Medieval Weapons | Rebecca Shedd

Writer’s Deep Dive: Toledo Steel

Posted on November 11, 2022 1 Comment

Damascus, Syria was not the only city that became famous for its steel. Toledo, Spain was also producing high quality and highly valued blades from ancient times. Now, let’s dive in! What is Toledo Steel? Toledo steel was famous for being flexible and strong and its production was a closely guarded secret until the 20th […]

Writer’s Deep Dive: Metalworkers

Posted on September 16, 2022 1 Comment

When most people think of metalworkers, the image that commonly comes to their mind is a medieval blacksmith hammering at his anvil. However, there are other types of metalworkers, most of whom were skilled in a specialized craft. I will focus in this article on metal crafts from before the Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, that means […]

The Writer’s Guide to Medieval Armies

Posted on April 29, 2022 53 Comments

When you ask a reader for their favorite scene in a book it is often a battle. From the despair and deliverance of Helm’s Deep to the brutality of the Battle of the Blackwater to the desperation of the Battle of Hogwarts, nothing has quite the power of a battle to get our hearts pounding […]

Writer’s Deep Dive: Boudica

Posted on March 4, 2022 1 Comment

One of the greatest tools and sources of inspiration that a writer has is history. The lives, actions, and motivations of historical people can be invaluable in shaping believable characters. As part of my series on female warriors, I will be sharing the stories of several formidable women. Today, we start with Boudica Now, let’s […]

The Writer’s Guide to Women in Combat

Posted on February 25, 2022 3 Comments

Writers have had a fascination with women warriors for centuries. The ancient Greeks wrote about the Amazons, a fierce tribe of female fighters. The main event in many Roman gladiatorial games were the gladiatrices, female gladiators. In our modern stories, we have quite the league of combat heroines, such as Eowyn, Arya, Katniss, and Wonder […]

Writer’s Deep Dive: Aiming a Bow

Posted on January 21, 2022 3 Comments

Bows show up a lot in books, from Robin Hood to Katniss Everdeen. Of course, one of the keys to being a good archer is hitting what you’re aiming at. Unfortunately, unless you have shot a traditional bow, most people do not know what that involves. Let’s dive in! The Basics There are two schools […]

The Writer’s Guide to Siege Engines

Posted on December 10, 2021 7 Comments

Besieging a castle or a city inherently has a great amount of built-in tension that a writer can use to fantastic effect. If you want to read besieging a castle, I recommend my last article, The Writer’s Guide to Besieging a Castle. Today, we are focusing on siege engines, a general term that includes catapults, […]

The Writer’s Guide to Shields

Posted on October 29, 2021 114 Comments

Today I will be covering some of the most common misconceptions of shields that I see in movies, TV shows, and books. Again, my focus is on medieval Europe since that is where most of my expertise is. If you want a guide to types of medieval shields, please visit my previous post here. As […]

The Writer’s Guide to Types of Shields

Posted on October 22, 2021 127 Comments

The shield is almost as iconic as the sword when it comes to fiction and legend. Just like the sword, since it is not a commonly encountered item, most modern writers are lacking in accurate information. There is unfortunately a lot of misinformation presented as fact. Today we will be looking at types of shields. […]