Category: Articles
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“All things belong to the brave”: Gauls, Romans, and the Battle of the Allia
As the Romans looked down from their fastness and saw the City full of enemies running up and down in all the streets, while first in one quarter and then in another some new calamity would be occurring, they were unable, I do not say to keep their heads, but even to be sure of…
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Inside the Anglo-Saxon Shield-Wall: Exploring the Battle of Maldon
The year is AD 991 and a Viking army rages across east England. Led by the fearsome King Olaf, the warrior crews of ninety-three longships pillage the undefended lands of the Anglo-Saxons and plunder the town of Ipswich. Riding to meet them is Earl Byrhtnoth, commander of the Anglo-Saxon army of King Æthelred. It has…
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What was a medieval battle really like? A detailed look at the famous Battle of Crecy
August 26, 1346. The sky above the fields of Crécy is black with arrows. It fills with the terrifying roar of English longbows, their iron-tipped bodkin arrows falling like a storm, tearing through heavy mail and plate. In a single afternoon, the landscape of medieval warfare was altered. A great battle was won, not by…
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Why fantasy writers should read old books
If you’re a fantasy writer and you’re interested in creating secondary worlds that feel authentic to the period you’re taking inspiration from, I think the best thing you can do is read primary sources. That might look like epic literary works such as Beowulf or the Epic of Gilgamesh, social satires like The Canterbury Tales,…
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Troy, Romans, and Revenge in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
From its opening act to its final bloody scene, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet poses difficult questions about the nature of morality, justice, and revenge.