A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
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?
This is the second part of the first part of our four part look (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) at the context between the Hellenistic army and its Macedonian phalanx and the Romans with their legions. Last week, we looked at the weapons, organization and fighting style of the Macedonian phalanx, … Continue reading Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part Ib: Subjects of the Successors
This is the fourth part of a series taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm's Deep (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII. VIII) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. In the last part, we looked in some depth at the organization … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part IV: Men of Rohan
This is the second part of a series taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm's Deep (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII. VIII), from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. Last time, we looked at the operations which led up to the … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part II: Total Warg
This is the long-awaited first part of a series (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII. VIII) taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm's Deep from both J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson's 2002 film of the same name. We're going to discuss how historically plausible each sequence of events … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part I: Bargaining for Goods at Helm’s Gate
This week we are taking another trip through a medieval author, this time the Occitan noble and troubadour Bertran de Born. This trip ought to be read closely with our trip through, Dhuoda of Uzès, as both exemplify the values and thinking of the medieval European aristocracy (though note that Dhuoda writes some 350 years … Continue reading Collections: A Trip Through Bertran de Born (Martial Values in the 12th Century Occitan Nobility)
This week we are taking another trip through a medieval author, but quite a bit earlier - the end of the sixth century - and quite a bit further east: the Ethiopian-Arab warrior-poet 'Antarah ibn Shaddad. This trip ought to be ready closely with the one that is going to follow it (Bertran de Born, … Continue reading Collections: A Trip Through ‘Antarah Ibn Shaddad (Victory Songs)
A look at the tactics of the 'loot train' battle from Game of Thrones (S7E4), in which it turns out, everyone is the fool.
(Note: Thanks to the effort of a kind reader, this post is now available in audio format! The playlist for the entire series may be found here.) This is the fourth part of a six part series (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) taking a military historian's look at the Siege of Gondor in Peter … Continue reading Collections: The Siege of Gondor, Part IV: The Cavalry Arrives
(Note: Thanks to the effort of a kind reader, this post is now available in audio format! The playlist for the entire series may be found here.) This is the second part of a six-part series (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) taking a military historian's look at the Siege of Gondor in Peter Jackson's … Continue reading Collections: The Siege of Gondor, Part II: These Beacons are Liiiiiiit