Aug 10, 2023 | Fun Historical Facts
Witcher fans will recognize this handsome fellow immediately: One striking thing about Geralt of Rivia is the way he carries his swords on his back. While it looks pretty cool, though, how accurate is it? Can you, indeed, carry around your sword like this? Murphy...
Apr 7, 2023 | Fun Historical Facts
Remember Stargate and the cool lance that doubled as a missile launcher? Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t as unheard of as you may assume (well, not the energy weapon but the combo of lance and gun). If you are looking for inspiration for an unusual weapon for...
Oct 30, 2022 | Quora, Writing
What would happen if you tried to use a cloak to block a sword? Eric Lowe (and here) has two illuminating answers to this question – both opening up many possibilities in fiction writing. It’s not a shield Before going into any details, the first thing to...
Oct 18, 2022 | Fun Historical Facts
I always found forearm guards to be rather quaint and decorative rather than effective in battle. Then I came across this answer by Eric Lowe on Quora. Like me, Eric confesses to originally writing off forearm guards as fantasy. His research, however, showed him...
May 16, 2022 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
One thing I inherited from my late father is a small house in Evia, an island off of Athens. When I first visited the place, it had been closed for a couple of years, with no one visiting. What struck me was how rusted everything was, including even nickel faucets and...
Jul 3, 2021 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
You may have heard stories of how the English won the battle in Agincourt thanks to the English and Welsh archers using the dreaded longbow. The longbow is such a part of English identity that even Shakespeare wrote about it: Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold...
Nov 13, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
Robert Arthurs reports on Quora first seeing this wonder of medieval over-specialization on display in Vienna, Austria: Doesn’t it look awesome? Well, looks can be deceiving. You see that small hole in the top region of the shield? That is where a soldier would...
Sep 15, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts, Quora
Everyone’s heard of swords and spears. But how about the Goedendag, the Ahlspiess, or the Hussite flail? If you write historical fiction, you may appreciate this opportunity to spice up your weapons, courtesy of Quora. The Goedendag Essentially, the Goedendag...
Sep 3, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
Largely thanks to Tolkien, the fantasy genre consists basically of how we imagine the Medieval times. Readers of this blog will know of my many articles on the Middle Ages and my keen interest in historical accuracy. In the interest of improving our (fantasy) writing,...
Aug 27, 2017 | Fun Historical Facts, Writing
I hosted the other day a guest post by my author friend, Charles E. Yallowitz, but today I’m sharing his excellent series of posts he has written on fantasy (Medieval) arsenal. Charles has recently shared posts on the types of swords, shields, and projectile...
