A Critical Dragon | Discussing Historical 'Accuracy' and diversity in Fantasy Adaptation with Erikson & Esslemont @ACriticalDragon | Uploaded August 2023 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
Malazan Authors, Ian C. Esslemont and Steven Erikson, joined me to chat about historical accuracy in fantasy adaptation and world building.
We took the example of King Arthur and discussed some of the preconceptions, misconceptions, and assumptions we often make about Arthurian stories, and how greater knowledge of time periods provides a wealth of material for a fantasy author to draw from.
Just be aware, history is not my field so I probably make a few errors about centuries and time periods (which I think Erikson and Esslemont correct when I am grossly wrong), but as with any conversation, a number of these things only come to light when you are double checking things later.
St. Patrick was a late 4th/early5th Century Bishop (time frames are a little vague).
The Romans arrived in Britain in the early 1st Century, and left Britain in roughly the late 4th/early 5th Century.
Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain is a 12th Century pseudohistory about the 7th Century, and was influenced by The History of the Britons, another pseudohistorical text (the earliest parts are circa 9th Century, but it was revised extensively until the 11th/12th Century.)
The Matter of Britain, was again a heavily revised composite work, but is comprised of bits and pieces of earlier works (like those above) often reworked and rewritten, as well as 'newer' material, but I think it was roughly 12th to 15th/16th Century.
If you would like to buy me a coffee or a book, Support me on Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/criticaldragon
Intro and Music by Professor Trip.
Malazan Authors, Ian C. Esslemont and Steven Erikson, joined me to chat about historical accuracy in fantasy adaptation and world building.
We took the example of King Arthur and discussed some of the preconceptions, misconceptions, and assumptions we often make about Arthurian stories, and how greater knowledge of time periods provides a wealth of material for a fantasy author to draw from.
Just be aware, history is not my field so I probably make a few errors about centuries and time periods (which I think Erikson and Esslemont correct when I am grossly wrong), but as with any conversation, a number of these things only come to light when you are double checking things later.
St. Patrick was a late 4th/early5th Century Bishop (time frames are a little vague).
The Romans arrived in Britain in the early 1st Century, and left Britain in roughly the late 4th/early 5th Century.
Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain is a 12th Century pseudohistory about the 7th Century, and was influenced by The History of the Britons, another pseudohistorical text (the earliest parts are circa 9th Century, but it was revised extensively until the 11th/12th Century.)
The Matter of Britain, was again a heavily revised composite work, but is comprised of bits and pieces of earlier works (like those above) often reworked and rewritten, as well as 'newer' material, but I think it was roughly 12th to 15th/16th Century.
If you would like to buy me a coffee or a book, Support me on Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/criticaldragon
Intro and Music by Professor Trip.
