Children’s Literature and Old Norse Medievalism

David Clark is the author of three monographs, four edited collections, and a crime novel, and for many years taught and researched medieval literatures, gender and sexuality studies, creative writing, and contemporary medievalism. He currently teaches Musical Theatre and vocal repertoire sessions for London College of Music, and writes and sings around Manchester.

David Clark’s study of the transformation of Norse mythology in children’s fantasy is a valuable and eminently readable introduction to an expansive topic. Clark ex- plores the methods used by numerous authors to make medieval material relevant to contemporary readers, and examines what this act of reworking says about our relationship with the past. The author unpicks the roles that Norse history and culture play in identity formation for modern readers, paying particular attention to authors’ use of mythic figures such as Thor, Odin and Loki as individuals for young readers to emulate or reject in the process of developing their autonomy and agency.[...]One of the greatest strengths of this study is its accessibility and interactivity. Clark aims for a ‘dialogic (rather than dialectic) approach’ (p. 16), which he achieves through a non-traditional academic writing style and structure. He pri- oritises primary textual analysis while providing light-touch introductions to core research through references to Open Access material in the footnotes, encouraging discussion with scholars regardless of affiliation with academic institutions. The book dispenses with the linear constraints of a traditional monograph, advocating for a more dynamic reading method. Clark writes mostly in short chapters with regular subheadings and cross-references in the footnotes to allow readers to find the most valuable information. With a writing style that is both eminently helpful for neurodivergent readers and refreshingly honest, Clark permits the reader to skip introductory material that may be familiar to them, to ‘ignor[e] whatever is not of interest without guilt’ (p. 15), and signposts aspects that they may want to return to in time.[...]Clark’s stimulating critical discussions, especially on the topics of gender and sexuality, are well-timed considering the wider political landscape, which restrictively foregrounds childhood and children’s literature in debates around propriety and censorship. In offering readers a wide-ranging survey of often overlooked sources, Children’s Literature and Old Norse Medievalisms will act as a strong foundation for future researchers engaging in medievalism and children’s literature.

• AcknowledgementsIntroduction: The EndChapter 1: Age-Related CategoriesChapter 2: Generic CategoriesChapter 3: Transformational FantasyChapter 4: Horned Helmets and Comic AnachronismChapter 5: Viking ReputationChapter 6: Runes and MagicChapter 7: The Power of StoryChapter 8: Race and EthnicityChapter 9: HeroismChapter 10: Viking MasculinityChapter 11: Viking FemininityChapter 12: Viking Sex and GenderChapter 13: BowdlerizationChapter 14: SexualityChapter 15: Ecological ThreatChapter 16: Norse Medievalism in Alan Early’s Father of Lies TrilogyChapter 17: Avoiding the End of Days: K. L. Armstrong and M. A. Marr’s Blackwell PagesChapter 18: Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase Series and Norse MedievalismConclusionSelect Bibliography of Frequently Cited Works