Arthurian Television Studies

This essay highlights the similarities between Merlin and his brother wizards in contemporary popular culture. Sections explore the iconography associated with these characters and their narrative role as guides and mentors to heroes, a discussion that further refines ideas presented in "Merlin Goes to the Movies: The Changing Role of Merlin in Cinema Arthuriana" (1999).

Published in The Medieval Hero on Screen: Representations from Beowulf to Buffy, edited by Martha W. Driver and Sid Ray, McFarland, 2004, pp. 167-91. ISBN  978-0786419265 (paperback); 978-0786427031 (ebook).

Paper presented at The Third Biennial Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium, a mini-conference within the overall convention framework of NecronomiCon Providence: The International Festival of Weird Fiction, Art, and Academia. Providence, RI. 18 August 2017.

Biography and abstract posted in the program on pages 6 through 7.

First presented May 12, 2013 at 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI; updated & expanded version presented August 1, 2015 at Mythcon 46, Mythopoeic Society, Colorado Springs, CO; also presented at ACMRS Annual Conference, Scottsdale, AZ, Feb. 6, 2016.  Examining depictions of race & ethnicity in medieval and contemporary Arthurian literature, television and film. Full paper available for free download. (Revised and expanded version (3.5) available for download, too.)

Comprehensive (at the time) survey of the representations of Merlin on screen. The second file includes the stills that accompanied the listing.

Published in 1999 Film & History CD-ROM Annual, edited by Peter C. Rollins, John E. O’Connor, and Deborah A. Carmichael, Film & History, 1999, 31 pp. ISBN 0-641775-6-8.

"Student Learning Outcomes
• Locate and Discuss historical and/or archeological evidence suggesting or disproving the presence of Africans in Roman and medieval Britain (and Europe)
• Demonstrate awareness of the portrayal of people of color in medieval Arthurian literature
• Discuss the portrayal of ethnic diversity in current Arthurian-themed television shows and films"

Paper presented at 37th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI. 2 May 2002.

Handout devoted to "The Arthurian Legend on Television (A Basic Bibliography)" attached. Note that email addressed listed is no longer valid.

Explores three prominent narrative roles for the character of Merlin in Arthurian films. Topics covered are Merlin as teacher (The Sword in the Stone and Kids of the Round Table), Merlin as king-/kingdom-maker (Excalibur and Guinevere), and Merlin as lover (Arthur the King/Merlin and the Sword). (I refined my thinking on Merlin on screen in my 2004 essay “The Way of the Wizard: Reflections of Merlin on Film”.)

The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain is pleased to announce the re-launching of our two discussion lists at Groups.io following the recent decision by Yahoo! to delete all content from Yahoo! Groups.

Our message archive has been saved and transferred to Groups.io, and new discussions have begun.

To sign-up follow the links below.

Employing a three-part classification system, this piece offers a comprehensive discussion of the use of the figure of Mordred and his legend in Arthurian-themed film and television productions.

Published in Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays, edited by Kevin J. Harty, revised edition, McFarland, 2002 (pb. 2009), pp. 199-210. ISBN 978-0786413447 (hardcover); 978-0-7864-4683-4 (paperback).

Published in “Arthurian Literature, Art, and Film, 1995-1999,” edited by Norris J. Lacy and Raymond H. Thompson. Arthurian Literature vol. 18, 2001, pp. 193-255. ISBN 0-85991-617-0. (This listing is the third supplement to The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, edited by Norris J. Lacy, Garland, 1991.)

More Middle Ages on Screen? Reconsidering The Reel Middle Ages (A Roundtable)
Sponsored by the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
12-15 May 2016
Proposals due by 15 September 2015

Presented as part of “Saving the Day for Medievalists: Accessing Medieval-Themed Comics in the Twenty-first Century (Roundtable) II: Comics Scholarship.” Sponsored by the Medieval Comics Project. 56th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Western Michigan University. Kalamazoo, MI. 11 May 2021. Virtual event.

The Monstrous Matter of Britain is a blog sponsored by The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain. This site was founded in 2012 and is devoted to furthering discussion and debate of the monsters and the monstrous of the Arthurian tradition from its medieval origins to the present and in all media in which Arthuriana appears

The representation of Arthurian subjects in film has received a great deal of attention, yet the cinema's small-screen sibling is often overlooked. The serialization of Arthurian subjects on television, however, raises important questions about sequentiality and the ways in which we re-imagine Arthurian worlds.