Magic Kingdoms beyond Disneyland: Medievalism in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" and Mary Gentle's "Ash: A Secret History"

Abstract

Much of the fantasy genre – in particular, much of the literature that defines public perception of the genre – takes place in worlds inspired by the Middle Ages, or at least by the common ideas and conceptions of the era. This thesis examines two works of fantasy –George R.R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and Mary Gentle’s Ash: A Secret History – that partake in a long tradition of medievalism in Western popular culture and whose authors have set out to subvert some of the genre conventions that relate to the use of medievalism. The texts are analysed with regards to how they evoke and how they reimagine various images of the Middle Ages, including images of the era as previously portrayed in the fantasy genre. Narratology, especially historiographic narratology, is used to examine the texts on the story level, considering such aspects as archetypal characters (the knight, the lady), how events inspired by medieval history are integrated into the narrative and the author’s aspirations toward a more realistic portrayal of the era. Complementing the story-level analysis is a literary-linguistic analysis which demonstrates the role played by stylistic choices in the process of evoking amd reimagining the Middle Ages. The thesis is concluded by a brief consideration of why the Middle Ages have come to loom so large in the minds of both fantasy authors and fantasy readers.