8 Misconceptions We've Learned from Fantasy Movies and Books

1. Gold coins are a typical medieval currency

Fantasy writers don't bother with the financial system in most cases. Heroes usually use one denomination of coins, and they are made of gold. Occasionally, however, there are silversmiths and coppers, but basically everything is tied to this precious metal.

Mug of beer? One gold. A night in a tavern? Ten gold. This beautiful thoroughbred stallion? 1000 gold coins - turn your pockets inside out and ride wherever you want!

Obviously, the creators of video games, books and films simply do not want to complicate their lives with unnecessary calculations. But in the real Middle Ages, many people lived their whole lives without holding a single gold coin in their hands.

For example, here's how describesC. Dyer. Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages the financial system of England of the XIV century, historian Christopher Dyer: “A cheap sword could be bought for six pence, that is, 1/40 of a pound sterling. In a year, the average unskilled worker earned from one to two pounds sterling. An urban middle-class family could earn £5-10 a year.”

The most common gold coins of that era costP. b. Newman. Daily Life in the Middle Ages about six shillings—a little less than a third of a pound. So for most people, that was at least a few weeks, if not months, of income.

So wandering around different fantasy worlds adventurers who buy food and lodging with gold look ridiculous. They might as well have bought a cup of coffee in the modern world with a couple hundred dollar bills.

2. The best weapon for dwarves is an ax

We already told that battle axes and hammers in fantasy are in vain represented by heavy and crushing hulks. Real medieval examples of these weapons were light - from 0.5 to 1.5 kilograms - and equipped with small blades to increase penetrating power.

Another cliche is associated with axes and hammers in fantasy series and books - Vikings and various gnomes and dwarves are regularly equipped with them.

The bearded short ax-wielding dwarf has become one of the most enduring images in fantasy, all thanks to Gimli, a character from The Lord of the Rings.

But if these creatures existed in reality, they would consider battle axes and hammers to be very impractical weapons. The fact is that these things cause damage due to the swing and quite demandingN. Evangelista. The Encyclopedia of the Sword to the length of the arms and the height of the owner.

Even a very strong man 1.5 meters tall will be less effective in wielding an ax than his opponent taller than 180 cm.

Dwarves would be much more dangerous with piercing weapons - spears, pikes, piercing swords like Roman gladiuses or French estoks, or even rapiers.

Firstly, such equipment allows you to inflict much more dangerous wounds, spending less on it. effortsN. Evangelista. The Encyclopedia of the Sword. Secondly, to block the thrust of the estoc or rapier more difficultH. Talhoffer. Medieval Combatthan reflect the axe. And thirdly, spears and thrusting swords allow you to more effectively keep the enemy at a distance, which is vital for a short swordsman.

The same Vikings, for example, in reality favoredViking Spear/Hurstwic it is the spears - axes in a dense formation that corny have nowhere to wave. The hatchet remained a weapon of last resort - it was more convenient to chop firewood with it or hammer a nail into a drakkar on occasion than with a sword.

3. The knight rides the faithful and only horse

A lone rider on his steed, overcoming many obstacles and performing unthinkable feats, is a typical fantasy character. Sometimes a noble knight carries in front of him a weaker comrade whom he has sworn to protect, or a beautiful lady.

in fantasy horses they practically do not eat, sleep very little and are able to gallop a couple of hundred kilometers, and even with a hundred-kilogram man in armor on his hump. If necessary, they can also force water obstacles by swimming and move along any road - soil, stone or gravel.

Do you also need to bring a noble maiden? Not a problem, let him jump.

In reality, the horse tends to get tired and exhausted rather quickly, especially when carrying a person with heavy ammunition.

Therefore, any knight who wanted to get beyond the fence of his estate was obliged to take at least one spare animal in order to alternateM. Howard, M. E. Howard. War in European History them. Three horses is generally a fairy tale. And do not forget that they need to be watered, fed, cleaned and let them sleep.

4. And travels alone

By the way, in reality knights did not travel alone. Well, simply because they needed a man who would take care of the horses, as well as clean the armor and equip the camp.

Noble warriors moved with at least one squire. More often - as part of a unit under nameD. Nicole. Medieval Warfare Source Book: Warfare in Western Christendom "spear", consisting of the knight himself, two servants or squires, as well as several swordsmen, spearmen and archers.

Why, then, in the novels, telling about the exploits of the noble equestrian lords in shining armor, about the accompanying hordeD. Nicole. Medieval Warfare Source Book: Warfare in Western Christendom no one mentions? Well, just considering all this extras as full-fledged participants in the adventure was somehow not chivalrous, so the fact of their presence in the text could be delicately circumvented.

5. Moving from one locality to another is a breeze

Most fantasy series and books are about travel. Heroes travel back and forth, visit different countries, meet all sorts of interesting personalities - in general, explore the world as best they can. However, in real Middle Ages you would hardly have made a career as a travel blogger.

Many people who managedI. Mortimer. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to Medieval England born in Europe at that time, lived all their lives in their native village. And about what is happening in distant countries, they knew at best from retellings of other people's adventures.

Of course, there were exceptions - merchants and pilgrims who visited other states for profit or trials.

But traveling even short distances werePlague, Famine & Sudden Death: 10 Dramatic Dangers Of The Medieval Period / HistoryExtra much more difficult than the journey of the characters of Westeros from the Wall to the capital and back.

The infrastructure in those days was so-so: there were no railways, no planes, and sometimes there were simply no normal ways for walking or horseback movement. Not everyone owned a personal horse either.

By calculationsPlague, Famine & Sudden Death: 10 Dramatic Dangers Of The Medieval Period / HistoryExtra historian Katherine Olson of Bangor University, a medieval traveler could cover 25–40 kilometers a day on foot or 30–50 on horseback. The roads and trails were bad, and stretch your ankle in most cases, it meant freezing to death at night or becoming a victim of wild animals.

Or bandits: attacksI. Mortimer. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to Medieval England on lonely travelers were very common, so in the Middle Ages pilgrims and merchants moved in groups - for safety. There are also many stories of people being robbed and even killed by their fellow travelers.

A significant part of medieval travelers did not die from enemies, but simply because of accidents, from which even the most noble nobleman was not insured.

So, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I in 1190 during the Third Crusade drownedPlague, Famine & Sudden Death: 10 Dramatic Dangers Of The Medieval Period / HistoryExtra, crossing the Salef River on horseback. In 1450, 200 people who came to Rome as pilgrims fell off the bridge of Sant'Angelo and also died.

And one chronicler of the First Crusade describedMedieval tourism: pilgrimages and tourist destinations / HistoryExtra400 pilgrims just went to the bottom in the harbor of Brindisi in southern Italy.

6. In any forest you can find a decent inn

An integral element in fantasy works are taverns, taverns, taverns and other similar eateries. A traveler lost in the forest will easily come across one of these after a short wandering, since they are poked at every step.

Heroes find shelter in taverns, escape from enemies, gather and discuss plans over a mug of good ale, listen to the gossip of local residents. And then they go to spend the night in rooms on the top floor, where, perhaps, they share a mattress with some windy maid.

But in real Europe of the XI-XIV centuries, there were no such establishments, to put it mildly.

In the countryside in the Middle Ages containF. Gies, J. Gies. Life in a Medieval Village taverns and hostels did not make much sense, because there were few travelers there. A real medieval tavern is just the house of a peasant in the village who decided to earn extra money.

The owner brews beer, ale or cider, puts up a sign saying that there is booze in this house, and for money treatsF. Gies, J. Gies. Life in a Medieval Village fellow villagers - that's the whole business.

For a fee, he can place you on a mattress or even put you in the same bed with his family if he wants, but don't count on a private room and pretty maids. This is the medieval colivingI. Mortimer. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to Medieval England. And it’s not a fact, by the way, that in such a place they will receive a person who has never been seen before.

Something more like fantasy taverns existed in the cities - wine and beer establishments where workers came to drink for money. But it was there to spend the night it is forbiddenF. Gies, J. Gies. Life in a Medieval Village.

7. And the typical innkeeper is an uneducated grumbler with a dirty rag

We are accustomed to thinking that the stereotypical medieval innkeeper is a portly man in a stained apron who, behind the counter, wipes a wooden mug with a dirty rag.

He is rude to customers - "Spread the gold or get lost!" - and certainly does not look like a rich man or a noble nobleman. So, this image is also far from the truth.

In addition to city pubs and occasional pubs, which peasants organized in their homes, in the Middle Ages existedYe Ol' Bed & Breakfast: A Look at the Medieval Inn / Medievalists.net another class of establishments that can be compared with fantasy taverns.

These were inns located in cities at bazaars and fairs. They accepted not just anyone, but nobles traveling with diplomatic missions, merchants and other wealthy gentlemen. There was nothing else to catch.

Such a courtyard was not only a hotel, but also a market, a warehouse for goods, a place for concluding transactions, and even a bank.

The owners of such establishments were people at least prosperousJ. hare. Inns, innkeepers and the society of later medieval England, 1350–1600 / Journal of Medieval History, and even at all were important bumps in administrative bodies.

For example, kept recordsYe Ol' Bed & Breakfast: A Look at the Medieval Inn / Medievalists.netthat a certain Richard Kingsmill, an innkeeper who lived between 1455 and 1470, was a royal constable, then a bailiff of the city, justice of the peace, member of parliament and tax collector, merchant of cloth, wine, fruit and fish, owner of flocks of sheep and a large landlord.

This did not prevent him from pouring booze to visiting merchants and lords, and on the contrary, it helped to make useful contacts.

8. Nobody used cannons in the Middle Ages

The creators of fantasy films and books hate gunpowder. Therefore, in works with a hint of the Middle Ages, the characters shoot each other with bows and crossbows, and when besieging castles they use trebuchets and catapults. guns and guns are considered something absolutely inappropriateS. Harris. Misconceptions About the Middle Ages in such a setting.

But really about gunpowder in Europe knewR. Ford, R. G. Grant Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armor since at least the 1300s. In the Italian castle of Monte Varino, for example, the earliest example of a firearm was found, dating back to 1326.

The English used cannon at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the French at the Battle of Castillon in 1453. And Jean the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, in 1421 had a personal army armed with 4,000 hand cannons.

Knightly armor and swords perfectly coexisted with arquebus guns and muskets. And they protected from them, by the way, cleaner than any body armor.

Therefore, when in the next fantasy we are shown something like the High Middle Ages with luxurious castles, ships and princesses, and the wars there are still being waged according to the principle “two crowds with a dracole met”, it looks a bit ridiculous.