21ST CENTURY MEDIEVALISMS. BETWEEN THE GLOBAL AND INDIVIDUAL is an edited volume consisting of 14 chapters by scholars interested in contemporary medievalisms across the world. It is a timely contribution to the growing scholarship on medievalisms offering chapters that consider both the individual experiences of medievalisms, as well as those of societies and cultures at large. The chapters of the book are grouped into three parts, the first explores stereotypes and myths in medievalisms; the second examines medievalisms that speak to particular communities and audiences; and the third studies how medievalisms are impacted by or stimulate conversations of politics and gender. These chapters all reflect a growing interest in medievalisms, and the appreciation of how they are present, materialise and evolve in different contexts and offers insights into medievalisms in politics, popular culture, social activism and more. Throughout the book, examples and case studies demonstrate how medievalisms in the modern age are at times individual experiences, at other times global phenomena and sometimes are in between. Therefore these medievalisms can speak to different audiences at the same time, showcasing how the Middle Ages and their memory continue to be a pertinent topic of study within the wider field of medieval studies.

KARL CHRISTIAN ALVESTAD has been, since August 2018, an Associate Professor in Social Studies at the Department of Culture, Religion and Social Studies, University of South-Eastern Norway. He completed his PhD in History at the University of Winchester, UK, in 2016. His thesis "Kings, Heroes and Ships: The Use of Historical Characters in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Perceptions of the Early Medieval Scandinavian Past" looked at the use of Viking Age history in the development of Norwegian national identity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His research focuses on the role of medievalism in politics and culture in Scandinavia, as well as early medieval political culture in Norway, and the cult of St. Olaf. Among Karl Christian’s most recent works is a chapter called “The 'Accurate' Deeds of Our Father: The 'Authentic' Narrative of Early Norway” (2021) discussing the construction of authenticity in contemporary Norwegian medievalisms, and an article titled “Mainstream Norwegian Medievalism in the Twenty-first Century Continuity and Change in Narrative and Form” (2021) which explores the evolving forms and content of contemporary Norwegian medievalisms.