"What are the Rules?" Medieval Law and Opportunities for Authenticity in Video GamesA Keynote by Keith RuiterIn popular consciousness, the early medieval period is often painted as a dark age, especially in terms of law. Generations of films, television programs, and now games, have vacillated between depictions of this period as possessed of a sort of elemental, quasi-libertarian lawlessness, and a deeply centralised, persecuting society full of anachronistic inquisitorial forces. These may be useful dramatic devices for the writers of these worlds, but neither provides a particularly authentic player experience in a rules-based medium like gaming.
Focusing on the Viking Age and games that engage with it, this talk explores some attempts to play with law in video games and provide some discussion of early-medieval law, its weirdness, its diversity, and its capacity for compelling storytelling. It comments on missed opportunities for immersiveness and engagement, before finally turning to the games we can look at for inspiration on how to do law better in playable medieval(ist) worlds.
Keith Ruiter is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Suffolk, specialising in early medieval laws, norms, and personhood in northern Europe and the Scandinavian diaspora. He takes widely interdisciplinary and culturally comparative approaches to his work, in particular through Indigenous Studies, but also through posthumanist and game studies approaches. His public-facing work has included being a consultant for TV, film, and educational game projects, and the resources on his History Check YouTube channel.
Session chaired by
Kjelda Glimmerveen.