Great Historical Fiction/Fantasy Novels
History is anthroplogy for the past. Great historical fiction brings you into that past world and makes it accessible. Would life in thirteenth century Wales chew me up and spit me out? No doubt. But that doesn’t mean I can’t spend many happy hours living there. I am also partial to the fantasy element of historical fiction in part because I acknowledge that past lives are truly inaccessible to me and if I wanted to read about something that was absolutely true, I would get the non-fiction version. That said the following are some of my most favorite books: Sherwood by Parke Godwin. He’s written a lot of books, but this one has always pulled me in. I’ve read it innumerable times. From Publisher’s Weekly: “Godwin sets his highly satisfying retelling of the Robin Hood legend in the time of Read more…
Forest Laws in the Middle Ages
One of the hallmarks of the feudal system that William of Normandy imposed on England after 1066 were laws. In the case of forest laws, Norman law superseded the prior Anglo-Saxon laws in which rights to the forest (not necessarily just woods, but also heath, moorland, and wetlands) were not exclusive to the king or nobles, but were shared among the people. Feudal forest laws, in contrast, were harsh, forbidding not only the hunting of game with in the forest, but even the cutting of wood or the collection of fallen timber, berries, or anything growing within the forest. The New Forest was set aside by King William in 1079 as his right, primarily for hunting deer. “‘Forest’” in a medieval sense was a legally defined area . . . where the “beasts of the chase” (deer & wild pig) and Read more…
The Welsh Robin Hood
The idea of ‘Robin Hood’–one who steals from the rich and gives to the poor–or even someone who is on the side of the weak and downtrodden against the unjust ruler, is very old. One of my favorite books, Sherwood by Parke Godwin, sets the story in the time of the Norman conquest, making Robin a Saxon thane. Sadly, it’s out of print, but you can get it used from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0688052649/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&qid=1326154880&sr=1-5&condition=used We have other choices for Robin Hood that are set in Wales: Bran ap Brychan: Stephen Lawhead’s King Raven series focuses on this possible hero. Like Parke Godwin’s, Sherwood, Lawhead places his Robin Hood at the time of the Norman conquest–though of Wales, not England. Bran, the “heir to the throne Elfael, has abandoned his father’s kingdom and fled to the greenwood. There, in the primeval forest of the Welsh borders, Read more…
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