One of the most commonly featured helmets in my fantasy series is the barbute helmet, which is a 15th century Italian design. Numen the Slayer and his traveling companions wore barbute helmet throughout their journey. I like featuring this helmet in my fantasy series because it looks similar to the Corinthian Greek helmets, which are like the helmets worn by the Spartans.
I discovered something interesting about Henry VIII’s armor. His armor was used as inspiration by NASA to create the earliest space suits.
Another item I noticed in several fantasy stories is the concept of the enchanted armor. Enchanted armor can provide an absolute defense against mortal weapons while others can augment the wearer’s fighting capabilities. I am thinking of including an enchanted armor in my fantasy series and were will be unexpected features that will make it look organic instead of metallic.
Sir Wallace of House Brown is ready for war!
Here is a little costume I will be wearing at my book signing on the 12th. It is a chainmail coif, which is what medieval knights and men-at-arms wear under their helmets. It is a lot heavier than it looks and the links pinch my skin and snag my hair. I have started to write while wearing this thing and I am writing a lot more prolifically with it on. It is as though I am getting in character while writing.
During WonderCon 2017, I received yet another opportunity to gain inspiration for my fantasy book. I got to wear chainmail even though the piece I wore was meant for someone smaller than me. Still, despite the poor fit, I got to gain much needed information on the weight and flexibility of the chainmail, which will come in handy when I describe the battle scenes in my fantasy book.
At the medieval tournament, I got to look through an art gallery full of home-forged armor and weapons such as this pauldron and dagger. With the dagger, I liked the design of its ivory hilt yet I thought the cross guard could have used more work. With the pauldron, I liked the gold and intricate engravings as well as the segmented plates. I also found a Viking seax dagger as well. Since I will be drawing inspiration from my heritage for my fantasy book, I am thinking of looking into the look of the seax dagger.
At the medieval tournament, I discovered a type of armor that is completely made of leather. Upon examining the design, I wondered how the leather was processed, shaped, and hardened. I wondered about making it a type of armor used in my fantasy book, but perhaps combine it with chainmail to give the wearer extra protection.
While I was at the medieval tournament, I came across a number of interesting armor designs. Among those designs was this scale mail, which was made from metal segments interconnected through normal chainmail. This provides it with extra protection to the wearer. I like the design so much that I am thinking of including this design in my fantasy book.
Grady P Brown - Author 