Medieval events for fiction

[DelActivisto]

@Tirellan Lisbon would make a good tale, especially for a long short story or a novelette. Especially if you add orcs.
@DelActivisto, it's Wars of the Roses, of course, and since the books are so immensely successful, I suppose it must now qualify as the most famous example. But there are plenty of others.

FWIW, I think Martin has done a very good job of using historical inspiration. He makes enough nods to real history for history geeks to nod their heads, but not so much that you actually need to know anything about English history. Even trickier, he did not go so far as to make the history geeks protest that he got this or that detail wrong. I was well into the first book before I sort of looked up and went "oh, York and Lancaster! Cool."

I was expressing skepticism because I believe Lord of the Rings is more famous, and probably always will be. I think GoT is popular in the modern world because of the amount of violence and sex it contains.

 

[BAYLOR]

I was expressing skepticism because I believe Lord of the Rings is more famous, and probably always will be. I think GoT is popular in the modern world because of the amount of violence and sex it contains.

Then there's The Well At The End of the World by William Morris which was written 1896.

 

[Mirannan]

The centuries-long defence of Byzantium against the Turks (and the court intrigue that was so notorious that it gave the English language a word) might make fairly good background for fantasy. Perhaps add necromancy to the intrigue?

Perhaps Dante got his inspiration from asking direct questions of summoned demons...

 

[Caledfwlch]

I was expressing skepticism because I believe Lord of the Rings is more famous, and probably always will be. I think GoT is popular in the modern world because of the amount of violence and sex it contains.

Which set of famous medieval events is Lord of the Rings based on? As I was under the impression it was pure fantasy - and if anything real world influenced the trilogy, its the horrors of the 2 world wars, and the Orcs may not be who most assume them to be, if you view them that way

 

[The Big Peat]

Which set of famous medieval events is Lord of the Rings based on? As I was under the impression it was pure fantasy - and if anything real world influenced the trilogy, its the horrors of the 2 world wars, and the Orcs may not be who most assume them to be, if you view them that way

To be pedantic, the Rohirrim are inspired by the idea of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom that had its own horsemen and wasn't conquered by the Normans as a consequence, but yes. LotR and all Tolkien's work is a fusing of myth and the world he knew.

 

[Caledfwlch]

To be pedantic, the Rohirrim are inspired by the idea of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom that had its own horsemen and wasn't conquered by the Normans as a consequence, but yes. LotR and all Tolkien's work is a fusing of myth and the world he knew.

Yes totally, Tolkein was very inspired by European myths - but that is not what the Poster I quoted was saying - he just seemed to be a bit snarky, claiming that LOTR is based on real world medieval events, I pointed out it's not. The author of GOT himself admits its kind of a fantasy version of the War of the Roses, so the original poster who named GOT as the most famous fantasy take on real world events was totally right, LOTR is not a fantasy version of a real medieval period and set of events.

The idea of an Anglo Saxon Kingdom with it's own horsemen is not reality or fact, but itself a fantasy take on reality.

And anyway, it was not the lack of horsemen that lost Hastings the English had pretty much won the battle, then their lines shattered as high on victory the shieldwalls broke apart as the men chased the Normans, and William the ******* sent his Cavalry back into the fray - that's how I understand things, though happy to accept if I am wrong.

 

[DelActivisto]

Which set of famous medieval events is Lord of the Rings based on? As I was under the impression it was pure fantasy - and if anything real world influenced the trilogy, its the horrors of the 2 world wars, and the Orcs may not be who most assume them to be, if you view them that way

It's important then to be clear about what specific set of criteria we are referencing. I've never heard of GoT being portrayed as some sort of historical fiction, but let's assume it is. In that case GoT takes the cake for most famous fantasy story based on true medieval events, while LotR remains the most famous fantasy story based on largely invented medieval words.

 

[The Big Peat]

Caledfwlch, I was posting to agree with you, not disagree with you!

 

[Tulius Hostilius]

Guy Gavriel Kay's Lions of al-Rassan is set in a fantasy version of the Reconquista.

I'd like to see the story of the successful siege of Lisbon by the Crusader fleet that just happened to be passing at the right time.

I already heard of Guy Gavriel Kay and Lions of al-Rassan, there is a Portuguese edition and I think once I made a net research by after seeing the book in a bookstore, but it wasn’t enough to buy the book.

 

[Boaz]

Which set of famous medieval events is Lord of the Rings based on? As I was under the impression it was pure fantasy - and if anything real world influenced the trilogy, its the horrors of the 2 world wars, and the Orcs may not be who most assume them to be, if you view them that way

Cal, Theoden's charge to break the siege of Minas Tirith is obviously inspired by Jon Sobieski's relief of Vienna (the largest documented cavalry charge in European history). And to even get that far, Theoden needed Ghan-buri-ghan's assistance... Athealtes at Thermopylae?

Speaking of Thermopylae, how about Hurin and Huor's stand at the Pass of Sirion at the end of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad? Leonidas all over again.

Tolkien also mentioned Boromir's (and Faramir's) heroic defense of the bridge at Osgiliath... taken straight from the legendary/historical feat of Horatius Cocles.

I'd also say that the Northern Numenoreans, i.e. the Lost Realm of Arnor, the former Kingdom of Arthedain, and the Rangers of the North mirror Israel. Just as the ancient Kingdom of Israel split along familial, tribal, and religious lines into Israel and Judah, Arnor split into Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur. Just as the Mesopotamian states of Assyria and Babylon overran Israel and Judah, Angmar consecutively conquered Rhudaur, Cardolan, and Arthedain. Just as the people of Israel were dispossed of their land for over two thousand years, the Dunedain (Numenoreans) of Arnor were dispossed of their land for over a thousand years.

The Numenorean settlement of Gondor (Numenorean upper class ruling over the men of Middle-earth) could be comparable to the Norman nobility ruling the Anglo-Saxon/Norse/Britons. The Gondorian Civil War could be compared to the Anarchy, the War of the Roses or the ECW. Eldacar, the restored son of King Valacar, was not of pure Numenorean blood.... Norman intermarriage with the Saxons.... or Scots.

Is the Gondor-Rohan alliance inspired by the Auld Alliance? Or is it more similar to Jon Sobieski's alliace with the Germans?

To me, King Arvedui's drowning in the Ice Bay of Forochel harkens to the loss of the White Ship.

I remember reading a comment by George R.R. Martin... he said that he is diligent to not copy any fictional literature, but that history was more than fair game for inspiration and retelling.

 

[Boaz]

CTRandall recently posted about the discovery of more than 1,000 18th Century rockets of Tipu Sultan in India. Sounds a bit like Tyrion's discovery of unused Dragonfire in A Song of Ice and Fire. Of course, George Martin may have been envisioning Guy Fawkes...

 

[sknox]

One can always find parallels, but that does not mean Tolkien modeled his action scenes on those, nor even that he was inspired by them. All it means is that a reader has noticed a similarity. It takes a great deal more to demonstrate an actual connection. I prefer to give the author more credit. The events happened because that's the way Tolkien (or Martin or whoever) wrote it based on the needs of the story itself.