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Malory’s text contain numerous women who either rule a castle and lands in their own right, or who appear to do so as we never see a man controlling their rulership. It is, nevertheless, not the normal position for a woman: overall, these women are expected to desire a knight who can take over rulership, or at least become co-ruler. This desire is considered appropriate: by and large, only women of very doubtful reputations (Morgan being a case in point) retain full control over their lands for an extended period of time. Categorically rejecting an obviously suitable knight is also inappropriate for a female ruler: it is not so much that she should accept a knight she does not desire, as that she should desire any knight of prowess and chivalric behaviour who loves her. The lack of desire is, in itself, a flaw in a female ruler.

A prominent example of inappropriate reaction to knightly desire is Ettarde, ruler of her own castle and believing she is entitled to make her own choice in matters of love. in the text she is held up as the bad example, portraying Nyneve – a woman who, if not ruler of a castle, is certainly a person with power – as the good example. In this paper, I will discuss this and other examples of female rulers and their (in)appropriate desires.

In 1757, the Englishman Charles Bertram published, in Copenhagen, a text and map of supposed medieval origins, which showed new information on the extent of Roman Britain, particularly in Scotland. This text, and particularly the map, introduced a previously unknown Roman province which covered large parts of southern Scotland, as well as roads and stations extending into this area. It was, of course, not genuine.

Nevertheless, this new information was eagerly embraced by many antiquaries and historians. The forging of this particular text is inextricably linked to the Union of Scotland and England and the Jacobite rebellions. The attraction that this forgery held for contemporary Englishmen, and Scotsmen, was subtle. In showing the Union as having existed during the much admired period of Roman rule, Bertram’s text portrays the Union of 1707 as unavoidable, almost pre-ordained, and as natural. The territorial boundaries are re-affirmed through history, and with an authority that is hard to question. 

This forgery allows for a number of attractive rewritings of history, including the eliding of the Middle Ages themselves. The text focuses on the two transnational aspects of this forgery: the misuse of a ‘medieval’ text in order to promote a political agenda concerning national borders and national unity, and the position of the writer in exile, forging a nostalgic past for a nation in which he no longer dwells.

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In 1757, an Englishman called Charles Bertram, living in Copenhagen, published a forged manuscript. This contained a text supposedly written by a medieval monk but based on a Roman original. Charles Bertram thus created three authors in one fell swoop.

Bertram himself is consistently present in the text, despite positioning himself as an editor only. The medieval monk is an explicit presence, portrayed as having put his own words – indeed in his own hand – on the pages. Behind him is the shadowy character of a Roman general, the author of the presumed original. In their various situations, the authors partake of different degrees of authority and reliability, which are also shifted from one author to another.

The scene of Danaerys wedding night with Khal Drogo differs significantly in the text and the TV episode. In the novel Danaerys is seduced by her new husband, with the clear ability to turn him down. The TV series, on the other hand, shows this scene as a rape.

This change from romance to rape is due to two underlying assumptions: firstly, that sexual violence is perceived as more authentic than consensual sex in this pseudo-medieval setting, and secondly, that the series seeks to titillate the readers by presenting a form of sexual contact that is seen as. essentially, sexier. The portrayal of male sexuality in popular culture and public discourse favours a depiction of men as pursuers and women as pursued, shading into predator/prey. Thus, we perceive men as predatory due to biology, not culture: it is ‘authentic’ for men to be violent. Game of Thrones is often argued to give a ‘realistic’ image of the Middle Ages, particularly in portraying violence against women, showing this connection between ‘authenticity’ and sexual violence.

Furthermore, this type of sexuality is seen as preferred by men, dividing the genders along a sex/romance dichotomy. Catering to the imagined male gaze, the show presents Khal Drogo’s and Danaerys’s sexual interaction as more pornographic and less romantic, which also genders the presentation masculine. In making this change, the TV show caters to the male gaze and an imagined male audience, allowing the narrative to be dominated by male desire and male fears.

While we tend to think of rape as something that happens to female characters, Malory's text does, in fact, contain numerous male characters who suffer attempts to coerce them into sex. This happens to Bors de Ganis, and indeed, to Arthur himself. The most regular victim of this is Launcelot, who is repeatedly in danger of being forced to have sex with various women, and is, of course, in fact drugged and raped.

                      Launcelot seems to attract these women through his fame and prowess, and his attachment to Guinevere frequently arouses jealousy. However, if we take into consideration rape as a crime of power more than of sexual attraction, another image of Launcelot's situation appears. This reading suggests that the women in question desire power over Launcelot - and the common threat to kill him if he will not acquiesce rather strengthens that suggestion - and this desire puts him in a uniquely vulnerable position. As they are women, they cannot be dealt with through his martial prowess and vanquished in battle; their very defenselessness causes Launcelot's vulnerability. This paper investigates how Launcelot's masculinity, based, as masculinity in Malory generally is, on prowess and the steadfast love for a specific woman, paradoxically places him in what is traditionally a feminine position - that of vulnerability to violence, including sexual violence. 

The Swedish 14th century romance Hærra Ivan presents an ideal noble world by portraying courtly manners, feasts, and battles, including scenes that are not present in the French Yvain by Chrétien de Troyes. This article focuses on the portrayal of elegant clothes made from expensive fabrics and the usage of fabrics in furnishing homes. Here the author often expands on the original, and also tends to define the materials used as expensive and rich (kostelik, rik, dyr) – while the terms have the wider meaning of ’valuable, spendid’ they are also closely associated with the amount of money one would have to pay for the item in question. Some of the materials are, in fact, so expensive that it is doubtful whether they were in use even among royalty at the time. In presenting these rich items, the author suggests how the nobility should aspire to the correct forms of consumption to display their nobility and wealth, and uphold their social standing. 

Early on, the works produced by Joss Whedon and writers associated with him were recognised as feminist. This pertains not only to the prominence of female characters, but to the emphasis on co-operation and power-sharing that appear in many of the works. However, there were, also early, concerns about the portrayal of people of colour. I will here consider the entirety of Whedon’s oeuvre, whether he has been writer, producer, or director.

Whedon’s works do not feature many characters of colour; characters played by actors of colour might also be presented as white, thus further limiting the number of openly presented characters of colour. The portrayals of those characters of colour that do appear in his work are also not unproblematic. One particularly problematic instance of this, which I will focus on here, is the depiction of people of colour (especially but not exclusively women) as expected to exhibit strong loyalty to a white person (especially but not exclusively men).

Characters of colour, regardless of prominence, often appear as subordinate to a white character, whether this is due to a formal chain of command or an informal hierarchy. Examples of this appear in Agents of Shield, Firefly, Dollhouse, and Angel, to mention a few. Obviously, the hierarchy is more or less formalised in these texts, but it is generally clear to the viewers even when informal. The moral quality of the characters of colour is repeatedly judged by how loyal they remain to the white person above them in the hierarchy; this judgement may be openly referred to in the text or consist of how the audience is expected to perceive them and their fortunes, or lack thereof, in the arc of the plot.

As viewers, we tend to accept the hierarchies inherent in the plot, whether formal or informal; we are presented with a leader and a group of followers, who might also have an internal hierarchy. We are invited to judge the performance of the leader, including on how well the followers follow them, and to expect, if we approve of the leader, to see loyalty from the followers. Nevertheless, the demands of loyalty from the characters of colour tend to go beyond the normal expectation that they carry out orders and offer input, if necessary, and often includes emotional and psychologial support. This support is generally not extended in the other direction, making it a power imbalance rather than mutual care, with the less privileged characters taking on the labour of making white characters feel better. This paper will discuss some instances of this, and how simply including more characters of colour does not in and of itself solve the long-noted issues of race in Whedon’s work.

While we tend to think of rape as something that happens to female characters, Malory's text does, in fact, contain numerous male characters who suffer attempts to coerce them into sex. This happens to Bors de Ganis, and indeed, to Arthur himself. The most regular victim of this is Launcelot, who is repeatedly in danger of being forced to have sex with various women, and is, of course, in fact drugged and raped.

Launcelot seems to attract these women through his fame and prowess, and his attachment to Guinevere frequently arouses jealousy. However, if we take into consideration rape as a crime of power more than of sexual attraction, another image of Launcelot's situation appears. This reading suggests that the women in question desire power over Launcelot - and the common threat to kill him if he will not acquiesce rather strengthens that suggestion - and this desire puts him in a uniquely vulnerable position. As they are women, they cannot be dealt with through his martial prowess and vanquished in battle; their very defenselessness causes Launcelot's vulnerability. This paper investigates how Launcelot's masculinity, based, as masculinity in Malory generally is, on prowess and the steadfast love for a specific woman, paradoxically places him in what is traditionally a feminine position - that of vulnerability to violence, including sexual violence.

This session looks at the appropriate display of rank and wealth in Scandinavian and English courtly literature, through textiles, armour, and gift-giving. The objects referenced in these texts allowed the contemporary reader to place the characters at the appropriate level of the hierarchy, judging their rank by the value of the objects displayed in public settings. The texts also served as instructions for proper consumption and guided the reader into ways of establishing and displaying aristocratic identities in public settings.