| jason taylor |
11-30-2015 10:52 AM |
Re: I wonder when DF will do non-European fantasy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mailanka
(Post 1958031)
I don't see how their definition of "Europe" is pertinent to the discussion. Do we understand "Europe" to include the British Isles and Scandinavia? Yes. If I ask for a "European fantasy game" could that be understood to include Celts or Vikings? Yes.
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It is relevant that those are artificial categories placed by scholars hundreds of years later, and that a Celtic clan would not see any distinction from a Viking clan after they lived within a short distance from each other. Which is why MacDonalds are not Vikings even though they are. And Brian Boru was not a patriotic Irish nationalist who fought against the Danes, but a Medieval warlord who fought for the benefit of his clan and religion and his own ambitions. Whichever you think was first in his mind depending on how cynical you are.
One can't understand the social arrangements of the time without recognizing that the people then would have used different categories.
In any case what is true is that, "Knights in Shining Armor" is actually an unfavored setting. It is used a lot in games but less by comparison in literary fantasy. Some famous Victorian fantasists(like William Morris) liked it but they also liked other stuff and Vikings were one of the favorites all through the history of fantasy. Persia was also their a long time-after all we have always had Arabian Nights which may be better described as Persian Nights or Turkish Nights. Fantasists usually, unlike Jungle Opera writers did not explore as far as they might then and still haven't today. Lloyd Alexander though uses a lot of different settings.
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