Magic items 101: A Historical Guide for TTRPGs

The Maniculum Podcast

Ever wonder how realistic the magic items in D&D are, anyway? What are the lines between a religious token, a pagan amulet, and a giant-made sword?Join us this episode as we unlock the nature of how magic works in the middle ages, and how you can adapt historical magic techniques into your D&D campaign.

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Citations & References:

• Bailey, Michael D. ‘The Age of Magicians: Periodization in the History of European Magic.’
• Bailey, Michael D. ‘The Disenchantment of Magic: Spells, Charms, and Superstition in Early European Witchcraft Literature.’
• Bailey, Michael D. ‘The Meanings of Magic.’ Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft,
• Green, Richard Firth. ‘Incubi Faries.’ Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church,
• Griffiths, Bill. Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic.
• Hall, Alaric. Elves in Anglo-Saxon England: Matters of Belief, Health, Gender, and Identity.
• Kieckhefer, Richard. ‘The Specific Rationality of Medieval Magic.’
• Kieckhefer, Richard. Magic in the Middle Ages.
• Saunders, Corrine. Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English Romance.
• Taylor, Paul Beekman. ‘The Dragon’s Treasure in “Beowulf.”’ Neuphilologische Mitteilungen,
• Thayer, J. D. ‘Resolving the “Double Curse” of the Pagan Hoard in Beowulf.’
• f.81r of the Rutland Psalter