Awesome Medieval

Medieval weapon expert Tod’s Workshop happened to have five different types of crossbows in his workshop at the same time, so he thought it would be fun to compare how they work and how effective each is at its job. The collection ranges from a tiny handheld crossbow to massive ballista that requires a time-consuming tensioning process.

Bardcore musician Hildegard von Blingin’ is back with another great medieval interpretation of a popular song. This time, we’ve got The Rolling Stones’ 1966 classic Paint It, Black, which works incredibly well with the centuries-old instrumentation and revised Old English lyrics. Just wait for the choir to kick in at the end. You won’t be disappointed.

The 1980s and the 1380s were pretty different times. The era of big hair and Rubik’s produced some great synthpop and arena rock, and those tunes sound surprisingly good when played on medieval instruments. This 90-minute medley features bardcore versions of 22 classic ’80s tracks, including Don’t Stop Believin’, Smooth Criminal, Eye of the Tiger, and more.

Algal the Bard presents a bardcore cover version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ track Under the Bridge. Anthony Kiedis’ vocals have been replaced with a penny whistle, with a lute-guitar, Irish bouzouki, and traditional drums taking on the instrumentation.

The Johnny Cash version of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt will go down in history as one of the greatest covers of all time. That version served as the inspiration for Hildegard von Blingin’s medieval take on the track. It’s every bit as much of a gut-punch as the previous versions, only with more harp.

Not every song translates well to medieval instruments like a lute, zither, and recorder. But this hardcore cover of the R.E.M. track Losing My Religion by musician Algal the Bard plays out perfectly. Perhaps the Athens alt-rock band was born in the wrong century.

Can you truly be Rickrolled if you know it’s coming? Well, either way, we enjoyed listening to Algal the Bard’s arrangement of Rick Astley’s classic Never Gonna Give You Up, performed on traditional instruments straight out of medieval times. We also recommend his bardcore take on Fear of the Dark.

Breaking Bad was as close to a perfect television series as there ever was. We wouldn’t change a thing about it. Despite that, yo chill bruh reimagined its cast of characters as if the show was one of those 1980s medieval fantasy films. The horse-drawn version of the Krystal Ship made us laugh out loud.

The Eiffel 65 song Blue (Da Ba Dee) is one of the most infectious Europop songs of all time. Now, thanks to Cornelius Link, it’s been transformed into a catchy ditty befitting of a 15th-century banquet where a king’s court feasts on turkey legs and flagons of mead while bopping their heads to the beat.

Kings Wild Project presents another beautifully-illustrated playing card deck. Drawn in the style of the Book of Kells, it features intricate line-art images inspired by the legend of King Arthur, with face card characters based on Sir Galahad, Lady Guinevere, Gawain, The Green Knight, Merlin, and more.

Eminem achieved most of his popularity in the early 21st century. But what if he started making hits back in medieval times? Beedle The Bardcore has the answer with this hour-long, 13th-century performance of Slim Shady’s greatest hits including Lose Yourself, Without Me, Stan, Smack That, and Ass Like That.

Let’s face it. You never want to get stuck in the face with an arrow. Blacksmith Alec Steele replicated the Bradmore Extraction Tool, a medieval device that was used to remove an arrow from 16-year-old Prince Henry’s skull back in the 15th century. As awful as it sounds, it saved the future King Henry V’s life.

With the advent of photography, capturing accurate images of living creatures is easy to do. But back in medieval times, we had to rely on drawings to convey what animals looked like. Curious Archive put together this amusing compilation of illustrations where it’s clear the artist had never actually seen the animal.

Constantine Bard presents a sweeping medieval-style cover version of The Rolling Stones’ 1966 hit song Paint It, Black. While we love how the original adds so much depth with Brian Jones’ sitar playing, this version feels even more epic in its scope.

There’s been quite an uptick in musicians performing popular songs in a medieval style known as “Bardcore.” Algal the Bard shared this Bardcore version of the theme from The Mandalorian. It sounds great, but not all that different from Ludwig Göransson’s original, which incorporated some exotic sounds to begin with.

You might assume that most people in the middle ages thought the earth was flat, but it turns out many of them already knew the earth was round. Mental Floss host Justin Dodd explores this misconception and a few others about medieval times.

No, I am Thy Father. Musician Samuel Kim has been building a library of Star Wars tracks reimagined in a medieval style. Among the collection is this version of John Williams’ Imperial March that feels right at home among the knights and castles.

“Best ye go, faster than mine arrow…” Hildegard von Blingin’ imagines what pop songs might have sounded like in medieval times. Working with music by Cornelius Link, she revamps the tracks with period-appropriate lyrics and vocals. Here’s her olde tyme take on Foster the People’s 2010 hit, Pumped Up Kicks.

The producers, actors and author George R.R. Martin himself give us a tour of some of the places – as well as their culture and atmosphere – we’ll see in the epic new HBO TV fantasy series.

Game Of Thrones premieres April 17 on HBO, and we are seeing and hearing more from the vengeful characters in this reveal. Raise your hand if you love relentless medieval scheming! (Thanks Colin!)

In 1348, as Europe falls under the shadow of the Plague, a fearsome knight is charged by the church to investigate talk of a necromancer who is able to bring the dead back to life in Black Death.

It may be called Season of the Witch, but this teaser (which shows a shaggy, medieval Nick Cage opposite Ron Perlman) screams zombie-flick: how do we know? “Cut off the head!”

Filled with lush visuals, this Creating a Living World video for Dragon Age: Origins explores the game’s universe–we were most surprised by the Dwarves, which are Aztec-inspired.