Gavin Davis

Professional Bio

My dissertation, "Reading the Old-Sword: The Narrative Work of Swords in Tenth-Century England," studies the sword's textual presence which affirms and contests the cultural values associated with the infamous metal objects that hung from the belts of early-medieval warriors. I am also invested in the study of medievalism, which is the post-medieval imagining of the Middle Ages. I have presented on the evolving medievalism of Dungeons & Dragons, the cyclical history suggested by the repeated woodcuts of Holinshed's Chronicle, and have a forthcoming publication in Mythlore on J.R.R. Tolkien's use of swords in the construction of a medieval fantasy in The Lord of the Rings.