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Post by Scott Anderson on Mar 2, 2018 21:29:03 GMT -6
Thank you, that's very good. I also really enjoy your website. You're far too smart for me but I enjoy basking in your smartness.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Mar 2, 2018 14:13:19 GMT -6
I'm reading about Odo of Bayeux on Wikipedia and the article shows that the Bayeux Tapestry belabors the point that Odo was there, but didn't shed any blood himself. It shows him wielding a club, and suggests that some scholars have said that his ecclesiastical vows prevented him from using a sword. I wonder whether this influenced the rules about clerics and edged weapons? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odo_of_Bayeux
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Post by Scott Anderson on Feb 28, 2018 14:49:26 GMT -6
I found an illustration that is purportedly from a German "fight book" meant for training medieval people in close combat. It shows two men fighting with arms that a modern person described as flails. I've never thought about the form of a footman's flail, but this seems right. What do you guys think?
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Post by Scott Anderson on Feb 22, 2018 15:36:41 GMT -6
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Post by Scott Anderson on Feb 12, 2018 19:50:44 GMT -6
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Post by Scott Anderson on Feb 12, 2018 19:47:41 GMT -6
I only mention it because I came across a reference that would be a going concern at Tolkein's time: the phase "hairy at the heel." It is an English phrase from the early 20th century referring to a social climber of poor breeding. It comes from horse racing, where an ill-bred horse would have hairy ankles. www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hai2.htmWhile hobbits are not social climbers, they are representative of commoners.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Feb 10, 2018 18:07:55 GMT -6
Did Tolkein or the estate ever address this? Where did the hairy feet thing come from?
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Post by Scott Anderson on Feb 4, 2018 16:25:12 GMT -6
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Post by Scott Anderson on Jan 16, 2018 18:37:10 GMT -6
Is there anyone here who speaks heraldry? I had a heraldry guy but he's become unreliable. Here's one of the blazons I need help describing in words: Attachments:
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 7, 2017 5:12:30 GMT -6
That's actually some great color, Starbeard. Thank you. It tracks well with what I was able to learn from the Trinity College archives too.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 27, 2017 20:16:17 GMT -6
I've seen it, I saw it in its entirety. It's good. It's excellent. Having seen a sample, my SRP was $7 in PDF and $14 in print. It's really an incredibly useful product. Can't recommend it highly enough. Even if you are only a history nut, this is really fantastic and fun.
The additional section gives great ideas and charts and tables too.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 24, 2017 22:36:19 GMT -6
All different sizes. Smaller than a horse up to larger than a barn. I reckon they grow through their lives.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 23, 2017 11:11:06 GMT -6
Gronan, I'm going to pour out some gravy in your honor.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 21, 2017 6:10:00 GMT -6
90% the wizard decides, 10% random from the other two; 50/50.
Honestly never had an OSR wizard try it.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 19, 2017 18:28:47 GMT -6
Or, for something more D&Dish: The Sandals of Fate Oh, and thanks for the sample! Thank you. 1 and 2 have to be rewritten entirely because the prose is weak. I haven't written at length since college. It's getting better as I go. I really appreciate you asking after it.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 19, 2017 16:29:57 GMT -6
Fate's Bastard seems the obvious choice to me Very good! It's in the running. Chapters 1-4 are free on my blog.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 19, 2017 13:24:39 GMT -6
50 and even 60,000 words is possible in a month. A short novel is about 90,000 words. So I think two months to manuscript is optimistic but possible.
Professional novelists who turn work out consistently can go concept to finished monograph in four months, so that two months seems like a reasonable (but again optimistic) time frame.
But really it's an intellectual exercise and just for fun. If a book comes out at the end, then great!
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 18, 2017 20:39:12 GMT -6
I now have named it
Lions, Red and Gold
after the crest of William the Conqueror. Subject to change.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 18, 2017 11:48:00 GMT -6
I decided to try to write a book for NaNoWriMo. Initially I expected that the meat of the story would happen at a monastery in Wales, but as it turns out the characters have a lot to do and say before we get there.
The battle of Hastings was supposed to happen right at the start of the book, but now it looks like it will happen in the second half. So the book is turning out to be very different than the one I set out to write!
Therefore it needs a new title.
Short treatment:
YA/historical. Theme: small hinges swing great doors. 11thc. Europe. Real world.
A Norman monk wants new sandals. A bastard girl wants to grow up to be the king - not the queen. A warlord is trying to impress a girl who speaks a different language. A battle spins the hands of fate. And from these, an unexpected king now wears the crown.
What is the name name of the book?
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 15, 2017 7:26:24 GMT -6
Okay, I got it. Cambridge University sent me this link. It's in French but thank goodness for easy web page translation: calendoscope.irht.cnrs.fr/applicationIt gives saints celebrated on each day by various liturgical records throughout the early middle ages to early modern period. For the rest, I have this: www.smp.org/resourcecenter/calendar/ which is close enough for my purposes. Thank you everyone!
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 15, 2017 6:36:56 GMT -6
Thank you Mike and Piper!
I was able to find some original source material through Oxford University as well. It's one of those pay portal things, but my town library helped.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 14, 2017 18:45:31 GMT -6
Thank you, I do have the Hours and it does go back far enough. Maybe I just need to learn to read it more clearly.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 14, 2017 18:44:46 GMT -6
What precisely do you mean by "liturgical calendar?" A document that tells what saints are venerated on each day, what day of the religious season it is, what vestments to wear, the psalms and bible passages for the day, the dietary restrictions. They are easy to find for the modern day and for most mainline religions but finding one from 1000 years ago is harder.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 14, 2017 12:11:53 GMT -6
Oh wow, those are great ideas guys!
I checked my local library system and they had trouble understanding what I want. The librarian put a call in to the seminary. Not hopeful.
Then I called my large metropolitan catholic diocese. They don't maintain a library.
I have an Ivy League university not too far away. That will be the next stop.
Then the SCA? Great call. I am certain there's one nearby.
And the Pope Pius X society, never heard of them. This is great. It's so fun to be able to learn from a great passionate community here
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 14, 2017 5:56:26 GMT -6
Thanks guys!
Generally, I would like to find a Catholic liturgical calendar from before 1570.
Specifically, one of a kind used in Normandy in 1050-1100.
The reason is that I'm writing a YA historical-fiction novel where the POV character in one of the plot threads is a Norman Benedictine monk. He would see events unfold in the context of the stories he would study on particular days, the psalms they would read, the ordinal garb they would wear, etc.
I have found a copy of the Hours correct for that time but it's just not as helpful as I would hope.
My stretch goal would be to find a dietary restriction schedule. But considering that the food was so completely alien 1,000 years ago, I have been happy to fudge it so far with recipes from somewhat later: 1300-1600, excluding or substituting out New World ingredients.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 12, 2017 18:09:48 GMT -6
Are there any Catholic historians or serious Medievalists among our number? I need to track down an 11th century liturgical calendar.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 11, 2017 4:15:00 GMT -6
The important thing to remember is it's much easier to stay alive if you trick your friends into eating the things you find in a dungeon.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 10, 2017 13:46:53 GMT -6
Trollope also wrote one of the first science fiction novels called The Fixed Period, which is worth reading.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 9, 2017 1:23:06 GMT -6
OD&D monsters are not complicated. Oakes has got it right.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 8, 2017 14:42:37 GMT -6
According to a guy I like to read who plays GURPS and also makes medieval swords and shields, he agrees - the lightweight round viking shield with the center boss is the best for long durations. Because they are very light, they do splinter but sometimes will take the splintering weapon along with them.
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