Medieval and Fantasy Dictionary: Grow Your Vocabulary, #3

By Blake Pieck

1st Edition - We explore 638 words that focus on Medieval / Fantasy Genre and it has been split into categories: Architecture, Clothes, Codes, Profession, Ranks And Titles, Crimes & Punishments, Events, Fighting, Weapons And Wounds, Healing & Medicine And Landscape, Terrain & Places.

 

A medieval and fantasy dictionary is a reference book that provides definitions and explanations for words, terms, and concepts related to the medieval period and the fantasy genre. These dictionaries are often compiled by scholars and enthusiasts of medieval history and fantasy literature and can cover a wide range of topics, including mythology, folklore, religion, art, literature, and language.

A medieval and fantasy dictionary can be a valuable resource for students, writers, and enthusiasts of medieval and fantasy literature, as it can provide context and background information for unfamiliar or obscure terms and concepts. It can also help readers to better understand the cultural and historical contexts of medieval and fantasy works, as well as the literary and artistic conventions of the genre.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blake Pieck
• Release date: May 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223783381

Book preview

Architecture

A

Aperture  -  An opening, as a hole, slit, crack, gap, etc.

Arch  -  A curved masonry construction for spanning an opening, consisting of a number of wedge like stones, bricks, or the like, set with the narrower side toward the opening in such a way that forces on the arch are transmitted as vertical or oblique stresses on either side of the opening.

Architrave  -  A moulded or decorated band framing a panel or an opening, esp. a rectangular one, as of a door or window.

Armoury  -  Castle Rooms  -  Where swords armour and weapons are kept.

Arrow loops  -   These were slots in the walls and structures that were used to shoot arrows through. They came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

B

Bailey  -  Fortification  -  Castle Rooms  -  This is a courtyard or open space surrounded by walls. The walls that make up the bailey are also considered to be part of the bailey. A castle could have several. Sometimes they were called the upper bailey and lower bailey or the west bailey and east bailey. The outer courtyard between the castle and the outer wall.

Banqueting Hall  -  Castle Rooms  -  As above but for formal dining.  See Great Hall.

Barbican  -  Fortification  -  A stone structure that protected the gate of a castle. Think of it as a gatehouse. It usually had a small tower on each side of the gate where guards could stand watch.

Barn  -  A building for storing hay, grain, etc., and often for housing livestock.

Barracks  -  Castle Rooms  -  Where the troops lived.

Bastide   -  Term for a fortified mediaeval town. Typically, these bastides were built in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Bastion  -  Fortification  -  A projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.  A fortified place.

Battlement  -  Fortification  -  A notched parapet built on top of a wall, with alternating merlons and crenels for decoration or defence. Also called embattlement.  These are the structures at the tops of the walls surrounding a castle. Picture what you have seen in the movies where archers are at the top of the wall and firing arrows between open slots down on the attackers. These shapes at the top (where the archers position themselves for battle) are called battlements. They are also referred to as crenulations.

Beam  -  Any of various relatively long pieces of metal, wood, stone, etc., manufactured or shaped esp. for use as rigid members or parts of structures or machines.

Bolt  -  A movable bar or rod that when slid into a socket fastens a door, gate, etc.

Bower  -  Castle Rooms  -  The queens or ladies private rooms for sleeping and dressing etc.

Brick  -  A block of clay hardened by drying in the sun or burning in a kiln, and used for building, paving, etc.: traditionally, in the U.S., a rectangle 21/4 × 33/4 × 8 in. (5.7 × 9.5 × 20.3 cm), red, brown, or yellow in colour.

Buttery  -  Castle Rooms  -  These were rooms where wine, ale, bread and other foodstuffs were laid out before the meals Banqueting.  See Banqueting Hall, Great Hall.

Buttress  -  Any external prop or support built to steady a structure by opposing its outward thrusts, esp. a projecting support built into or against the outside of a masonry wall.  A masonry projection used as additional support for walls. Notre dame cathedral is a good example of the use of buttresses.

C

Casement  -  A window sash opening on hinges that are generally attached to the upright side of its frame.  Also called casement window. A window with such a sash or sashes.

Castle  -  Fortification  -  A fortified, usually walled residence, as of a prince or noble in feudal times.  The chief and strongest part of the fortifications of a medieval city.  See All Castle Rooms.

Ceiling  -  The overhead interior surface of a room.

Citadel  -  Fortification  -  A fortress, typically one on high ground above a city. A meeting hall of the Salvation Army.

City Wall  -  Fortification  -  A wall around a city, built to define the city's boundaries, and sometimes to protect it from aggressors.

Chamber  -  Castle Rooms  -  A private room.  See Great Hall.

Chandelier  -  A decorative, sometimes ornate, light fixture suspended from a ceiling, usually having branched supports for a number of lights.

Chateau  -  A stately residence imitating a distinctively French castle.  A country estate, especially a fine one, in France or elsewhere on the Continent.

Chimney  -  A structure, usually vertical, containing a passage or flue by which the smoke, gases, etc., of a fire or furnace are carried off and by means of which a draft is created.

Cluster  -  A type of housing, also called a patio home in American terms.

Corridor  -  A gallery or passage connecting parts of a building; hallway.  A passage into which several rooms or apartments open.

Cottage  -  A small house, usually of only one story.  A small, modest house at a lake, mountain resort, etc., owned or rented as a vacation home.

Court  -  Castle Rooms  -  Where the monarch holds court (also means the monarchs entourage)

Croft  -  A small farm, a small, portable filing cabinet of table height, having drop leaves for use as a table.

Curtain Wall  -  Fortification  -  In