Fire Star Press: Research by Michael E. Gonzales

My most recent story, Einar of Vindemiatrix, required a lot of research. I set my story in a mythical “dark ages”. I saw the characters, for the most part, as English like. So, I read up on a great many subjects, among them; period dress, period customs, weapons, castle design and layout, mythology, manner of speech, and much more. All very enlightening.

Obviously my fantasy would necessarily have to abridge the historical record.

And much that is ‘canon’ in ancient lore I would also need to bend a little.

The biggest challenge, for me, was the language. First off, what people spoke in “the dark ages” would barely be recognizable today as English. I noted several categories of Ole English, for my purposes I selected three: Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English. There are few alive today, scholars only perhaps, that would understand any of that speech. To wit:

So…I settled on what I call Ren-fair speech or, “fake English accent people us at a Renaissance fair.” This is the sort of thing `ya hear in the old Errol Flynn Robin Hood movie.

I also learned you have to be sparing with it. I had friends, family and total strangers read some test lines and they quickly became lost.

So…I altered the meter of speech, used a very few archaic words and at last reached a happy medium. Or one might say, “Ci leáslícettung bæd.”

The mythology surrounding weapons in the Ancient world I found fascinating! Stories of magical weapons with amazing powers and abilities, carried by famous Vikings, Romans, Goidelic, and Pictish warriors. Weapons fashioned by the gods, and by demons. These demonic weapons held the promise of victory but at the price of your immortal soul. Damned weapons that would incur the wrath of evil on their bearers, or result in instant death from merely touching them.

It was, however, the true story behind the Ulfberht sword that grabbed my attention for Einar.

There was a type of sword prized by Vikings that far exceeded any European weapon of its day. The rare and precious Ulfberht swords were a thousand years ahead of their time, and wielded only by the most elite and powerful of Viking warriors.

Most Viking blades were found to have been composed of slag-ridden, low-carbon steel. But the Ulfberht blades’ metal was comparable to the strength of modern steel. They were inscribed with the signature “+Ulfberht+,” and their like would not be seen again in Europe until the industrial revolution.

It was a personal journey through history, legend, myth, and lore. One I shan’t soon forget. Doubtless, dear reader, you shall see me put my lesson to use again, in future efforts.