Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

The title of this essay is a bit of a misnomer. The sword doesn’t really make the man but the type of sword a man wields does say a lot about who he is.

There are many variations of swords and these variations are caused by two different aspects. The first aspect is the functionality of the sword. Sowrds, in times gone by were designed for actual use. A warriors life depended on the way his sword was made.

Today this isn’t true anymore. Swords have now moved into the realm of artistic and aesthetic expression. Now a sword is an indicator of the wielders personality and alignment in his world.

Let me explain the concept of “The Sword Defines the Man” with some examples.

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Example swords and how they define the wielders personality

There are two distinct traits that we will examine. The first trait is the alignment of the sword wielder. Is he good or is he evil? The second trait we will look at is the wielders wealth. Does he possess riches?

This is an Uruk-Hai Chopper. What does it say about it’s wielder. We can construe a couple of important facts. First of all, the shape of the blade is menacing. It is a brutal weapon that can be used to slice an opponent but it also can be used to swing and stick an opponent. What happens after the swing and stick? You can almost visualize the bent point of this sword sticking firmly in a foe and holding tight. The wielder then can pull the foe in nice and close for that personal in fight. This unusual shape definitely denotes a wielder that is evil in alignment. It almost gives a shout of glee at the in close and personal carnage.

What else can we construe from this sword? Well it is an extremely plain sword. There are no frills. It is strictly down to business. That denotes that the wielder does not possess riches.

So summary of this type of sword: Evil and Poor

The Fire Demon Sword - Here is another nasty sword. It has a very unusual blade serration. This configuration promises that the sword will go in a foe and will make a real mess when coming back out. It screams evil! The objective of this sword is to cause maximum damage! It is also a sword that is finely wrought with lots of ornate design around the hand guard and the pommel so this says Riches!

Who would wield this sword? A sword like this would be wielded by an evil lord. Someone who has riches and is in command of many minions. This sword says “Fear me and Respect me for I am evil and powerful”.

Summaryof this sword: Evil and Rich

Now for the Swords that are of a good alignment

This is a very simple and straight-forward sword. There are no frills and this says “I don’t have a lot of money but I managed to get a sword that I can use so I will use it for good!” This is a traditional Viking style sword. Function over form is the theme. Viking Sword

What does this sword say? It is made of rare materials (Silver and Gold) and it has ornate carving on the cross guard.

This sword definitely says I am good and I am wealthy. The shape of the handle is reminiscent of the cross. This denotes a religious tone which reinforces the theme of good. Leadership and wealth in this sword. Richard The Lion Heart Sword of the Crusades

This sword makes a special statement. It is obviously the weapon of a person who would only do good. But even though it fairly simple and straight forward is has an extemely elegant design. This sword says “I am good and I have money but I choose not to flaunt my money.” The Sword of Strider

Everybody loves free stuff. I have put together some free stuff and assembled it into a page you can browse Here is a list of what is on the page:

Free Novels for download:

• Fulcrum Shift (My Novel)
• The Well at the World’s End If you are a fan of epic fantasy and you have never heard of William Morris then you are in for a real treat. It all started with the publication in 1892 of his novel The Well at the World’s End. This is an outstanding piece of Epic Fantasy and it is considered to be the first epic fantasy work of the modern era.
• The Wood Beyond the World Another classic epic fantasy tale by William is The Wood Beyond The World This one is a tale of a hero named Walter and his epic sea voyage. This novel and The Well at the World’s End are works that absolutely have to be in the collection of any fan of epic fantasy.
• Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit The story begins when a group of children move from London to the countryside of Kent. While playing in a gravel pit soon after the move, they uncover a rather grumpy, ugly and occasionally malevolent sand-fairy known as the Psammead who is compelled to grant one wish of theirs per day.
• The Gods of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs Classic

Free Games to Download

• Betrayal at Krondor This is a great game and a good example of how a good book (Betrayal at Krondor by Raymond Feist)can be turned into a game. It is old so don’t expect modern graphics but it is a very enjoyable experience.
• Dungeon Game
• Fire and Dragons Game
• Gates of Destiny Game

Audio Book:

• Lions Last Kill

Heres the link to these free fantasy resources Free Stuff

Here is a great little medieval project. You build a tabletop Trebuchet thats about 12 inches in size. It is made from all common materials and you can put it together in no time. The one in the tutorial fires a small ball of clay over 30 feet and yours can be adjusted to fire even further. Great little project and the tutorial is free and complete with lots of pictures to show you how to do everything.

How to Build a Trebuchet

With Halloween coming up it is time to start thinking about Medieval Costumes. Of course they are great for Larping or for role playing or even for parties. I have put together a website with a variety of different costumes for Men, Women, and Children. It also has accessories and books about making your own medieval costumes.

The medieval Costume site

Tired of enormous epic fantasy series with thousand page novels that cover an incredibly complex world full of factions, kingdoms and social structures? These works are at the end of the fourth cycle of epic fantasy and the fifth cycle is coming soon.

Epic fantasy is the genre of asking the big questions and taking on the challenges of what being human is all about. In this respect it is a mirror that has reflected and followed the changing view points of humanity over the last several thousand years. As humanity changed its outlook on what the big questions were so epic fantasies reflected this change.

The earliest epic fantasy, dating back two thousand and more years showed the big question of the mystery of the world. The world to a person from this era was a big and scary place. A person most likely lived his whole life never wandering further than a few miles from the village he grew up in. So the outside world was scary and mysterious. What was out there? That was the big question and this was reflected in the first wave of epic fantasy and the book most representative of this would be the epic of Gilgamesh.

 Around two thousand years ago mankind and epic fantasy entered their second cycle. People had been traveling and exploring the world and their focus turned to the gods. What were they, how were they angered and what was man’s place in the world under the gods. This cycle is best represented by the Iliad and the Odyssey.

In the Middle Ages mankind stopped looking to the gods and turned his gaze inward toward himself. He now looked to see what made a man and to understand how a man should act and behave. Chivalry was an important component of this theme and the internal struggle was the most important factor in the epics. This cycle was begun in the Arthurian Legends and continued all the way up to the mid twentieth century. The final major piece for this cycle was the Lord of the Rings.

Around the middle of the twentieth century the fourth cycle of epic fantasy was born and it continues to this day. It is the cycle of complexity in human society. We live in an incredibly rich, textured, and complex world and the works of epic fantasy reflect this. Navigating a life through this complexity was the big question. How should I cope with all this change was what was asked? The big, multi-volume series in the genre reflected this in that they are complex works that deal with the politics of warring factions, multiple kingdoms, secret societies, subcultures, the rise and fall of dynasties, and all of the intrigue that accompanies these battles. This cycle is now ending as we change and turn our focus to other questions about life.

So what is the next cycle?

The world is a familiar place to us now and we travel around it practically at will. The gods are dead, we have a good understanding of our own nature, a moral code that is cohesive and comfortable, and we are all immersed in a complex social life that we have a pretty good understanding of. That takes care of the previous four waves of epic fantasy. So what is the next cycle? To answer this question you have to look at humanity and examine what kind of life we are living and what questions are the big ones? The big questions we have in life now are about the malleable and changing view of reality itself. We have a relatively good understanding of the physical world and now we are looking to the mysteries of the non-physical realities. This is because we all spend a lot of time in artificially constructed worlds. Every time you read a book, watch a television show or movie, or play a video game you are adventuring off to another world. And these alternate realities are getting more complex and more engrossing. You can see this in the online video game where millions of people practically create a whole new life and get totally immersed in the constructed world. This progression is easy to see. The book represents one level, film and television has taken it to a second level that is even more real, the World Wide Web took this artificial reality even further and now the online games have taken it yet to a further step. So now we are questioning the nature of reality itself because reality has become very malleable and multi-faceted. We are now faced with the questions of what exactly reality is all about and is it more than just the everyday world or is it something we manifest, change, and experience solely in the space between our ears? Epic fantasy will soon be changing to help us examine these questions.