Both of these legendary kings feature prominently in the medieval romances and tales of adventure as related in the Matters of Britain and France; and in both sets of stories, the realm of Fairy and the influences of enchantresses are keenly felt.
In the stories of Charlemagne, there is a clear frontier beyond which dwells barbarians and pagans; this is the Saxon frontier, and the peers of the realm campaign across the Rhine with Charlemagne for a period of almost 20 years. For D&D purposes, it sets up a fantastic borderlands and wilderness, clearly demarcating the realms of Law from the realms of Chaos - there's a visceral sense of crossing a no-man's land when the Franks leave civilization behind and enter the pagan realm. In Three Hearts and Three Lions, the frontier is further mystified by placing the Twilight Realm there, the land of Fairy from which the forces of Chaos contrive to return the world to eternal gloom, banishing the sun.
Arthur's land of England has no such frontier of evil; there are conflicts with Saxons, the Orkneys, and Cornwalls, on the fringes, but encounters with magical realms happen nigh anywhere on a quest, usually when a knight is deep in a forest, or conveyed by boat to a strange place across water. Chaos is very much where you find it, as if commonplace and ordinary woods and lakes can transform overnight, thrusting a questing knight into contact with the numinous or the enchanted.
So here's a fine question for a Friday - in which legendary realm would you rather place your D&D style adventures? The enchanted forests of 5th century Britain, last haunts of the druids, or the dark, brooding woods past the Rhineland, home to pagan barbarians beyond the very frontier of civilization?
Definitely in the 5th century Britain
ReplyDeleteI usually go 5th Century Britain. The mystical and magical can be found hidden behind the wrong turn in the road or the shortcut through the woods the old woman told you not to venture into.
ReplyDeleteBut I have had hankerings for a more 8th Century France type set-up, where the only adventures in the realms of Law would be with human-types and occasionally normal animals, but if you cross the border (or go under the earth) you could encounter all sorts of monsters and magic.
I can envision both of their being wonderful settings for a D&D campaign; however, nowadays I lean more towards either extremely gonzo settings (think of a mixture of Carcosa, ASE, Rifts, plus what I find cool on the spot) or ones that clearly show the difference between mundane and magical/weird/fantastical (let's call it the "we're not in Kansas anymore"-clarity). To me, then, the Frankish frontier is more appealing - at least for now.
ReplyDeleteThat's a tough one. I would probably say "Arthur's Britain"--by which I mean Mallory's, not the real 5th Century. However, I have recently had a hankering for a Carolingian Europe game Arak: Son of Thunder style.
ReplyDeleteI would ordinarily prefer the Carolingian setting for D&D type games and the Arthurian setting for games such as Fudge, Basic Role-Playing, or (obviously) Pendragon.
ReplyDeleteI'd also pick Aurthur's Britain. But Christopher Lee dies make Charlemagne tempting:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne:_By_the_Sword_and_the_Cross
Charlemagne would have me doing historical research - im not sure if his paladins were that nice guys. Arthur britain is mythic with more literary freedom and paganism seems more tolerated in books like Parzival. Arthurian romance is more interactive with mythology and European romantic lit. Charlemagne feels more like propaganda but i appreciate Europe would be a different world without him.
ReplyDeleteWhy not both?
ReplyDeleteA couple small kingdoms, well-forested, with occasional last remnants of magic and druidry, and a more-distant border where civilization has broken down entirely.
That's how I interpret the setting of the Merlin TV show: 5th century Britain, but more fragmented, and with rebel druids, and some craziness in the distance. It's also part of what I had in mind for my campaign setting.