Nog Prize #7

Annie Cúglas wrote:

Hi there! Not to be a bother but a few things caught my eye on Fredegund’s image. I am a medieval history professor and Viking combat re-enactor so while my wheelhouse is a few centuries after the Merovingians I still tend to notice things.

The first is that the suits of armor in the hall are very anachronistic: European plate armor did not really exist until the 13th century and not in the complete suits that we imagine until the 15th century. In the 6th century, while there may have been metal helmets for the very wealthy, the only body armor available was chainmail and possibly scale mail. I write only because you wrote of redoing that section to better capture the light on the armor, and I figure if you’re going to redraw it you may as well correct it.

And also if you are messing about with the image I’d also like to point out that gem-cutting technology is very late medieval if not early modern so the faceted jewel sticking out of the treasure box is also anachronistic.  At this time, while some gems could be carved with relief images, most would simply be cabochons or smoothly polished  stones.

Fredegund’s outfit also seems off to me, but I’m not a textile expert and as mentioned 6th century is a bit early for me.  Nonetheless I’ve never seen Merovingian women’s clothing without long sleeves and a cape or kaftan-like overgarment. Early medieval clothing always seems heavy and hot to me until I’m wearing it in a place without central heating, then I need pile it on, so I can’t imagine even a queen being comfortable in short sleeves. If you’d like I can do more research for you since I will probably know what sources and resources would be best.

I really hope I’m not being pedantic. I’m not looking for a Nog or anything; I just have a fairly narrow skill set so when I can use it, I do!

Dude, totally got me on this. Fredegund‘s entry was one of the original 12 I put up on the site, before I started being as thorough with the research. Not only that, but the environment she is in is somewhat baffling, somewhere between treasure room and throne room. If I had to do any single image over from scratch, it’d be hers.

(if I had to do two, I’d toss in Hatshepsut)