Historical fantasy..

[fajrdrako]

From Writer's Block: If you could go back in time to another decade, which decade would you choose and why? Would you want to return or stay there? What if you could bring one other person with you?

Could I have my own TARDIS, please?

I don't think there's a decade I wouldn't want to visit, past or future, though I'm enough of a coward to want to avoid trouble spots - the Black Death, Auschwitz, Krakatoa.

But of course some places intrigue me more than others. It would be interesting to go back to solve the great mysteries: what language did they speak in Mohenjo-Daro, why did they leave, where did they go? How did they build the pyramids, or stonehenge, or Macchu Picchu?

Mostly, there are people I would like to meet, and the list is a long one. My f-list knows a lot of the names: Federigo Secundo, Stupor Mundi. Stephen of England. Henry II and his sons Richard and Geoffrey, his wife Eleanor and his mistresses Rosamund and Alys. In France, Peter Abelard and Philippe II. In Outremer, Conrad of Montferrat, Isabella Plantagenet and her forebears, the Lusignans, the Ibelins. And that's just the 12th century. Look at classical history, preclassical history, the dark ages - oh, I've plenty of favourites there: could start with Bathildis, whom I was talking about today, and go on with Oswy and Oswin (another saint I like), Edwin, Athelstan, Alfred, Ida, Brendan, the Merovingians - oh, what a thought. Right up through to William the Bastard of Normandy, Macbeth of Scotland, and ... would I really want to meet Hildebrand? Yes, as a matter of fact, I would. A man who changed the world. Fascinating. Not to mention the Byzantines and the Arabs.

Then there's the Renaissance, and eastern history, and the Asian sub-continent, and Egypt - this question is just too vast.

My favourite decade is probably 1180-1190, but it's not the only time I'd like to witness.