Beer brewing is one of the most ancient of arts. Evidence exists for it in writing dating far back to 5000 BCE in Egypt and Mesopotamia. It went into eclipse during the days of the Roman Empire with its taste for wine; but came back in strong during the Medieval era, where it diversified and …
Distinctive stars have distinctive names. Polaris, for example, is also known as the Pole Star, and at various places in its past Angel Stern, Cynosura, the Lodestar, and The Star of Arcady. Arcturus was known as Guardian of the Bear to the ancient Greeks. Constellation descriptions in old astronomical catalogs give descriptions such as “Regulus, …
Fantasy writing published in English-speaking worlds relies heavily on Medieval England as a setting. I suppose it’s because most early fantasy writers were, in fact, English, and then there’s the influence of the Inklings that included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. It’s a heavy base that has only gotten heavier over the …
You’re driving along in the English countryside on your way to the next bed-and-breakfast. Villages and towns appear as you turn a bend or crest the hill, then disappear as the road steers you away. Or you’re reading some cozy mystery book set in the British Isles, or a tale of Eldritch horror where innocent …
Science fiction writer Joan D. Vinge wrote a fairy tale/space opera mashup in the early 1980s called The Snow Queen, which borrowed from the Hans Christian Anderson tale of the same name. Most of the action took place on a frigid water planet named Tiamat, where humans were split into two clans: Summers and Winters. …
Many people, myself included, have thought that the book of Middle Eastern fantasy tales, One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, is a unified work of one author or compiler from the 16th century, ala The Brothers Grimm. But it isn’t. It’s a far older collection of folk tales and poetry from a far wider range …
Not as glamorous as evil societies or those dedicated to dark magic. But every sizable town and city in a typical Medieval European society has them. There are guilds devoted to workers and tradesmen, merchants’ leagues, secret societies like Freemasons, civic leagues dedicated to improve some aspect of city life, and even rebels lurking below …