| My review is posted at an appropriate time. |
Jamison, Carol Parrish.
Chivalry in Westeros: The Knightly Code of a Song of Ice and Fire. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2018. Pp. 217. $29.95. ISBN: 978-1-4766-7005-8.
This century's most important work of popular medievalism is without a doubt George R.R. Martin's multi-volume
A Song of Ice and Fire and the 8-year-long TV series
A Game of Thrones which is based upon it. (In the following review I will call this work, books and TV series both,
Game of Thrones, in line with common usage). Thousands upon
thousands have read the books or pirated the episodes off the internet,
and "Game of Thrones" has become a catchphrase used to describe vicious,
bloodthirsty politics or Machiavellian
intrigue. It is now a cheap but evocative way of characterizing our
current situation as "medieval," that is, "bad."
Game of Thrones
has transcended normal levels of popularity. Readers and writers and
film producers have swarmed over it, not only demanding more of the
story but
also the opportunity to create their own versions. The desire to engage
with
Game of Thrones springs from the fact that having caught the
imagination, the story and the setting are both familiar to the audience
and capable of being added to, to suit contemporary taste. Earlier
examples are
Ben Hur, the book and the movies, and the Lord of the Rings and other works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Ben Hur made the Holy Land and the passion of Christ, a sacred
setting and story for a 19th century audience, more accessible; Tolkien
made a vast magical world by mining the aesthetics of the Middle Ages.
Martin also builds on a medieval foundation.
The world of Game of Thrones, the fictional continent of Westeros, is medieval enough to be familiar and unique enough to make the story fresh.
Jamison
is one of the many who find Martin's mix of real and invented medieval
history fascinating. She is certainly well qualified to critique and
enjoy
Game of Thrones--her academic expertise includes both medieval
literature and medievalism. The preface and chapter one establish the
parameters for her examination. Medievalism is defined in a number of
ways perhaps most usefully by Tom Shippey
as "the study of responses to the Middle Ages at all periods since a
sense of the medieval began to develop." [1] Of course this is a very
broad definition, and Jamison narrows it down; of the many possible
medievalisms, her subject is Martin's contribution
to the literature of chivalry.
Chivalry in Westeros
systematically works its way through a variety of issues that arise
in any discussion of chivalry. Jamison is particularly interested in
"the code" of chivalry and how the ideals professed by various
characters in
Chivalry in Westeros and the stories those characters cite in
discussions with each other shape an informal debate on the nature of
chivalry and its relationship to other values supposedly held by the
society at large. The way in which traditions
emerge from such debates, oral and written, is the subject of two whole
chapters. One suspects that this analysis may have been included for
the benefit of students or teachers who have not thought much about the
workings of literary tradition before picking
up this book. The treatment certainly is quite extensive with
discussion of many actual medieval chivalric works.
Interestingly, Jamison gives pride of place to an examination of the chivalric virtue of
franchise. For the purposes of this review, franchise
can be defined very briefly as nobility, though it might be equated with chivalry. Franchise,
like chivalry, is multi-faceted. Here it is examined in detail
because it reflects the idea that real knights are of noble birth and
have such obvious attributes as provable noble descent and physical
beauty. Of course, neither in our Middle Ages nor in
Westeros are all knights actually noble, or in unambiguous possession
of the proofs of superior status. Jamison cites many examples of "social
climber" knights. Franchise is tricky--and the possession or lack of it
is a matter of debate. Many people who in
fact do not possess basic characteristics of knighthood take a rather
cynical view of the old standards; others need to fake it if they are to
be anything more than "hedge [poor] knights" scraping by on the basis
of a modicum of prowess or willingness to engage
in treachery. The result is that chivalry, despite the sins of many who
claim to be practitioners and a recurrent skepticism about its reality,
is clearly central to the culture of Westeros. The bulk of the book
examines such virtues and characteristics of
chivalry as loyalty, prowess, vengeance, and peace-weaving and how they
actually shape behavior in Westeros.
Discussion
of chivalry is a discussion of ideals versus reality. It is in the
nature of such debates that they are unlikely to be resolved. In
Jamison's presentation, the problems
with chivalry spring not from the faults of individuals, but are
inherent in the incoherence of chivalry. It is a matter of broken ideals
rather than broken people. [2] Likewise, it shows that whether one
consults with medieval romancers, the chroniclers of
the Round Table, or George R.R. Martin on the reality of chivalry, the
same themes emerge.
Jamison states at the beginning of
Chivalry in Westeros that her interest in using Martin's
work was as a jumping-off point for teaching medieval literature and
medievalism. In the last chapter, "Conclusions," she returns to this
point--how
Game of Thrones can be used to enhance (or, admittedly, serve to
hinder) a non-specialist's understanding of the Middle Ages. She makes a
rather convincing case for the usefulness of
Game of Thrones in teaching medievalism, namely when it is done
well and the students are receptive. Jamison refers to her experience in
incorporating
Game of Thrones in courses on medieval literature. Some students
wrote papers touching on such sophisticated topics as the creation of
"authenticity" in our accounts of medieval history and culture. Likewise
students used
Game of Thrones to shed light on modern concerns. Her
descriptions of her students' accomplishments were very persuasive. This
student work sounds on a par with work that has been produced by some
of my better students when they get really inspired
by a topic. At this point in history, Martin's vivid pseudo-medieval
world can lead some students and scholars in interesting directions.
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Notes:
1. "Medievalisms and Why They Matter,"
Studies in Medievalism(s) XVII: Defining Medievalism(s), ed. Karl Fugelso (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, 2009), 45-54.
2. p. 113: "[Le Morte Darthur]
is not simply a tragedy of character; it is a tragedy of
ideas...chivalry is noble but fatally flawed, fatally unstable and so
too must
be its practitioners," quoting Kenneth Hodges, Forging Chivalric Communities in Malory's Le Morte Darthur (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 2.
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