Helpful Resources For Medieval Fantasy

Helpful Resources for Medieval Fantasy

A collection of research links and cool websites I’ve found helpful for medieval fantasy worlds i.e. no electricity, horse and buggy, etc. 

I try to update this post but there will probably be old versions floating around Tumblr. Google Drive is the best place to find the most up-to-date version. 

If you find a cool link you think would help others, just message me!  

Need a name for something/someone? 

Fantasy Name Generator (this website has an awesome repertoire of basically any kind of name you could want - places, real language names, objects, and more!)

Another Fantasy Name Generator

Yet Another Fantasy Name Generator

Existing Fantasy Names (this one is a master-list rather than a generator, but it’s detailed and includes characters, towns and villages) 

Another Resource for Existing Fantasy Names (also includes references for specific fandoms/series) 

Can’t figure out how to describe that thing in a way that makes sense for the time period/cultural background? 

Castles (everything you need to know for that big, beautiful palace) 

Castle Gardening (this has detailed descriptions of classic maintenance of gardens but also gives a good idea of what engineering techniques were available before modern technology) 

Medieval Architecture (the website is also a great resource for any historical culture questions you have)

Japanese Gardens (helpful for constructing/visualizing those beautiful magical japanese gardens in K-dramas - hint: the red bridge is called a guzei bridge! ;)

Medieval Technology (an outline of available technology from agriculture to forgery) 

Another Technology Resource

And Yet Another Technology Resource

One More Medieval Technology Resource

Maps (this is meant to be a drawing reference but it can help you figure out the lay of the land for journeys and descriptions, from how a city or building is organized to what entire continents in your world look like)

Alternatively, A Fantasy Map Generator (for constructing kingdoms and continents)

A List of Ancient Cultures (each culture has more specific reference pages for technology, traditions, and more) 

More History and Ancient Culture Info (well-organized and well-described)

British Nobility (scroll to the bottom for resources on manners, rank, politics and more)

Medieval Clothing by Character Background (how to dress characters based on rank, class, etc. - also a good resource for lots of other things) 

What’s that thing/action/place called? 

Armour and Clothing (this website is actually a store but the sections are well organized and all items are labelled with their real names)

Royal Titles From Around the World (and throughout history - for all your nobility-naming needs) 

Weapons (a really good resource on basically any kind of weapon from any period of history you could think of) 

Another Medieval Weapons Resource

Fantasy Weapons (this one is also a store but is good for weapon inspiration)

More Fantasy Weapons (also has fandom/series’ specific weapons and weapons organized by type - melee, siege, ranged, etc.) 

Sword-fighting terms (for describing that fast-paced, action-sequence in gloriously accurate detail) 

Medieval Buildings Based on Usage

Other useful links 

Choosing a Weapon for Your Character

World-building (questions to answer to help develop your world)

Fantasy Writing Do’s and Don’ts

High Fantasy Tips

Reference Pinterest for my own book (my world is fantasy inspired by real historical cultures like Arabian/Korean/Japanese/Egyptian and African) 

Pinterest is also just a really good way of collecting and organizing reference images which I highly recommend!

I’m so annoyed by people sweeping valid criticism of pacing and shit storywriting under the rug. It’s why we have what we have from Star Wars and Marvel now. People are complacent to get *something* when we deserve something of *quality*.. but because people are ‘fine’ with just something, studios will continue to give us mediocrity.

Season 2 was not great. I will again maintain that the actors (for the most part) and the score were fantastic. The actors did what they could with what they were given… which was fucking awful and inconsistent and writing.

We got character assassination after character assassination. They wrote a character to be one way only to retcon it inexplicably out of nowhere. Characters would make decisions out of left field that didn’t track with the way they were written for a season and a half. We were not asking for characters to be ‘likeable’. We were asking for them to be consistent.

And then there was the pacing. The pacing was amateur level bad. In what world was the finale appropriate for a fucking season finale? WHAT WORLD? People critiquing the criticism state that those who disliked this season suffer a lack of media literacy and impatience? No. That’s not it at all and yall know it. This season was a jumbled fucking mess after episode 3 and we deserve to have that opinion known. Do better for us, for your actors, for your production team. And I truly don’t think that Condal and Hess will do that because they are so balls deep in their fanfiction fantasies that they won’t provide. Fire their asses and do it now so that you have quality writers lined up prior to production of season 3… which won’t even start until 2025 jfc and keep the execs out of the writing in general because they are also hugely to blame.

Are fedoras really that bad?

YES YES THEY ARE

Roses are red, that much is true, but violets are purple, not fucking blue.