, Trinity College: Dublin, Ireland, ARTstor, (late 8th c., ),

http://library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=8D1OdjArJCxdLS04eD5zSnkrXQ%3D%3D

66 M. Ruth Megaw, and J. V. S. Megaw, Celtic Art: From its Beginnings to the Book of Kells, New York, N.Y.: Thames & Hudson, 2001: 23. 67 M. Ruth Megaw, and J. V. S. Megaw, Celtic Art, 23.

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In contrast to intricate architecture, Director George Lucas fabricates his fantasy galaxy

in Star Wars from a dismal medieval town. Luke Skywalker lives with his aunt and uncle on the

desolate planet of Tatooine, a desert environment, where there is limited greenery. The

architecture and the landscape around Luke’s home resemble a medieval Moroccan style. Luke’s

home is a series of white-walled hallways stemming from one central open-aired terrace (see

Figure 14). Moroccan homes follow a similar open layout.68 Director Lucas portrayed Luke’s

Figure 14: Luke’s Moroccan Style House

house and planet as an oriental environment. According to Edward Said, Europe has placed the

Orient into a fixed, closed environment that is vastly different from itself. Said refers to Oriental

as the place of Europe’s greatest, richest, and oldest colonies; the Middle East and the Far East.

In this case, the Oriental geography has become associated with strangeness and exoticness,

where the arid land is timeless and eternal. The Middle Ages reinforce orientalism with the

European Crusades against Islam.69 The desert is the sole geographic feature of Tatooine. By

limiting the ecological systems in Tatooine, the planet appears fixed and distinct from the

contrasting technologically advanced space settings. Lucas contrasts Tatooine’s Moroccan

68 Lisa Lovatt-Smith and Angelika Muthesius, Moroccan Interiors. Köln: Taschen, 1995:5.

69 Edward Said, Orientalism, New York: Pantheon Books, 1978: 54-72.

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design with space technology to imply that the medieval Middle East is an indefinite period that

can be plucked from history and revisited in any realm. Furthermore, the arid planet Tatooine

does not provide a stable environment for wildlife. There are limited animals present in Star

Wars. When Luke Skywalker enters Mos Eisley, a town located in a valley of Tatooine, animals

clutter the streets. Although the animals are unidentifiable, they are making noise to draw the

audiences’ attention. In Star Wars the animals serve as a reminder that Tatooine is located in a

timeless medieval Middle East, not a futuristic sleek, asphalt, and technological city.

Conclusion:

The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and Star Wars have invoke

medieval towns by placing the inhabitants close to nature and depicting the towns as dark,

narrow, and crowded. The Allegory of Good Government, Kermesse of St. George, the

illuminated manuscripts from Jean Froissart’s Chronicle, and The Book of Kells provide a visual

parallel to the medieval towns portrayed in fantasy films. Fantasy films allude to medieval towns

as an expression of nostalgia for a populous and economically thriving town and a society that

lived in harmony with the natural world. Hollywood’s continual use of the medieval town trope

has caused the trope to become the stereotypical model of European medieval towns in motion

pictures. In effect, the medieval town embodies the United States viewership’s nostalgia for an

idealized Middle Ages rather than a historical accurate representation. American society has

continued to yearn for the Middle Ages, resulting in medievalism remaining part of

contemporary culture. The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and Star Wars use

of the medieval town trope captures the United States’ desire for an urban center rooted in rural

origins yet thriving as an economic hotspot.

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CHAPTER THREE

TROPE #2: KNIGHT

Cinematic depictions of medieval knights often accentuate their physical presence; they

are handsome, brawny, and embellished with armor, like Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven.

These characteristics derive from centuries of fabricated romantic knight tales. I will focus on

two thematic elements in the representation of knights that appear in each of the films under

consideration: the hero resembles the characteristics of a medieval knight and the significance of

the hero’s weapon. I will use the following medieval historical documents to build a model of

how we image knights to be: Le Morte D’Arthur and Song of Roland. These sources appeal to a

nostalgia that viewers feel for an innocent time where there was a clear sense of right and wrong

and a chivalric mentality for the unmatched strength of good over evil. When The Sorcerer’s

Stone, The Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and A New Hope represent the knight, the following two

themes are recreated: the hero is brave and unmatched in fighting ability, and the hero and his

weapon share a legendary bond.

Background:

Rarely do fantasy films portray accurate historical renditions of medieval knights.

Instead, filmmakers rely on legends and myths, such as The Song of Roland and Sir Thomas

Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. These sources provide a clear model of sought-after chivalric

values and how not only the hero’s characteristics are fundamental to the story, but also the

hero’s sword. In addition, filmmakers revise these myths to fit their own interpretation of a

knight’s characteristics. In order to demonstrate how medieval knights are used in fantasy films,

I will address the origins of The Song of Roland and Le Morte D’Arthur.

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Furthermore, one of the most well-known medieval poems, and more importantly a very

clear model for a medieval hero whose sword is crucial is The Song of Roland. The unknown

author sets the poem in 778 as Charlemagne and his army reclaims the overrun Saracen Spain.

The Song of Roland describes how Charlemagne’s warrior nephew, Roland, battles against the

Saracens to his defiant death.70 This epic poem not only made knights and their weapons well

known, but the struggle between good and evil, the ultimate demonstration of honor, and feudal

values of twelfth-century France. These themes became prevalent throughout medieval literature.

One of the most famous fictitious medieval figures is King Arthur. Although there are

several versions of who the real King Arthur was, the most influential illustration of the medieval

Arthur legend appeared in the fifteenth century. This was the Le Morte D’Arthur written by the

Warwickshire knight, Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel. Malory consolidates a variety of

French and English Arthur legends amid the War of the Roses in England. From the Le Morte

D’Arthur, the otherwise divergent French legends became widely available to Englishmen. The

significance of Malory’s work is that it captures the epitome of medieval chivalry. It was

Malory’s version of the legend that was to provide nearly universal inspiration for modern

interpretations of King Arthur. Malory’s work became a model for future Arthur tales and

chivalric representations in motion pictures.

Theme One:

As Martha Driver and Sid Ray state in The Medieval Hero on Screen: “in order to appeal

to a contemporary audience, film must reinvent the Middle Ages and create in the medieval hero

a hodgepodge of traits derived from a mixed understanding of what is medieval and of traits we

70 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, Vol. L75. Harmondsworth, Eng., New York: Penguin Books, 1990.

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value in the heroes of postmillennial Western culture."71 Audiences rarely see the traditional

medieval knight on screen. Instead, modern fantasy films challenge the visual descriptions of a

knight. The hero can look scrawny, young, and clumsy. Yet, fantasy films still use the

fundamental characteristics of a medieval knight: remarkable bravery and fighting abilities.

The archetype for chivalric romance, The Song of Roland, became the template for future

knight stories. The Song of Roland follows Count Roland, Charlemagne’s best knight. The

archbishop in the poem presents Roland as the ideal knight: “You act very well. A knight should

have such valour, Who bears arms and sits astride a good horse. In battle he should be strong and

fierce, Or else he is not worth four pence.”72 In addition, Roland is distinguished from his fellow

knights by his bravery going into battle: “When Roland sees that battle will begin, He becomes

fiercer than a lion or leopard.”73 While in battle, Roland fights ferociously: “[Roland] holds

Durendal, which cuts and cleaves so well, And wreaks great havoc amongst the Saracens.”74

Roland exhibits exceptional skill on the battlefield. In one case, he cuts a Saracen in half.75

Despite the fact that Roland dies in battle, his selfless bravery and remarkable fighting abilities

make him the hero of the poem. American universities have translated and taught this

quintessence of medieval chivalry, The Song of Roland, for the past century.

The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and Star Wars emphasize the

heroes’ bravery. To do so, fantasy fictions tend to use empathetic heroes; popular choices are

orphaned children. Although orphaned children are not specific to the Middle Ages, they do

generate sympathy among viewers and dramatizes the hero’s rite to passage into a literal growth

71 Sid Ray and Martha W. Driver, The Medieval Hero on Screen: Representations from Beowulf to Buffy, Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 2004: 20. 72 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 88

73 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 64.

74 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 72. 75 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 79.

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of a child into adulthood.76 The rite of passage is a common device medieval tales use so that the

protagonist can embarks on an initiatory journey to a distant land to face these internal

struggles.77 Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Frodo, and the Pevensie children become orphans

before they embark on their epic journey. Briefly, I will briefly describe how the heroes become

orphans and how this contributes to the heroes’ bravery.

In Star Wars Luke Skywalker becomes an orphan twice in order to embark his long

journey to save Princess Leila (ironically his sister and also an orphan) and the galaxy. First

Luke’s mother died giving birth, while Luke’s father (unaware of Luke and Leila’s existence)

became Darth Vader. Consequently, his Aunt and Uncle’s raised him on a farm. However, Luke

becomes an orphan again when the Galactic Empire kills his Aunt and Uncle. These deaths

enabled Luke to forget his mediocre past and accept his destiny to become part of the force. In

contrast to Luke Skywalker’s evil father, Harry Potter’s parents were righteous wizards. The

Sorcerer’s Stone indicates that Harry’s parents were killed for opposing the evil wizard Lord

Voldermort. Miraculously Harry survived the attacks and lived with his muggle, or non-wizard

Aunt and Uncle in modern England until the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

summoned him. On the other hand, The Fellowship does not mention Frodo’s parents. Instead,

the film introduces Frodo’s uncle, Bilbo. Director Jackson depicts Bilbo as an unusual hobbit

since he left the Shire for an adventure; hobbits consider the shire sacred and rarely leave. Since

Bilbo’s adventure days were done, he “disappeared” from the Shire to the realm of the Elves for

a peaceful death. Frodo, suddenly alone, was able to embark the adventure of his dreams. Similar

to Frodo’s parents, Director Adamson hardly mentions the whereabouts of the parents of the

Pevensie children. The Wardrobe states the Pevensie’s mother sends them to a house in the

76 John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. New York: St. Martin's, 1977: “Children.” 77 John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, “Introduction.”

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countryside because London is unsafe during World War II. In attempts to amuse themselves, the

Pevensie children stumble into Narnia through a wardrobe.

When children are the main heroes, the filmmaker can use the orphan theme to free

children from familial responsibilities. Since the orphan lacks familial responsibilities, the s/he

can embark on a long journey. Orphaned child signals for a pre-modern setting, where parents

routinely left children to fend for themselves. Without authority figures, orphans lack guidance

in their unfair world, so orphans have to navigate through good and evil by themselves. This

cinematic device makes the orphaned children’s deeds and actions seem braver than if an adult

performed it.

In addition to the orphaned children, filmmakers use other images to refer to a pre-

modern setting. Occasionally, filmmakers will use lion iconography to distinguish the heroes

from secondary characters. The lion was frequently portrayed in all types of medieval art and

bestiaries. In the 7th century book of Etymologies Isidore of Seville, he describes the lion as:

“What is in Greek leun, has in French the name king; the lion in many ways rules over many

beasts.” 78 In the 13th century in his Beastiarie Guillaume le Clerc states that “[it] is proper that

we should first speak of the nature of the lion, which is a fierce and proud beast and very bold.”79

78 Thomas Wright, The Bestiary of Philippe de Thaon, London: Historical Society of Science, (1841)

http://bestiary.ca/etexts/wright1841/bestiary%20of%20philippe%20de%20thaon%20-%20wright%20-%20parallel%20text.pdf.

79 Guillaume le Clerc, de Normandie, Célestin Hippeau, and Célestin Hippeau, Le Bestiaire Divin de Guillaume, Clerc de Normandie, Vol. 1, Genéve: Slatkine Reprints, 1970.

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Figure 1: Lion in medieval artwork80

Therefore, it is no surprise that the lion was associated with royalty and high status. When the

lion was in artwork, artists most frequently illustrated the lion upright on its hind legs with its

claws forward. Yet, sometimes the lion was drawn on all fours and it’s tail in the air. Artists

would color the lion gold and surrounded it with red paint (see Figure 1). The Song of Roland

also used a lion to distinguish Count Roland from his fellow knights in battle: “He becomes

fiercer than a lion.”81 In The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Wardrobe lion imagery signals a shift to a

medieval setting.

The lion iconography stems from the original The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Wardrobe

novels. J. K. Rowling describes the Gryffindor house, to which Harry is assigned, as: “where

dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve, and chivalry, Set Gryffindors apart.”82 In keeping

with this description, Director Chris Columbus depicts the Gryffindor house emblem as a gold

lion adorn on gold and red clothes. Director Columbus placed the Gryffindor colors or emblem

in many scenes with Harry. This serves as a visual reminder that Harry resembles a lion, which is

also associated with the bravery of knights. Similar to Harry, The Wardrobe surrounds the

Figure 2: Lion emblem in The Wardrobe

80 “A Lion takes a Heraldic Pose.” The Medieval Bestinary. BN MS Lat. 6838B. Northern France: Bibliothèque Nationale de France. (13th

century). http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beastgallery78.htm#

81 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 64 82 J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, New York: A.A. Levine Books, 1998: 118.

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Pevensie children with emblems of a lion. C. S. Lewis portrayed Aslan not only as an allegory

for Jesus, but also as an actual, talking lion. Director Andrew Adamson decorates the Pevensie’s

armory, garments, and banners with lions. Director Adamson fabricates the lion emblem from

medieval art and bestiaries such as Figure 1. The lions in The Wardrobe serve as a consistent

reminder of the Pevensie children’s remarkable bravery. The lion imagery also serves as a signal

that the children are in a secondary world that is starkly different from the mundane modern

world.

Theme Two:

Like the medieval knights of epic poetry, the heroes in The Sorcerer’s Stone, The

Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and Star Wars use a sword-like weapon that is unique to their

destiny, often because the weapons have a unique history independent of the protagonist. In

chivalric romances, the knight is merely ordinary without his weapon. The typical weapon in

medieval literature is a sword of unmatched strength. Since the weapon helps the audience

distinguish the difference between the knight and the antagonist, the hero’s weapon has to be

extraordinary. However, the sword need not be embellished with jewels and designs. Roland’s

sword is quiet plain “He draws forth Durendal, his fine naked sword.”83 Although Durendal

appears ordinary, the sword proves to be unbreakable when Roland attempts to destroy it before

he dies: “Roland stuck [Durendal] upon the dark-hued stone… but neither breaks nor shatters; It

rebounds towards heaven.”84 Roland’s inability to break Durendal marks the sword’s strength as

indestructible.

83 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 71. 84 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 103.

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The manner in which the sword shines is another characteristic that chivalric tales

emphasize. While marveling about his sword, Roland cries: “how fair and clear and white you

are! How you shimmer and sparkle in the sun!”85 Similarly, Excalibur, Arthur’s sword, “was so

bright in his enemies’ eyes that it gave off light like to thirty torches.”86 The sword’s glow is yet

another way filmmakers can mark the hero as unique and distinct from other characters, and

more importantly their enemy. The sword only shines in particular moments that are vital for the

hero’s victory and to remind the reader that the sword is extraordinary.

In both The Song of Roland and Le Morte D’Arthur the authors name the heroes’ swords.

Durendal is Roland’s sword and Arthur’s sword is Excalibur. No other swords in the chivalric

tales have names. Since the sword is an extension of the human arm, fantasy films’ use the sword

as a synecdoche for the hero’s personality. In other words, the sword can identify the hero and

vice versa. This strengthens the bond between the knight and his weapon. In addition, both

swords in The Song of Roland and Le Morte D’Arthur have mythical origins. Roland’s Durendal

is “worth more than pure gold”87 because the heavens gave the sword to Christians. Roland

recounts how he obtained Durendal: when Charlemagne was in Vales of Maurienne, angels told

him to give Durendal to a dependable captain. Charlemagne chose Count Roland and in result,

Roland used the sword to reclaim many lands and countries for Charlemagne.88 Likewise, in Sir

Thomas Malory’s tale the sword chose the knight. The inscription on the stone where the sword

hailed from stated: “Never shall man take me hence, but only he by whose side I ought to hang,

and he shall be the best knight of the world.”89 Since Arthur was the only individual who could

85 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 103.

86 Thomas Malory and Dorsey Armstrong, Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur: A New Modern English Translation Based on the Winchester Manuscript, West Lafayette, Ind: Parlor Press, 2009: 11.

87 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 79.

88 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 102. 89 Thomas Malory and Dorsey Armstrong, Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, 166

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pull Excalibur from the stone, he was the rightful and true knight. Moreover, medieval tales

differentiate the knight’s sword from other ordinary swords. This mythical bond ensures that the

knight would always be victorious. Modern fantasy films continue to use this literary device to

allude to a simpler era where good would always triumph evil, and the distinction between good

and evil is absolutely clear. The sword’s unmatched strength, its glow, and its mythical origins

appeal to an American nostalgia that many viewers feel for a honorable time, where it was

unmistakable that good was capable of defeating evil.

Although the Pevensie children enter Narnia without weapons, they soon discover that

weapons are necessary to defend themselves against the White Witch. Father Christmas gave

presents to Peter, Susan, and Lucy; Edmund did not receive a gift because he betrayed his

siblings. Father Christmas gave Peter, the eldest child, a majestic sword and a shield decorated

once again with a lion. Like Roland and Arthur, who named their swords; likewise, Peter named

his sword Rhindon (see Figure 3). The audience first sees Rhindon when the White Witch’s

Figure 3: Rhindon in The Wardrobe

winter spell was breaking. Director Adamson captures Narnia’s first rays of sunshine on

Rhindon’s blade. Similarly, Roland’s sword sparkled in the sunlight: “Durendal… How dost

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thou shine and sparkle in the sunlight!”90 Director Adamson depicts Rhindon as a sword with an

engraved lion at the bottom of the handle and a long blade with inscriptions along the center.

Peter used Rhindon to battle the White Witch’s army. This scene emphasizes the importance of

Rhindon by naming it and not naming Susan or Lucy’s weapons. No longer is Peter an ordinary

boy from the modern world, instead he is destined to save Narnia and become King with the aid

of his sibling.

In Sorcerer’s Stone Harry uses a wand, which Director Columbus cinematically

represented as a sword. The wand represents and a physical manifestation of magic that

distinguishes him from muggles, or non-wizards. Both wands and swords are an extension of the

human arm and are the main weapon for battles. Similar to how medieval tales referred to

swords as supernatural, Harry’s wans allows him to participate in magic. On Harry Potter’s

journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he enters Ollivander’s wand shop.

When shopping for wands, Harry tries several wands with little success. Director Columbus

illuminates the once dark room with light, and Harry’s facial expression changes to awe (see

Figure 4: Harry and his wand in Ollivander’s Wand Shop

90 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 102

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Figure 4). This cinematic demonstration is similar with chivalric tale’s description of a glowing

sword. Ollivander confirms Harry’s reaction by stating: “the wand chooses the wizard… these

connections are complex. An initial attraction and then a mutual quest for experience, the wand

learning from the wizard, the wizard from the wand.” Director Columbus emphasizes the initial

attraction between Harry and his wand cinematically representing the gravity of the quest Harry

will embark at Hogwarts. Not only is Harry remarkable, but his destiny lies with the wand that

chose him. Every wizard has a wand, but the wand makes the wizard. Similar to Roland and

King Arthur, Harry’s wand had a special pedigree: his wand shares origins with his archenemy’s

wand. This scene connecting Harry with his wand employs a plot device similar to those found

in medieval literature. Malory connects Excalibur with King Arthur through and inscription on

the stone which said: “Never shall man take me hence, but only he by whose side I ought to

hang.”91 Even Roland’s sword, Durendal, is rightfully his.92 The Sorcerer’s Stone transforms the

idea of a supernatural weapon by distinguishing Harry Potter’s wand as extraordinary not only

because of its origins but because of Harry’s courageous actions.

Tolkien inverts the symbolism of the knight and his sword by making Frodo unsuitable

for the medieval Middle-Earth. Director Peter Jackson remind the audience of Frodo’s misfit in

Middle-Earth by depicting Frodo as an unskilled swordsman. Although Frodo rarely engaged in

combat, he armed himself with one weapon; a sword named Sting. Once again, the hero’s sword

is given a name so that it can be distinguished from other swords. Bilbo, Frodo’s Uncle, gave

Sting to Frodo before he departed on his journey. Bilbo warned that elves created the sword and

that “the blade glows blue when Orcs or goblins are near.” Instead of the sword glowing to fight

91 Thomas Malory and Dorsey Armstrong, Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, 166. 92 Dorothy L. Sayers, The Song of Roland, 102.

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off enemies, as King Arthur’s sword did.93 Ironically, Sting glows to warn Frodo away from

danger, not to fight evil (see Figure 5). In another scene, instead of fighting bravely like the other

characters, Frodo hides in fear. Since Frodo is an unskilled swordsman, a troll attacked and

injured him. Director Jackson decision to depict Frodo as defenseless, serves as a reminder that

Figure 5: Frodo hides with Sting

Frodo is ordinary compared to his magnificent sword. In The Hobbit Gandalf found Sting in a

troll-hoard; in medieval tales, the hero’s weapon is deemed righteous, therefore, the weapon

should not appear in a trash pit. When handing Sting to Bilbo, Gandalf warned that: “true

courage is knowing when not to take a life but when to spare one.”94 This advice led Bilbo to

spare Gollum’s life and as a result, Gollum guided Frodo through treacherous land to defeat

Mordor in the Lord of the Ring series. Bilbo and Frodo’s decision not to use the sword

accentuates their courage, more so than if they had used the sword. In the hands of hobbits,

swords are useless. Yet, Jackson still portrayed the sword in correlation to traditional medieval

tales.

93 Thomas Malory and Dorsey Armstrong, Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, 11 94 J. R. R. Tolkien and Michael Hague, The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.

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Likewise Star Wars portrays a sword from mythical tales. Star Wars is set in a futuristic

space galaxy, the characteristics of the medieval knight are also evident in the depictions of Luke

and his weapon. Director George Lucas created Jedi Knights; their name alone expresses their

chivalric role. The Jedi Knights used what they describe as an ancient weapon, to battle against

evil. The weapons are light sabers, a glowing red, blue, or green light that emanates from a

cylinder tube (see Figure 6). Jedi’s use light sabers in a similar manner as swords. Immediately,

Figure 6: Luke’s light saber

the light saber seems out of place in a society that uses laser guns and space ships. Yet, the light

saber’s visual and auditory aesthetics are sensational. When the light saber moves, it creates a

deep humming sound that overwhelms other background noise. In addition, the sword glows in a

manner analogous to King Arthur’s sword glowing when he battled several men at once. 95

Although Director Lucas does not decorate the Jedi Knights’ light sabers with gems and

inscriptions, they are starkly different from the Galactic Empire’s guns. This cinematic

expression alludes to the Jedi Knights’ unmatched strength over evil. The first time the audience

sees the light saber, Director Lucas has Obi-Wan reminiscing about a simpler time, before the

development of the Empire. Obi-Wan’s yearn is parallel to American desire for an era that has a

95 Thomas Malory and Dorsey Armstrong, Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, 11

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clear sense of right and wrong. Later in the scene, Obi-Wan reveals the mythical origins of Luke

Skywalker’s light saber; it stems from his father’s legacy in the Jedi Crusade. Several years after

Star Wars (1977), the Star Wars series created a prequel trilogy that matches the first three films’

medieval imagery. In the prequel Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker’s father, was a gifted Jedi

Knight but his desire for power and security causes him to pledge to the evil Galactic Empire and

destroy the Jedi Temple. In opposition, Obi-Wan Kenobi duels Darth Vader where Obi-Wan

leaves Darth Vader to die and takes his light saber. In Star Wars Obi-Wan hands Luke Darth

Vader’s light saber, in hope that Luke will become part of the Jedi Force. Although Luke initially

refuses Obi-Wan’s offer, Luke and his light saber are destined to prevail Darth Vader. Once

again, Luke is the only suitable knight who can defend against the perils of his father and the

Galactic Empire.

Conclusion:

Since America is unable return to a chivalric era, images of the Middle Ages have

satisfied a modern nostalgia for a past simpler society. The American desire to escape

contemporary corruption fosters the medieval fantasies as an era free of the vague moral shades

of gray, which modernity has created. The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, The Wardrobe, and

Star Wars use the knight trope to allude to a fictionalized Middle Ages where the distinction

between good and evil is absolutely clear. Both the knight’s bravery and his mythical sword

identify the hero as righteous. Directors use the orphan theme and lion iconography to emphasize

that the heroes’ bravery and unmatched fighting ability. In addition, fantasy films employ the

following themes: the anthropomorphized sword, mythical origins, and ability to shine, the

filmmakers guarantee that good will always triumph evil. The films that I chose reveal fantasies

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in American popular culture and obscure the historical representation of the Middle Ages. In

conclusion, the knight trope reveals how fantasy films portray America desire for a clear

distinction between good and evil in the knight’s bravery and his extraordinary weapon.

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CONCLUSION

In the preceding chapters, I have argued that Americans’ desire to return to a chivalric

era, fueled a collective nostalgia for the Middle Ages. I suggest that the common tropes that

reoccur in fantasy films, give insight on how modern ideas project onto the past and how certain

images and sounds generate an aesthetic appeal. I explored the medieval town and knight tropes.

In regards to the medieval town, I express that The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Fellowship, The

Wardrobe, and Star Wars invoke medieval towns to appeal to an American nostalgia for Western

origins and simple lifestyle. When directors use this trope they depict the imaginary town as

dark, narrow, and crowded, while placing the townspeople close to nature. I used the Allegory of

Good Government painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Kermesse of St. George by Pieter Bruegel,

the illuminated manuscripts adapted from Jean Froissart’s Chronicle, and The Book of Kells to

provide a visual parallel to the towns portrayed in fantasy films. In Chapter Three, I examine

how the knight trope alludes to a fictionalized Middle Ages where the distinction between good

and evil is absolutely clear. The Le Morte d'Arthur and the Song of Roland provided a clear

model of how not only the hero’s characteristics are fundamental to the story, but also the hero’s

sword. The following themes: the anthropomorphized sword, mythical origins, and ability to

shine, guarantee that good will always triumph evil. When directors use the knight trope to

reinvigorate the chivalric epic, they satisfy Americans desire for an altruistic hero. In conclusion,

both the medieval town and knight trope reveal how fantasy films portray America nostalgia for

an idealized Middle Ages rather than a historical one.

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Ultimately, my goal was to begin to answer Saladin Ahmed’s intriguing question: “what

is it that draws millions of readers and viewers to fantasy works? What is it about fantasy?” 96

Although there are a number of factors that influence a film’s success, I believe that the

reoccurring elements in fantasy films can illuminate deep aesthetic appeals that underlie

contemporary American culture. I argue that cultural products, such as fantasy films provide a

framework to think about nostalgia and history. First, theories on nostalgia provide insight on

how the medieval is an acceptable setting for inserting American culture. Second, history

highlights how medieval represents the origin of western civilization. These aspects make the

Middle Ages both familiar and unfamiliar. The “betweenness” of the Middle Ages makes it a

space in between the classical antiquity and the modern era. Therefore, when the medieval is

removed from history it can serves as a timeless parable. This betweeness causes the medieval to

be a sought after dream, which can only represent ourselves and not the historical past.

Consequently, the medieval is limited to become a foreign, fictitious setting on the movie screen.

Throughout this paper, I provided analysis between cultural texts, historical texts, and

theories about nostalgia to assert that medieval resonates in American society. By doing so, I

illuminated how we continue to revisit the medieval in search of ourselves. As Umberto Eco

said: “The Middle Ages have always been messed up in order to meet the vital requirements of

different periods.” The remarkable social transformation after the Vietnam war and 9/11 changed

popular culture. Since Americans dreamed of escaping the social issues that haunted them,

directors employed ideas of escapism and collective longings into Hollywood. Fantasy films

provided an opportunity for audiences to escape their fears and enter a mythical world comprised

of their deepest desires: a righteous knight that thrived in the mundane. As a result, directors

96 Saladin Ahmed, “At Home In Fantasy's Nerd-Built Worlds,” NPR, (2013) http://www.npr.org/2013/01/06/168631403/at-home-in-fantasys-nerd-built-worlds.

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fostered medieval fantasies that were free of the vague moral shades of gray, which modernity

has created.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources:

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