Fantasy Writing | Rebecca Shedd - Author

The Writer’s Guide to Brigandine Armor

Posted on October 9, 2020 1 Comment

This week is my fourth and final installment in my series on common medieval armor. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Writer’s Tip: Even though brigandine armor was common in medieval Europe it is rarely depicted in literary. Including “brig” into your book would be an interesting way to stand […]

The Writer’s Guide to Plate Armor

Posted on October 2, 2020 1 Comment

This week is the third part in my series about common types of medieval armor. As in my previous posts, I will be pointing out misconceptions. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Introduction Plate is probably the most iconic type of armor from medieval Europe, conjuring up images of the […]

The Writer’s Guide to Chainmail

Posted on September 25, 2020 4 Comments

This week is the second part in my series about common types of medieval armor. As in my first post, I will be pointing out misconceptions with each type. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Introduction Chainmail is a type of armor made up of small metal rings linked together […]

The Writer’s Guide to Gambesons

Posted on September 18, 2020 3 Comments

As promised this week I will be covering types of armor that were common in medieval Europe, starting with gambesons and continuing over the next three weeks with chainmail, plate armor and brigantine. I will also be doing some myth busting with each type of armor. I want to point out that just because I’m […]

The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Armor: Part 2

Posted on September 11, 2020 1 Comment

I hope you enjoyed last week’s post on armor myths because I am covering some more this week. As always, magic is the exception to the rules. Because magic. Leather Armor Fantasy seems to be in love with leather armor. You can see it from “Vikings” to “The Lord of the Rings” to Dungeons & […]

The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Armor: Part 1

Posted on September 4, 2020 39 Comments

I hope you have been enjoying my posts on swords and other medieval weapons. This week we are moving on to armor myths because, o boy! are there a lot of them. The armor worn in medieval Europe varied across time, region, and social standing. I will be covering common types of armor later. As […]

The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Self-Defense Weapons

Posted on August 28, 2020 1 Comment

This week we continue our exploration of common medieval weapons other than the sword with a focus on day-to-day use and self-defense. For those who could afford them, swords were the most popular choice for a self-defense weapon because they are portable, effective, and can be used in close quarters. However, some cities had laws […]

The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Battlefield Weapons

Posted on August 21, 2020 1 Comment

I hope you have enjoyed my previous posts on sword myths. Today we will be moving on to other common medieval weapons with a focus on those used on the battlefield. Although swords are synonymous with fantasy and a lot of historical fiction, they were not used excessively in battle during the Middle Ages. There […]

The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Swords: Part 2

Posted on August 14, 2020 2 Comments

I hope you enjoyed my last blog post on swords. If you have not read it you can find it here. Today we will be tackling three more common pieces of misinformation regarding swords. As in my first post I will be focusing on medieval European swords since most fantasy is inspired by this period […]