Wiki:
Page name: Fantasy_Writing_Reference [Logged in view] [RSS]
2017-04-10 10:29:59
Last author: Hedda
Owner: Noadi
# of watchers: 14
Fans: 0
D20: 2
Bookmark and Share
<img:http://elftown.eu/img/photo/107463_1116976977.gif>


**Update** I don't really have time to add everything that this needs so I've made it freely editable so anyone with something to contribute can. 

This is intended as a quick reference for those of you planning a fantasy world. It by no means covers everything it would be impossible for me to do that but I've collected information that I hope you will find useful. All my reference sources plus a few extra are listed at the botom of this page.

If you would like to contribute but need some help please message me or join the forum <joinforum:1752:join> (Fantasy Writing Reference)
-- [Noadi]

Weights and Measures - Various old measurements.
Coinage - Systems of money from several countries. (Incomplete)
Medieval Ranks - Titles and proper addresses.
Horse and Riding Terms - Stuff to know if you're heros ride horses.




<img:http://elftown.eu/img/photo/107463_1116978189.gif>Miscellaneous Information<img:http://elftown.eu/img/photo/107463_1116978189.gif>


Amounts of Stuff

~Brace or Couple = 2
~Dozen = 12
~Gross = 12 dozen (144)
~Score = 20
~Baker's Dozen = 13
~Great Gross = 12 gross (1728)




Lighting

There were moreways to light a room in the middle ages then just the ever popular torches, here's a list of some of them.

~Tallow - Creamy colored rendered animal fat, typically from sheep or cattle. Candles made with tallow are smoky with a strong smell.
~Beeswax - Wax harvested from beehives, candlesmade of beeswax were the most expensive and prestigious with its minimal smoke and little smell.
~Torches - Typically made of a bundle of resinous wood (such as pine) or rope, rags, wood or other material coated with resin, tar, or tallow. Extremely smokey with a strong smell (especially those made with tar).
~Oil Lamps - These came in many sizes and shapes and made from practically any non-flammable material from stone to metal to ceramic. What they all had in common was a well to hold the oil and a wick. The oils used also varied, olive oil, rendered animal oils, nut oils, later in history whale oil and kerosene. The wicks were made form any number of fibers wool, linen, hemp, etc.
~Rush Lamps -
~Fireplaces - The hearth's main purpose was never as a light source, while fires did create light they were primarily for heat and cooking.




<img:http://elftown.eu/img/photo/107463_1116978189.gif>References<img:http://elftown.eu/img/photo/107463_1116978189.gif>


Writing
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/ - SFWA Articles on Writing
http://sfwrg.org/ - SFWRG
http://www.writerswrite.com/fiction/ - Fiction Writing
http://www.writerswrite.com/fiction/ - The Elements of Style
http://www.m-w.com/ - Merriam-Webster's Dictionary
http://thesaurus.reference.com/ - Roget's Thesaurus
http://www.rhymezone.com/ - RhymeZone Rhyming Dictionary

General References
http://sca.org - Society for Creative Anachronism
http://www.netserf.org - Netserf

Measurements
http://www.johnowensmith.co.uk/histdate/measures.htm - Old Imperial Lengths & Areas, etc.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/regwebb/imperial.htm - Our World Imperial Measurements
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001723.html - Cooking Measurement Equivalents

Horses
http://www.primediaequine.com/glossary - Glossary of Equine Terms
http://www.equinecolor.com - Equine Color
http://ilaria.veltri.tripod.com/sidesaddle.html - A Medieval Sidesaddle
http://www.writing-world.com/sf/horses.shtml - The Care and Feeding
  of Fictional Horses

Military, Weapons, and Armor
http://www.psych.su.oz.au/vbb/woronora/maritime/Glossary.html - Glossary of Nautical Terms
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/medieval_logistics.htm - Medieval Logistics As Applied to the Classes of Quartermaster Supply

Nobility
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm - A Glossary of European Noble, Princely, Royal, and Imperial Titles. http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/honrific.html - The British system of aristocratic honorifics
http://laura.chinet.com/html/titles01.html - British Titles of Nobility
http://digiserve.com/heraldry/pimbley.htm - Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry

Coinage
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/%7Epaz/roman/rmoney.html - ROMAN MONEY, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
http://www2002.stoke.gov.uk/museums/pmag/archaeology/romans/money.htm - Roman Money

Medical Reference
http://aspin.asu.edu/geneinfo/oldnames.htm - Old or Obsolete Names
  for Diseases and Disorders

Miscellaneous
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/shortindex.shtml - Medieval Names Archive
http://obs.nineplanets.org/psc/fullmoons.html - The Names of the Full Moons
http://costumes.org - Costumer's Manifesto
(broken link - site still interesting?) http://www.markland.org/lettherebelight.php - Let There Be Light! Or, How do You See in the Dark Ages
http://www.cherryh.com/www/antique1.htm - Antique words, or words of changed usage
http://www.florilegium.org/files/UNCAT/p-swears-msg.html - Period swears, oaths and insults. euphemisms.
http://www.s-hamilton.k12.ia.us/antiqua/instrumt.html - Medieval musical instruments
http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/scores/ - Links to medieval and rennaissance music
http://www.howstuffworks.com/ How lots of different things work.
http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/ Wise quotes, proverbs and sayings gathered from all over the world
http://www.supersummary.com/folklore-mythology-guide/ General Folklore Resources

Food
http://www.godecookery.com - Gode Cookery, medieval cooking
http://gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/herbs.html - Herbalism, Medieval, Magickal & Modern
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4060.htm Facts on Edible Wild Greens in Maine
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4198.htm Facts on Fiddleheads
http://theforagerpress.com/fieldguide/guide.htm The Forager's Virtual Wild Food Field Guide

Myth, Legend, Magic, etc.
http://www.beadage.net/gemstones/gemstonesA_F.shtml Gemstones Metaphysical Properties
http://www.alchemywebsite.com - The Alchemy Website
http://pantheon.org - The Encyclopedia Mythica
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/default.html - An on-line encyclopedia of the occult, mysticism, magic, paranormal and more
http://www.bartleby.com/196/ The Golden Bough - classic work on mythology, still used in many college classes.

Username (or number or email):

Password:

2005-05-25 [Galenfea]: This is a seriously cool reference. Thank you for sharing it with us! *adds to favorites*

2005-05-28 [Princess Carwash]: this is a very interesting page. I often write novels and sometimes read novels that are in fact fantasy novels and i think this reference really is a big help!

2005-05-28 [Blade Chick]: Fantasic, this will save me trawling through books and the interent all the time for references.

2005-05-28 [rhubix]: I have a book called "What's What" written by David Fisher and Reginald Bragonier Jr. It has a breakdown of what the parts of things are called. Everything from keys and locks, to clothes, boats, animals. Almost anythying you can think of. It's very visual. you don't have to read through things to find what your looking for. I find it great. Though I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a copy as it's a 25 year old book ^_^ It's worth it to own one though

2005-05-28 [Noadi]: That sounds like a great book. 

2005-06-15 [Princess Carwash]: this is definately goin to help me when i write my novels!

2005-06-17 [Mia the mermaid22]: I am writing a prequeal to life of Mia series and A life of a mermaid series.

2005-06-17 [Galenfea]: Can I make a suggestion? Food. You know, plants and mushrooms and so forth that you can find out in the wild, what's good to eatr, what's poisonous, what to do with them and so forth. I've got some stuff on them, maybe we can pool resources and make another page for this if anyone else knows about it?

2005-06-18 [Noadi]: Galenfea, great idea I'm going to message you about it. rhubix, I found a website with a similar concept howstuffworks.com I'm sticking it in the misc. links

2005-10-07 [Princess Carwash]: i know this suggestion would take some effort but you should make a name reference so its easier to think of names for novels. you might even be able to make a new wiki out of that!

2005-10-09 [Noadi]: I really don't have the time for a project that huge. Though I did link to a great name reference the Medieval Name Archive http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/shortindex.shtml I really reccomend giving it a look.

2005-12-04 [iippo]: I've been having this thought about listing all sorts of torture-methods in a wiki. Things with interesting names like "cockchafer" or "the cradle" and explanantions on how they work, gathering them from various different sources in literature and history...

2005-12-04 [iippo]: Also have a look at Medieval Warfare by [Erestor], if it would be of any use in here...?

2005-12-10 [Noadi]: iippo, I love the torture idea go ahead and do it, and [Erestor]'s wiki looks like it would definitely fit, I'll link it when I have some more time or you can.

2006-09-15 [RayAnne]: Anyway you can explain the military ranks? I have been doing some stories involving the military and I am helplessly clueless as to what is what except I know that the General is a pretty important guy...

2016-11-18 [Hedda]: I removed a now broken link to http://www.parasolemt.com.au/Manual and added another one that might be useful.

Show these comments on your site

Elftown - Wiki, forums, community and friendship.