SunKitten/WorldBuildingLinks

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This is a compilation of links compiled by me and the attendees at the panel I ran at [Hotarucon] 2 (2023) called "Share the love: Worldbuilding". I thought it made more sense to have them in an online editable form than to simply share a static Word document. Many thanks to all who contributed, especially [Melissa A. Joy,] who has an amazing collection of useful books :)

Helpful general world-building resources

[Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions]

[Worldbuilding] A how-to guide which goes from the laws of physics to culture (you can pick and choose where to start and end!).

[A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry: Resources for world-builders] Blog by history professor Bret Devereaux.

[World Anvil] World-building tools.

General lifestyle

[[Tales from the Green Valley] Episode 1 of 12 following a group of historians and archaeologists recreating farm life from the Stuart era.

How to be a Tudor, by Ruth Goodman (ISBN 978-0241973714)

How To Be A Victorian, by Ruth Goodman (ISBN 978-0670921362)

Pre-industrial societies, by Patricia Crone (ISBN 978-1780747415)

Life in a Medieval Village by Frances Gies & Joseph Gies (ISBN 978-0062415660)

Life in a Medieval City by Frances Gies & Joseph Gies (ISBN 978-0062415180)

Life in a Medieval Castle by Frances Gies & Joseph Gies (ISBN 978-0062414793)

Medieval Lives by Terry Jones (ISBN 978-0563522751)

Live in the Middle Ages by Martyn Whittock (ISBN 978-1845296858)

The Time Traveller’s Guide to Restoration Britain 1660-1700 by Ian Mortimer (ISBN 978-0099593393)

The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer (ISBN 978-0099542070)

Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England by Amanda Vickery (ISBN 978-0300168969)

Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court by Lucy Worsley (ISBN 978-0571238903)

Bogs, Baths & Basins: The Story of Domestic Sanitation by David J. Eveleigh (ISBN 978-0750941259)

The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitised History by Katherine Ashenburg (ISBN 978-0676976649)

Cities, villages and demographics

[Medieval demographics done right]

[Medieval English Towns]

[Medieval Fantasy City Generator] Useful to generate a base map to work from when designing towns and cities.

[Medieval Population Pyramid]

[The Agas Map of Early Modern London]

[The Lonely City (A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry)]

Wages and prices

[List of price of medieval items]

[Prices and wages in Medieval England]

[Medieval Prices and Wages]

Clothes and styles

[Clothing: How did they make it (A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry)]

[Mediaeval Nubian Fashion]

Encyclopedia of National Dress (ISBN 978-0313376368) Not as many pictures as I'd like but absolutely fascinating descriptions, in the best cases not just of the clothing but also the history of different countries

[National Clothing online database]

[Claire Hummel's Historical Fashion Reference & Resources]

[A Timeline of women’s fashion from 1784-1970]

[Mariota’s Guide to 14th Century Women’s clothing]

[A study of historical dress and undergarments (1750s-1920s)]

[Elizabethan costuming page]

[Viking dresses]

Food and cooking

[The food timeline]

The Georgian Kitchen by Emma Kay (ISBN 978-1445650562)

Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson (ISBN 978-0141049083)

[Bread: How did they make it (A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry)]

[Gode Cookery]

Medicine, pharmacy, health and well-being

[Folk magic, myth and healing: An unusual history of British plants, by Fez Baker]

Gerard’s Herbal: The Generall Historie of Plants, by John Gerard (ISBN 978-1905605163) Useful for how people saw plant usage in the 16th century.

[Types of herbal preparations]

[Writing realistic injuries]

[Disability in time and place]

[Victorian pharmacy] Episode 1 of 4 about a Victorian pharmacy.

Maladies & Medicine by Jennifer Evans & Sara Read (ISBN 978-1473875715)

Breverton’s Complete Herbal by Terry Breverton (ISBN 978-0857383365)

Medieval Medicine by Toni Mount (ISBN 978-1445655420)

Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart (ISBN 978-1604691276)

The Royal Art of Poison by Eleanor Herman (ISBN 978-0715653128)

Combat & Martial Arts

A Brief History of the Martial Arts by Jonathan Clements (ISBN 978-1472136466)

The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu by Wong Kiew Kit (ISBN 978-0091876593)

European Weapons & Armour by Ewart Oakeshott (ISBN 978-1843837206)

The Colosseum by Keith Hopkins & Mary Beard (ISBN 978-1846684708)

[Medieval Suits of Armor]

Nautical

The Sailor’s Wordbook by Admiral W. H. Smyth (ISBN 978-0851779720)

The Young Officer’s Sheet Anchor by Darcy Lever (ISBN 978-0486402208)

HMS Victory by Haynes (ISBN 978-0857330857)

A Seaman’s Pocket Book by Lord’s Commissioners of the Admiralty (ISBN 978-1884860371)

Breverton’s Nautical Curiosities by Terry Breverton (ISBN 978-1847547766)

Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly (ISBN 978-0156005494)

The Sea Rover’s Practice by Benerson Little (ISBN 978-1574889116)

Feeding Nelson’s Navy by Janet MacDonald? (ISBN 978-1848327474)

Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat: Naval Slang and Its Everyday Usage by Martin Robson (ISBN 978-1844860739)

The Sailing Companion by Miles Kendall (ISBN 978-1861058393)

The Story of the Norfolk Wherries by David Bray (ISBN 978-0853067849)

[Viking ships]

Names, words and languages

[Worldbuilding: Place Names (video)]

[Behind the Name] The meaning and history of first names.

[Last Name Meanings]

[Elizabethan names]

[Online Etymology Dictionary]

[Definitions of archaic words]

The Language Construction Kit by Mark Rosenfelder (ISBN 978-0984470006)

Advanced Language Construction by Mark Rosenfelder (ISBN 978-1478267539)

The Conlanger’s Lexipedia by Mark Rosenfelder (ISBN 978-1493733002)

[Toki Pona] A constructed language designed to express maximal meaning with minimal complexity. Useful as an example of how few words are needed for a language to function.

[The Up-Goer Five Text Editor] Online text editor which only permits using the top 1000 most used words in English. Useful for writing characters learning a language.

Mythology and Religion

[Practical Polytheism (A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry)]

African Myths by Jake Jackson (ISBN 978-1787552746)

Egyptian Myths by Jake Jackson (ISBN 978-1786647641)

Myths of Babylon by Jake Jackson (ISBN 978-1786647634)

Polynesian Island Myths by Jake Jackson (ISBN 978-1839642241)

Aztec Myths by Jake Jackson (ISBN 978-1787552975)

Native American Myths by Jake Jackson (ISBN 978-0857758217)

Native American Myths: Collected 1636-1919 by Rosalind Kerven (ISBN 978-0953745487)

Breverton’s Phantasmagoria by Terry Breverton (ISBN 978-0857383372)

Myths from Mesopotamia by Stephanie Dalley (ISBN 978-0199538362)

The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths & Legends by Peter Berresford Ellis (ISBN 978-1841192482)

The Popol Vuh by Dennis Tedlock (ISBN 978-0684818450)

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls (Penguin Classics) by Geza Vermes (ISBN 978-0141197319)

The Mahabharata (Penguin Classics) by John D. Smith (ISBN 978-0140446814)

The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings by Kevin Crossley-Holland (ISBN 978-0241982075)

An Illust. Dictionary of The Gods & Symbols of Ancient Mexico & the Maya by Mary Miller & Karl Taube (ISBN 978-0500279281)

A Treasury of British Folklore by Dee Dee Chainey (ISBN 978-1911358398)

Woodland Folk Tales of Britain & Ireland by Lisa Schneidau (ISBN 978-0750990110)

Nature, Paganism & Magic

Magical Alphabets by Nigel Pennick (ISBN 978-0877287476)

Signs, Symbols & Omens by Raymond Buckland (ISBN 978-0738702346)

Nordic Runes by Paul Rhys Mountfort (ISBN 978-0892810932)

The Magical Year by Danu Forest (ISBN 978-1780288611)

Celtic Tree Magic: Ogham Lore and Druid Mysteries by Danu Forest (ISBN 978-0738741017)

Wild Signs and Star Paths by Tristan Gooley (ISBN 978-1473655904)

How To Read Water by Tristan Gooley (ISBN 978-1473665422)

The Natural Navigator by Tristan Gooley (ISBN 978-0753539859)

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben (ISBN 978-0008218430)

The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock (ISBN 978-1507204719)

Earth Magic by Steven D. Farmer (ISBN 978-1401920050)

Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centred Religions by Joyce & River Higginbotham (ISBN 978-0738702223)

The Book of Hedge Druidry by Joanna Van Der Hoeven (ISBN 978-0738758251)

The Path of Druidry by Penny Billington (ISBN 978-0738723464)

Maps and Astronomy

The Sky Atlas by Edward Brooke-Hitching (ISBN 978-1471178931)

The Phantom Atlas by Edward Brooke-Hitching (ISBN 978-1471159459)

Moongazing: Beginners Guide to Exploring the Moon by Tom Kerss (ISBN 978-0008305000)

Stargazing: Beginner’s Guide to Astronomy by Radmila Topalovic & Tom Kerss (ISBN 978-0008196271)

Settings, Description & Character/Race? Development

Thesaurus of the Senses by Linda Hart (ISBN 978-0988839977)

The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (ISBN 978-1475004953)

The Negative Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (ISBN 978-0989772501)

The Positive Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (ISBN 978-0989772518)

The Urban Setting Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (ISBN 978-0989772563)

The Rural Setting Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (ISBN 978-0989772556)

The Conflict Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (ISBN 978-1736152317)

Odds and Ends

[How to destroy the Earth]

[Historical locks]

[Mediaeval and Early Modern book-binding]

[Primitive lighting methods]

[Atlas of Plucked Instruments]

[How flintlock guns work]

The Illustrated Signs & Symbols Sourcebook by Adele Nozedar (ISBN 978-0007951314)

[Units of Time] Here as a reminder that not every culture uses hours/weeks/months/etc, and timekeeping is worth thinking about.

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E. B. Hudspeth (ISBN 978-1594746161)

General interest

[Worldbuilding for Masochists] Podcast series

[Going Medieval] Blog by mediaeval historian Eleanor Janega.

[We're Not So Different] A history podcast about “how we’ve always been idiots”. Eleanor Janega again, and Luke Waters.

[Behind the Bastards] Podcast about the worst people in history and how they got that way. Useful for writing realistic villains.

[You're Dead To Me] BBC series hosted by Greg Jenner, combines history and comedy to cover a wide range of topics.

Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond (ISBN 978-0099302780) I find this useful for the description of early development and distribution of culture and technology (ie farming, crops and domesticated animals).

How to invent everything, by Ryan North (ISBN 978-0753552568) Fun whiz-tour through the development of technology and its prerequisites.

[Historical Tech Tree] What I suspect is a more complete, and interactive, form of the above, albeit without the humour and most of the explanations.

The Timetables of History, by Bernard Grun (ISBN 978-0743270038) Useful for comparative development of culture, ideas and technology.

[Don's Maps] A treasure trove of resources for the study of Palaeolithic European, Russian, Ukrainian and Australian Archaeology.

[Foundations of Biology] Free online textbook about the fundamentals of biology. Useful for designing aliens :)