A look at history and popular culture
Fireside this week! First off, it seems like last week's post on the Hollywood myth of archery volley fire really got out there, so if you are a new reader just joining us, welcome! If you are in to discussions of historical tactics with an eye towards correcting common myths in games and film, you … Continue reading Fireside Friday, May 9, 2025 (On Lighter Bows)
This week we're looking at a specific visual motif common in TV and film: the arrow volley. You know the scene: the general readies his archers, he orders them to 'draw!' and then holds up his hand with that 'wait for it' gesture and then shouts 'loose!' (or worse yet, 'fire!') and all of the … Continue reading Collections: Why Archers Didn’t Volley Fire
This week, I want to keep unloading my Tolkien-related thoughts, turning from last week's character study to a look at the way 'magic' and spiritual power work in Tolkien's legendarium and in particular to how contests between fundamentally magical beings in Middle-earth are decided. This is a topic that I think even the best adaptations … Continue reading Collections: How Gandalf Proved Mightiest: Spiritual Power in Tolkien
This week (and probably next) I want to talk a bit more Tolkien, but in a somewhat different vein from normal. Rather than discussing the historicity of Tolkien's world or adaptations of it, I want to take a moment to discuss some of the themes of Tolkien's work, which express themselves in the metaphysical architecture … Continue reading Collections: Why Celebrimbor Fell but Boromir Conquered: the Moral Universe of Tolkien
This is the final part of our five part (I, II, III, IV) series on the Siege of Eregion in Amazon's Rings of Power. Last time, we looked at the orc siege and marveled at both their lack of works and also their nonsensical siege engines, concluding that Adar had launched a siege assault which … Continue reading Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part V: What Tactics?
Fireside this week! I am still a bit behind after attending the annual meeting of the Society for Military History - conferences always leave me a bit tired and slow to get back to writing, even as they also stimulate my thinking - so the conclusion of our look at Rings of Power must wait … Continue reading Fireside Friday, April 4, 2025
Hey folks! The conclusion of our look at the Siege of Eregion in Rings of Power will have to wait a week because I am off to a conference this week, the annual meeting of the Society for Military History, this year in Mobile, Alabama! I'm set to talk about how Roman military commanders were … Continue reading Gap Week: March 28, 2025
This is the fourth part of our [five? -ish? I, II, III] part series on the Siege of Eregion in Amazon's Rings of Power. Last week, we took the opportunity presented by Adar's absurd plan to dam a river using catapults to collapse a mountain to discuss the capabilities and functioning principles of historical counterweight … Continue reading Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part IV: What Siege Equipment?
This is the third part of our [I, II, I don't know, a few more?] part series looking at Rings of Power's Siege of Eregion from a military history perspective. Last week, we discussed the remarkably bad siege preparation of both sides: Adar's complete lack of a fortified siege camp and Eregion's complete lack of … Continue reading Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part III: What Catapults?
For this week, I want to take a step back (we'll be back to our series on Rings of Power next week!) and talk about the craft of history: we've talked about "How Your History Gets Made" from the perspective of the different people who do it - research historians, public historians, educators and so … Continue reading Collections: What Do Historians Do?