Category: Medieval
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What’s the Point of Judging Medieval Films for Accuracy?
Public opinion varies on the value of judging anachronisms in medieval films. When I analyzed some depictions of trebuchets in medieval and fantasy films, Internet opinions ranged from “who fucking cares” to “oh, that’s interesting” (actual quotes from social media). Academic opinion varies as well, but the general consensus tends to be that judging a…
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Book Review: Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology
I wish I could delete the first few chapters of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, or at least move them to the back. Like any book of myths, it’s difficult not to glaze over the initial inundation of unpronounceable names (e.g., Yggdrasil, Hvergelmir), origins, and outrageous creation tales. But once you make it past there, this…
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The Arthurian version of “rope-a-dope”
800 years before Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman in Rumble in the Jungle using his “rope-a-dope” technique, one of King Arthur’s knights used a similar technique in a joust gone awry. The rope-a-dope technique In the 1974 bout called “Rumble in the Jungle”, Ali scored a knockout in the 8th round against the undefeated George…
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Jean d’Alluye: A Crusader and his Chinese Sword in New York
A crusader in remarkably accurate 13th-century armor and his cherished Chinese sword have been set in stone for nearly 800 years and on display in New York City for the last century. So it’s no wonder the medieval limestone effigy that once covered the tomb of Jean d’Alluye now dons the cover of the newly…
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Trebuchets on Screen: Chronicles of Narnia
Last month, I emphasized that nothing says medieval like a trebuchet when it comes to film. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) turns notion on its head by enhancing the traditional trebuchet with an industrial-like enhancement. In the climactic battle of the film, one of the armies employs a double-armed trebuchet that continually swings, seemingly using…
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In Film, Nothing Says Medieval like a Trebuchet
In Remaking the Middle Ages (2011), Andrew B. R. Elliott coined the term “historicon” to identify a film’s “visual conventions which each aim to evoke to the spectator an element of ‘medievality.’” ((Andrew B. R. Elliott, Remaking the Middles Ages: The Methods of Cinema and History in Portraying the Medieval World (Jefferson: McFarland, 2011), 182.)) He provides numerous…
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Joan of Arc Fired Cannons, not Trebuchets
We know a lot about Joan of Arc including that she besieged cities with cannons, not trebuchets. Yet, when it came time to showcase Joan’s army using siege weapons in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), director Luc Besson went with a siege tower and a trebuchet. It’s easy to let this medievalism…
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Trebuchets on Screen: Conan the Barbarian
The reboot of Conan the Barbarian (2011) is a far cry from its predecessors, but it does incorporate a trebuchet, a distinctly medieval machine. In this fantasy world that appropriates all sorts of medievalism to spark a sense of the Other in viewers, it is obviously more fiction than reality. However, the trebuchet must succumb to…
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Medieval Roots: Wolverine as a Hedgehog of Arrows
One of the most striking images from medieval histories is the crusader penetrated with arrows and still fighting. One Christian chronicler evoked the otherwise harmless “hedgehog” to describe English King Richard I, as he fought on with arrows protruding from his body. ((A Christian chronicler described Richard as a “hedgehog” at Jaffa (1192). Ambroise, The History…
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Trebuchets on Screen: Game of Thrones
Yes, I’m critiquing the plausibility of this trebuchet while ignoring the dragons. The “Battle of the Bastards” episode from Game of Thrones introduced a new twist on the trebuchet, utilizing gravity but defying physics and logic. It was in the background of the siege of Meereen. Blink and you’ll miss it. Like a trebuchet, the…
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Edward Longshanks Sent His Heart and Bones to War?
The deathbed image of English King Edward I (r. 1272-1307) refusing to show mercy to William Wallace is a modern one, but also completely false. Edward had Wallace executed nearly 2 years before he himself died. The king was far from his deathbed at that point. Thanks, Braveheart. Remarkably, this is not the most fantastical…
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Battle of the Bastards is Straight from Medieval Chronicles
The “Battle of the Bastards” episode of Game of Thrones has provided remarkable depictions of warfare that come straight from medieval chroniclers. Here is a look at some of those depictions and their medieval equivalent. SPOILER WARNING The wall of the dead One of the most striking features of the Battle of the Bastards is the…