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1[[WMG:[[center:[-'''TheOldestOnesInTheBook'''\
2OlderThanTheNES | Before 1985\
3OlderThanCableTV | 1939 -- 1980\
4OlderThanTelevision | 1890 -- 1939\
5OlderThanRadio | 1698 -- 1890\
6OlderThanSteam | 1439 -- 1698\
7'''Older Than Print''' | 476 -- 1439\
8OlderThanFeudalism | ~800 BC -- 476 AD\
9OlderThanDirt | Before ~800 BC-]]]]]
10
11[[quoteright:197:[[Literature/AberdeenBestiary https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolfinbestiary.jpg]]]]
12[[caption-width-right:197:The ''[[http://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/intro.hti Aberdeen Bestiary]]'', c. late 12th century]]
13%%
14%%Larger images from abdn.ac.uk itself are forbidden by their copyright notice
15
16From the fall of Rome during the 5th century (c. 476 CE) to the invention of movable-type printing. The precise dates vary from region to region, but this was a time when literacy was low and books were rare and cost a king's ransom. In the era before movable type, most documents were hand-written, so if you were a wealthy, educated BlueBlood or church leader and you wanted to read a book, you got your scribes to ''hand copy'' the book. Most Western folklore originated here, often echoing earlier tropes. ChivalricRomance and CourtlyLove developed in this era.
17
18Note: this is older than ''UsefulNotes/JohannesGutenberg's printing press'' (1439 CE), not metal movable-type characters (ca. 1230 CE, Korea), movable-type printing (1040 CE, China), and certainly not wood-block printing (220 CE or earlier, China again). These earlier printing methods could be used to cut down the cost of reproduction to 90 percent lower than hand-copying, but they each had drawbacks. Wood blocks used for printing had to be laboriously carved by hand, and then they'd wear out and have to re-carve the entire page.
19
20In short, the Middle Ages -- assuming you don't take Petrarch's definition for it, as he lived in the 1300s. Even [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare all things Shakespeare]], Literature/DonQuixote, and many late medieval and high Renaissance era books are only OlderThanSteam.
21
22Specific works from this time period include:
23
24* ''The Literature/ArabianNights'', mostly (though "Literature/{{Aladdin}}" and "Literature/AliBaba" have no known source before Galland's OlderThanRadio French translation.)
25* ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}''
26* ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' by Creator/GeoffreyChaucer
27* Almost everything we know of Myth/CelticMythology and Myth/NorseMythology was first written down during this period.
28* Giovanni Boccacio's ''Literature/{{Decameron}}''
29* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' by Dante Alighieri
30* Art/TheGhentAltarpiece
31* Literature/TheIcelandicSagas
32* Most sources of Myth/ArthurianLegend, from Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Literature/HistoriaRegumBritanniae'' (12th century) to ''Literature/SirGawainAndTheGreenKnight''.
33* ''{{Literature/Nibelungenlied}}''
34* ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter''
35* ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji''
36* Various versions of ''Literature/ReynardTheFox''
37* ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' (though set in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE)
38* ''Literature/TheSongOfRoland''
39* ''Literature/TheShahnameh'' by Ferdowsi
40* The [[{{UsefulNotes/Hinduism}} Hindu]] [[Myth/HinduMythology Puranas]] were composed in more-or-less their present form during the centuries before about 1000 CE, although their origins and some portions of the texts go back to at least 300 BCE.
41* The ''Kojiki'' and ''Nihon Shoki'', which chronicle most of Myth/JapaneseMythology and the nation's early history, were first compiled in 711-712 and 720 CE respectively.
42* Literature/TheQuran. It was orally transmitted throughout [[UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad the Prophet]]'s lifetime and was only codified by his successors. Final canonization was done during the reign of caliph Uthman (644-656 CE).
43%%
44%% Before adding a Fairy Tale example to this page, please check when the Fairy Tale was
45%% written. Many are actually only Older Than Radio.
46%%
47
48----
49!! Tropes from this time period:
50[[index]]
51* AbhorrentAdmirer: Seen in the Wife of Bath's Tale in ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''.
52* AboveTheInfluence: Kamar and Budur in ''The Literature/ArabianNights''.
53* AccidentallyCorrectZoology: While dragon myths are OlderThanDirt, depictions of winged dragons first appeared around this time, long before pterosaurs were discovered.
54* AdjectiveAnimalAlehouse: European [[TheHighMiddleAges High Middle Ages]] practice.
55* TheAgeless: The [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse gods]] are unaging, so long as they continue to eat the Apples of Idun.
56* AlasPoorYorick: St. Catherine of Siena did this, supposedly.
57* AllWitchesHaveCats: 'A woman with a black cat is a witch' dates to this time period.
58* AnatomicallyImpossibleSex: Works by Duke William IX of Aquitaine.
59* TheAntiNihilist: A major theme of Myth/NorseMythology. Everyone dies, but how one meets one's death is up to them, and the fame they have earned in life will live on afterwards.
60* ArrowCatch: Odin in Myth/NorseMythology and Jiang Wei in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' can both do this.
61* AscendedFanboy: Back in 12th century Europe, a lot of knights JumpedAtTheCall of the Second Crusade. Why? They were raised on stories of the First Crusade.
62* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: One year after his uncle Feng has sent Amleth to England [[PleaseShootTheMessenger with the intent of having him killed]], Amleth is presumed dead and his obsequies are being held. Just the same day Amleth returns to the royal palace. Later the same night he executes vengeance on Feng (''Literature/GestaDanorum'').
63* AttractiveBentGender: "Prince Camaralzaman and Princess Badoura" in ''The Literature/ArabianNights''.
64* BehemothBattle: St. Brendan and his crew in ''Literature/TheVoyageOfStBrendan'' witness two sea-monsters as well as a two giant birds fight each other to the death. Both times a "good" monster sent by God defeats and kills a "bad" monster that had tried to harm the voyagers.
65* BerserkButton: Liu Bei in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''.
66* BewareOfHitchHikingGhosts: Mi Zhu picks up a hitchhiking [[spoiler:fire spirit]] in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''.
67* {{Bishonen}}: [[Literature/TheTaleOfGenji Prince Genji]].
68* BlackKnight: The two black knights from Myth/ArthurianLegend.
69* BladeBelowTheShoulder: In the Icelandic ''Saga of Egil One-Hand and Asmund the Berserkerslayer'', the young warrior Egil loses his right hand in combat, but later he earns the gratitude of a dwarf who heals his wound and then forges a special sword for him which can be fixed on Egil's arm stump. With this device Egil can fight as before, and in fact becomes a feared swordsman.
70* BladeSpam: Gunnar Hámundarson, one of the heroes of ''Literature/NjalsSaga'', "could deal blows so swiftly that three swords seemed to flash through the air at the same time."
71* BolivianArmyEnding: The game of TabletopGame/{{Chess}} ends when the king is surrounded with no chance of escape, but has not yet been killed or captured.
72* TheCallLeftAMessage: The Sword in the Stone and the Siege Perilous from the [[Myth/AruthrianLegend Arthurian legends]].
73* TheCaptivityNarrative: There was a particular brand of fiction in Medieval Europe wherein Christian travellers were captured by Muslim corsairs and imprisoned for lengthy periods, tortured and offered to convert to Islam, then [[InspirationalMartyr dying in the name of the faith]].
74* CatchAndReturn: Catching a spear from mid-flight and throwing it back is a feat mastered by various heroes of Literature/TheIcelandicSagas.
75* ChainOfDeals: The Japanese legend of the straw millionaire, a poor man who prayed to the goddess of mercy. She granted him a piece of straw, which he traded through his travels until he managed to win the heart of an heiress.
76* ChangelingTale: Supernatural beings enticing humans away into the Otherworld is a trope of Myth/IrishMythology, though this is not done from malice. The folk belief (common to most of Western Europe) that malicious supernatural beings outright kidnap people (especially babies) and substitute them with changelings is documented from the {{the Late Middle Ages}} onwards.
77* CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase: ''Literature/SirGawainAndTheGreenKnight'', 14th century.
78* ChessMotifs: Chaturanga existed by the 7th century CE.
79* ChivalricRomance: Hallmark of [[TheHighMiddleAges High Middle Ages]] literature.
80* ChromaticArrangement: Art/TheGhentAltarpiece, painted before 1432, demonstrates this trope in its depiction of God the Father, St. John the Baptist, and the Virgin Mary, demonstrably bringing it in ''just'' before the dividing line.
81* ColdIron: The traditional bane of TheFairFolk.
82* CoitusUninterruptus: The travel writer Ahmad Ibn Fadlān who visited the land of the Volga Bulghars in 921-22 CE says of slave traders from [[UsefulNotes/KievanRus the Rūs]] visiting the Bulghars that they frequently have sex with the girls they offer for sale, and if a customer happens to come into their quarters to buy slaves from a slaver who is just having intercourse, the man won't attend to his customer "until he has satisfied himself".
83* ContentWarnings: Chaucer uses them in "The Miller's Prologue" of the ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''.
84* CoolBoat: Myth/NorseMythology gives us Skíðblaðnir, ship of the god Freyr, made by [[Main/OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]]. It was a full-sized ship, big enough to carry the entire Norse pantheon, that you could fold up and store in your pocket when you were done. Also, whenever you opened the sail, a favorable wind for taking you where you wanted to go would spring up.
85* CorruptChurch: Medieval Western Europe allegedly got it bad enough to be commented on in several contemporary sources. The most notable of these is Dante, who puts several popes in Hell for corruption in the ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'', and the one pope we meet in the ''Purgatorio'' is also there for being too greedy before he repented. The same complaint is also what sparked the Protestant Reformation in the first place, which closely follows Gutenberg's invention of the Western printing press.
86* TheCorpseStopsHere: "The Story of the Hunchback" from the ''Literature/ArabianNights''.
87* CountryMatters: ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''
88%%* CourtroomEpisode: Elaborate law court scenes are found in many of the [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Sagas of Icelanders]].
89* CourtlyLove: A staple of ChivalricRomance.
90* DamselErrant: In [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian myths]], such as in the Forest of Arroy.
91* DangerousBackswing: Examples of fighters killing an attacker that stands behind them by swinging their weapons over their head occur in various [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Icelandic sagas]], such as ''Literature/NjalsSaga'', ''Literature/TheSagaOfThePeopleOfVatnsdal'', and ''Literature/{{Heimskringla}}''.
92* TheDeadCanDance: The ''danse macabre'' motif in art (first in 1425), and various morality plays.
93* DemonOfHumanOrigin: In the "Tale of Thorstein Shiver", an [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Icelandic short tale]] from the ''Book of Flatey'' (c. 1390 CE), the Christian Thorstein encounters an [[TheImp imp from Hell]] who introduces himself as a certain Thorkel the Thin, a warrior of the pagan times who died in the famous Battle of Bravellir.
94* DigitalPiracyIsEvil: The first known example of copyright law comes from a dispute between St. Finian and St. Columba over whether the latter had the right to freely copy the former's books, which was one of the causes of the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne.
95* DirectLineToTheAuthor: ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji'' and ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' both have this.
96* DirtyOldMonk: The Friar, Summoner, Pardoner, and Monk, all from ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''
97* DisposableWoman: ''Literature/VitaeSanctorumBritanniae'', before the 9th century. Also ''Shui Hu Zhuan,'' aka ''Literature/OutlawsOfTheMarsh'' or ''The Water Margin'' (mid-14th century).
98* DraconicHumanoid: A few [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Old Norse sagas]] (for example, "Literature/TheTaleOfStyrbjorn") mention a monster called ''finngalkn'', a gigantic creature with the head and shoulders of a man and the lower body of a dragon.
99* DragonAncestry: Emperor Jimmu, the mythical first Emperor of Japan in Myth/JapaneseMythology, was the grandson of Otohime, the daughter of the dragon god of the sea Ryujin.
100* DrawSwordDrawBlood: From Myth/NorseMythology, King Högni's dwarf-made sword Dáinsleif could not be sheathed until it had drawn blood or taken life. Another dwarf-forged sword, Tyrfing, was cursed so that it would kill a man every time it was drawn.
101* TheDulcineaEffect: Chivalric stories, such as the 12th-century tale of the Troubadour Jaufre Rudel.
102* DyingDealUpgrade: In ''Literature/GestaDanorum'' Sigurd, son of Ragnar Lodbrog, is mortally wounded in his first battle. Odin appears to him and offers to heal him if Sigurd in turn will dedicate all opponents he will defeat in his life to Odin. Sigurd accepts and is cured instantly.
103* TheEveryman: These were often the protagonists of medieval everyman plays.
104* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows (Rainbows as solid objects): In Myth/NorseMythology the rainbow is Bifrost, the bridge between Asgard and Midgard, a solid road on which the gods travel.
105* EvilDetectingDog: ''Literature/HistoriaRegumBritanniae'', in which Merlin uses magic to disguise Uther as Gorlois but a dog is not fooled.
106* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Kajebi fortress in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knight_in_the_Panther%27s_Skin ''The Knight in the Tiger's Skin'']] (12th century).
107* EyeBeams: The Fomor Balor from Myth/IrishMythology had a magic eye that could burn men "like leaves cast into a forge" (''Literature/TheBattleOfMaghTuireadh''). In the ''Literature/MatsyaPurana'', Shiva used his third eye to burn the love-god Kama to ash in wrath over being forced to fall in love with Parvati.
108* EyeObscuringHat: Odin from Myth/NorseMythology.
109* EyepatchOfPower: The god Odin in Myth/NorseMythology.
110* TheFairFolk: Ancient Myth/IrishMythology, bleeding through into British folk tales.
111* {{Fanfare}}: European practice heralding the arrival of a King.
112* FamilyEyeResemblance: In ''Literature/VolsungaSaga'', all the Volsungs have unusually bright, piercing eyes.
113* FantasticFoxes: Oral traditions in Europe and Asia.
114* FantasticReligiousWeirdness: In Islamic tradition, [[OurGeniesAreDifferent jinn]] follow religions like UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}, UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}.
115* FauxDeath: The [[Myth/CelticMythology Celtic]] precursor of "Sleeping Beauty".
116* FedToPigs: Amleth in ''Literature/GestaDanorum'' kills his uncle's spying courtier that tries to eavesdrop on Amleth's conversation with his mother, then cuts the body to pieces, boils it, and throws it into a sewer for pigs to eat.
117* FencePainting: The modus operandi of the West African trickster Anansi the Spider. It eventually backfires on him.
118* FeudingFamilies: Many [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Sagas of Icelanders]], such as ''Njáls saga'', ''Laxdæla saga'', and ''Literature/EyrbyggjaSaga''.
119* FleurDeLis: European heraldry.
120* FieryRedhead: [[Myth/NorseMythology Thor]], in spite of what later adaptations (and not just the Creator/MarvelComics one) would have you believe, was always described as red-haired and red-bearded. As for his temper, his description in ''The Eddas'' is:
121--> He was merry and blithe of spirit, but terrible in his wrath.
122* FirstContactFarmer: Kaguya in ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter'' is a princess of the moon who is found and raised by a lowly bamboo cutter until she decides to return to it after becoming an adult.
123* FlyingSaucer: A spaceship shaped like this is depicted in an illustration of ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter''.
124* FootsieUnderTheTable: In the Icelandic ''Saga of Bósi and Herraud'', Bósi initiates his one-night stand with a farmgirl of Bjarmaland by "touching her foot with his toe" at table, "and she did the same to him".
125* FoxChickenGrainPuzzle: The earliest recorded variation of this puzzle is found in ''Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes'', which dates to the late ninth century.
126* GenerationalSaga: Various [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Icelandic sagas]], such as ''Laxdæla saga'', ''Literature/EyrbyggjaSaga'', or ''Literature/VolsungaSaga'' (all 13th century).
127* GeneHunting: Máel Dúin, the hero of ''Literature/TheVoyageOfMaelDuin'', is the son of a nun and a noble who raped her, but is raised by a local king and queen as their own son. As a young adult, he learns that he is adopted, and insists on learning the truth about his birth parents. Eventually he leaves his adoptive parents to live with the family of his birth father (who has been killed by pirates years ago), and after a while makes it his mission to avenge his birth father.
128* GenieInABottle: Arabian myth and legend.
129* GentleGiant: Saint Christopher, post-CharacterDevelopment, in the ''Golden Legend'' c. 1260 CE.
130* GourmetPetFood: In ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'', the Prioress feeds her beloved dogs roast meat and fine bread with milk.
131* GreedyJew: Medieval European prejudice.
132* TheGrimReaper: The personification of Death as a skeletal figure with a scythe was common in the middle ages in Europe, starting in the 14th century.
133* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: The mobility limitations of the Advisors[=/=]Guards in TabletopGame/{{Xiangqi}} means they're often getting in each other's way.
134* HandCannon: The TropeNamer was a late 13th-century Chinese invention, the precursor to all modern handheld firearms; the earliest models were literally miniaturised handheld cannons, hence the name. (In some cases it was also already called a handgun, sometimes spelled "hand''gonne''".[[note]]What, you thought Creator/TerryPratchett invented [[Literature/MenAtArms that spelling]]?[[/note]]) It reached Europe around the early 14th century.
135* HammerSpace: Thunder-god Thor of Myth/NorseMythology could make his hammer shrink to an incredibly tiny size, and be pulled out of seemingly nowhere, and is both the first user and [[TropeNamer namer of this trope]].
136* HeadTurnedBackwards: In the ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'', fortune-tellers have to walk forwards with their heads on backwards, unable to see what is ahead, [[IronicHell because of their forbidden attempts to see the future in life]].
137* HoldingTheFloor: Scheherezade in ''Literature/ArabianNights'' dragged this on a ''long'' time.
138* HollywoodAtheist: Despite the name, this shows up at least as early as the Arabic ''[[Literature/HayyIbnYaqzan Hayy ibn Yaqzan]]'' of the 11th and 12th centuries.
139* HormoneAddledTeenager: Serious scholarship says this about the narrators of ''Decameron''.
140* ICallHimMisterHappy: "The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad" in ''Literature/ArabianNights''.
141* IKEAErotica: The gods Izanagi and Izanami, in the Myth/{{Japanese|Mythology}} creation myth.
142* IncrediblyConspicuousDrag: In the ''Literature/PoeticEdda'', the [[ManlyMan extremely manly]] god Thor [[ItMakesSenseInContext has to dress up as the beautiful goddess Freya in order to get his hammer back]]. Loki has to make many excuses to explain why "Freya" has an enormous appetite, is incredibly large, takes thunderous steps, and has a ''beard''.
143* InsubstantialIngredients: The sound of a cat's footfall is one of several impossible ingredients in the unbreakable ribbon [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleipnir Gleipnir]] in Myth/NorseMythology.
144* IronicNickname: Little John from the Myth/RobinHood legends (14th century)
145* KingInTheMountain: Myth/KingArthur in Cadbury Hill, Frederick Barbarossa in Kyffhäuser, King Wenceslas in Blaník, to only name a few.
146* {{Knighting}}: Medieval European practice.
147* KnightErrant: ChivalricRomance
148* KnightInShiningArmor: ChivalricRomance
149* TheLadysFavour: ChivalricRomance
150* LampshadeHanging: Dante's reaction to seeing so many Florentines he recognizes in Hell in ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''. The narrator of ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji'' concludes her glamorous description of Genji's awesomeness with the note that if she mentioned ''all'' the ways he was amazing, it would only look absurd.
151* LandOfFaerie: The Otherworld, inhabited by the Sidhe of Myth/IrishMythology.
152* LifeDeathJuxtaposition: The goddesses Hel and Idunna (goddesses of death and rejuvination respectively) from Myth/NorseMythology.
153* LineOfSightName: ''The Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', 1300s
154* LiteralAssKissing: "The Miller's Tale" in ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'', late 14th century
155* LoonWithAHeartOfGold: Many saints and blessed ones were extremely quirky, at least by today's standards (one can remember Frances of Assisi who talked to birds and animals, etc.)
156* MadEye: Cuchulain, [[Myth/CelticMythology Irish]] folk hero, sucks one eye all the way into his skull while the other pops right out when he gets into a rage.
157* MagicIsFeminine: In ancient Norse culture, men using magic were considered ''ergi'', or unmanly, for doing so and greatly scorned. This is even brought up by the magical trickster god Loki in ''Lokasenna'' where Loki openly mocked Odin, the king of the Norse gods, for being a magic-user after Odin mocked him for shapeshifting into a female and bearing children.
158* MagicKnight: The [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse god]] Odin.
159* MartialArtsStaff: Little John, ''Myth/RobinHood'', 14th century
160* MaskingTheDeformity: After the eponymous hero of ''Literature/TheSagaOfArrowOdd'' has [[TearOffYourFace torn off the face]] of his archenemy Ogmund, Ogmund adopts a new identity as Kvillanus and always wears a mask to hide his mutilated face. It is implied Ogmund's motive is not so much shame or vanity but that he does not want to be recognized because he knows that Odd is still seeking revenge on him.
161* Myth/{{Merlin}}: The "modern" incarnation of him began in this time period, along with the modern [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian mythos]].
162* MerlinAndNimue (a relationship between two magic-users): The pair from Myth/ArthurianLegend are the {{Trope Namer}}s and makers.
163* MetaphorIsMyMiddleName: ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', early 14th century
164* MineralMacGuffin: In ChivalricRomance, the magical jewel that shone of its own light is a stock magical item.
165* MoneySlap: In ''[[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Gisli's Saga]]'', Aud smashes the heavy purse with the silver money that Eyjolf offers her for betraying her husband Gisli into Eyjolf's face. In ''Literature/FridthjofsSaga'', Fridthjof, upon discovering that King Helgi has treacherously broken their peace agreement, slams a bag full of silver money he has collected for Helgi full-force into Helgi's face.
166* MonoNoAware: While the term was first used in Heian-era literature, it's [[TropeCodifier mostly known for]] its use by Motoori Norinaga [[OlderThanRadio in the 18th century]].
167* TheMourningAfter: The ChivalricRomance ''Floris and Blanchefleur''.
168* MurderInc: TheHashshashin, the original assassins, come from this period.
169* NameAndName: "Troilus and Criseyde", Creator/GeoffreyChaucer.
170* NaughtyNuns: ''Decameron'', c. 1350
171* {{Nerf}}: Generals in Xiangqi.
172* NiceToTheWaiter: In ''Literature/TheTaleOfGamelyn'', c. 1350.
173* OffOnATechnicality: When Njál's friends and relations sue the Burners of Njál and his household with the purpose of having them outlawed, the Burners succeed twice in invalidating a verdict disfavorable to them because their legal advisor has tricked the persecution into making technical errors: The first time the lawsuit was not instituted before the legally competent court, the second time the jury contained more than the allowed number of judges (''Literature/NjalsSaga'').
174* OnceUponATime: Per Webster's, started around 1380.
175* OneHitPointWonder: Pieces in Chaturanga.
176* OurGeniesAreDifferent: The varying portrayal of genies in the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' are often quite different from what the Western world expects of genies.
177* {{Outlaw}}: Outlawry was a common punishment in many ancient and medieval societies. In fiction, outlaws and their precarious situation are frequently represented in the Sagas of Icelanders (13th-14th century), where outlaws can play villainous, ambiguous or even heroic roles. Sympathetic outlaws are also the heroes of ''Literature/OutlawsOfTheMarsh''.
178* PopGoesTheHuman: There's a Celtic yarn about a boy who is mad at his brother for being a glutton, and makes a ChainOfDeals so he can hang him. When he finally gets the materials to build a gibbet, he returns home to discover that his brother burst.
179* PrivatelyOwnedSociety: RealLife Gaelic Ireland, between 650 and 1650, and the Icelandic Commonwealth, between 930 and 1262.
180* ThePromise: In the ChivalricRomance ''Sir Orfeo''.
181* ProxyWar: The 6th century conflict between the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire and its chief rival the Sassanid (Persian) Empire saw one of these play out over Yemen, with both powers sending rival missionaries to convert the Yemenis and gain their allegiance. The Romans supported efforts by their East African ally Axum to convert Yemen to UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity,[[note]]Which had not at this point fully split into the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox branches[[/note]] while the Sasanids encouraged the spread of UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} (not because they were Jewish--they were actually [[UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} Zoroastrians]]--but because they had a strategic alliance with the Jewish leadership to oppose Christian/Roman power and there was a longstanding Jewish community in Yemen). When the Sassanids succeeded, the Romans got Axum to invade and conquer Yemen.
182* RandomEventsPlot: ''Literature/ApolloniusOfTyre'', a ChivalricRomance.
183* RageAgainstTheReflection: In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' Xiahou Dun, after getting his EyepatchOfPower, is said to have a "wanting to break things" expression on his face whenever he got near a mirror.
184* RealEventFictionalCause: In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', one saint on Venus attributes the creation of Florence to the Devil.
185* RediscoveringRootsTrip: According to ''Literature/{{Heimskringla}}'', King Sveigdir, the fourth successor of Odin as ruler of Sweden, went looking for Godheim (the "land of the Gods") from whence his ancestors came to Sweden four generations earlier. He spends five years in Asgard and Vanaheim and there "met many of his relatives".
186* ReforgedBlade: The TropeMaker is the Icelandic ''Literature/SagaOfTheVolsungs'': When no other blade meets his requirements, the hero Sigurd makes the dwarf Regin forge the pieces of his father's sword into a new weapon of superior quality.
187* RevealingReflection: Thorkel Eyjolfsson in ''Literature/TheSagaOfThePeopleOfLaxardal'' attempts to sneak up on the outlaw Grim with a drawn sword while the latter is fishing at the brink of a lake. At the last moment, Grim sees Thorkel's reflection in the water und manages to fight off Thorkel.
188* RobeAndWizardHat: The [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse god]] Odin invented it.
189* RollInTheHay: A popular pastime for couples on the countryside.
190* RumpRoast: In ''[[Literature/TheCanterburyTales The Miller's Tale]]''
191* SandIsWater: According to ''Mandeville's Travels'' (14th century), there is a "Sea of Sand" in India which consists of sand that flows like water, and which even has fish that are "different from other fishes" but still edible.
192* SandNecktie: Domenico I Contarini, doge of Venice, captured the patriarch of Aquileia, Poppo of Treffenand, in 1045, and let him be buried up to his neck, and left guards to watch over him until he died.
193* SapientShip: In ''Literature/FridthjofsSaga'', Fridthjof's ship Ellidi is enchanted "so that she had learned to understand human speech", and one time Fridthjof's life is saved in a sea-storm because the ship seemingly reacts to his call.
194* SassyBlackWoman: Brunhild the Moor in ''[[Literature/DieMorin Die Mörin]]'' by Hermann von Sachsenheim, 1453
195* SecretIdentity: The protagonist of the ChivalricRomance ''Literature/RoswallAndLillian''.
196* SecretStabWound: In one Myth/{{Arthurian|Legend}} story, Sir Gareth inflicted one of these on a BlackKnight in a joust; said knight abruptly fell dead during the ensuing swordfight.
197* SelfInsertFic: Dante's ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''
198* ShapeshiftingLover: Myth/{{Japanese|Mythology}} kitsune and tanuki, [[Myth/CelticMythology Irish]] selkies, European swan maidens, and others.
199* ShapeShifterShowdown: The [[Myth/CelticMythology Welsh myth]] of Cerridwen and Taliesin. The Tale of the Kalandar Prince in The ''Literature/ArabianNights''.
200* ShapeshiftingSquick: Foxes in Myth/{{Japanese|Mythology}} folklore who seduced men, then turned back into foxes after a one night stand.
201* ShortLivedBigImpact: ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' were never finished yet have influenced all of Western literature.
202* ShutUpKirk: In the ''Literature/ChansonDeRoland'', Charlemagne calls on the Pagan leader Baligant to repent and be baptized, and then the Emperor his "first friend will be." Baligant tells him, "Your sermon's but ill preached." Of course, the medieval belief that being non-Christian necessarily makes Baligant the villian of the piece hits modern ValuesDissonance.
203* SideEffectsInclude: The 6th-century Chinese medical text ''Records of the Rock Chamber'' list the following side effects for an alleged elixir of immortality, and [[RefugeInAudacity suggests that this means the elixir is working]]:
204---> After taking an elixir, if your face and body itch as though insects were crawling over them, if your hands and feet swell dropsically, if you cannot stand the smell of food and bring it up after you have eaten it, if you feel as though you were going to be sick most of the time, if you experience weakness in the four limbs, if you have to go often to the latrine, or if your head or stomach violently ache—do not be alarmed or disturbed. All these effects are merely proofs that the elixir you are taking is successfully dispelling your latent disorders.
205** One problem: As any modern toxicologist would tell you, these are classic signs and symptoms of acute mercury poisoning--and indeed, cinnabar (mercury (II) sulfide) is a primary ingredient in most Chinese "elixirs of immortality" of the era.
206* SingleTear: In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', "Purgatory" part, Dante meets a soldier who was spared damnation because he wept a single tear of repentance in his dying moments. Aslaug in ''[[Literature/RagnarLodbrokAndHisSons Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok]]'' weeps a single tear of blood over the death of her stepsons.
207* SituationalHandSwitch: When the eponymous hero of ''Literature/{{Waltharius}}'' gets his right hand cut off in combat, he draws his backup sword with his left hand and fights the battle to a draw.
208* SkyPirates: Agobard of Lyon's "On Hail and Thunder", written around 815 CE, is centered around debunking the common belief that larcenous sailors from the cloud realm of Magonia would come on flying ships to steal crops damaged by storms.
209* SlasherSmile: Skarp-Héðinn Njálsson in [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas the Icelandic]] ''Brennu-Njáls Saga''. Loki in Myth/NorseMythology.
210* SnakePit: In Myth/NorseMythology, Gunnar the Niflung as well as Ragnar Lothbrok are executed in this way.
211* SneakySpider: Anansi of Akan oral tradition is a spider-trickster figure.
212* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: In ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'', in the order in which he fights the three monsters.
213* SpoiledSweet: Kaguya-hime, the Shining Princess from ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter''.
214* StandardFantasySetting: The setting of most of Myth/NorseMythology, most notably ''The Eddas''. Long before the modern {{fantasy}} genre took shape, Norse Mythology envisioned a world where rugged warriors lived alongside semi-human elves, dwarves, and giants, questing for treasure and doing battle with monsters. Much of the standard vocabulary of fantasy is even ripped directly from the tales of the Norsemen, with terms like "Elf" and "Dwarf" derived from the Old Norse ''"Alfar"'' and ''"Dvergr"''; even [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings "Middle Earth"]] is a literal English translation of the Old Norse ''"Midgard"''. In short: the StandardFantasySetting was the Standard Norse Setting before the fantasy genre existed.
215* StarvingStudent: The Clerk of Oxford from ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''.
216* StrangeSalute: In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', some demons salute each other by ''farting''.
217* StylisticSuck: The tale of Sir Thopas in ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''.
218* SuicideAsComedy: The family of insane hillbillies in ''Literature/GautreksSaga'' is so shaken by trivial or imaginary mishaps that all except one daughter decide to "go to Odin" by jumping from a high rock called the 'Family Cliff'.
219* SuicideAttack: TheHashshashin, the original assassins.
220* TalkingWeapon: ''Literature/TheBattleOfMaghTuireadh'' from Myth/IrishMythology mentions Oghma's talking sword Orna, formerly owned by the Fomor king Tethra, which, when taken out of its sheath, tells every deed that has been done with it.
221* TearOffYourFace: In ''Literature/TheSagaOfArrowOdd'', the half-troll Ogmund tries to get away from Odd by sinking into the earth (as trolls can). Odd gets hold of Ogmund's beard and rips "off the whole beard with the skin underneath right down the bone, including the entire face and both cheeks".
222* TearsOfBlood: A common trope in Heian era Japanese literature, for example ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji''. Also shed by Kriemhild for her husband Siegfried in ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'', and by Aslaug for her stepsons in ''Literature/TheSagaOfRagnarLodbrok''.
223* TheNewRockAndRoll: In the 12th century, the Church denied all sacraments, including last rites, to all minstrels and street performers, effectively damning them all to Hell. The reason? Supposedly, what they did was unproductive and seduced people away from a "proper" Christian life. During the Middle Ages, musicians were seen as corruptors of youth who presumably learned their skills in Hell.
224* ThievingMagpie: ''The Arabian Nights'' story "the Stolen Necklace".
225* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, the poetic form of ''Hijaa[='=]'', although called satire by more polite historians, is actually a kind of insult poetry directed at an enemy, explaining all the reasons why he was an awful, terrible, dishonorable, no-good human being. Like satire, ''Hijaa[='=]'' is supposed to be funny to the general audience, but it was mostly supposed to be read or heard by its target, who would be gravely insulted. Essentially the world's first diss tracks.
226* ThirdEye: The Hindu ''Literature/MatsyaPurana'' tells of the fear of the gods when Shiva mourned unceasingly for his dead wife Sati, because a prophecy stated that a new son of Shiva was needed to save the gods from a coming catastrophe. Kama, god of love, shot Shiva to make him fall in love with Parvati, so Shiva grew a third eye and burnt him to a crisp with EyeBeams.
227* ThrowingOffTheDisability: Thórhall Ásgrimsson of ''Literature/NjalsSaga'' is so infuriated that the Burners of Njál and his household have evaded a sentence of outlawry by exploiting a technicality that he drives a spear through the boil on his foot which made him walk with a cane, then storms off without a cane and without limping and kills the first man of the Burners he meets.
228* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: From [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse heroic legend]]: When the hero Sigurd is stabbed in his sleep, he throws his sword after the fleeing murderer that cuts him clean in two. The incident is related identically in the ''Literature/ProseEdda'', ''Literature/PoeticEdda'' and ''Literature/VolsungaSaga''.
229* TradingBarsForStripes: One of the earliest known examples comes from the Ottoman Empire in RealLife. The bashi-bazouk were a type of irregular soldier dating back to the 1300s who were recruited from criminals, vagrants, and the homeless. Instead of being salaried, their pay consisted solely of whatever they could steal.
230* TranslationWithAnAgenda: Many translations of ''Literature/TheBible'' are accused of this.
231* TrickTakingCardGame: Records of such games existing in China date back to the early second millenium.
232* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Some variants of Percival, from Myth/ArthurianLegend.
233* UnableToCry: In the "First Lay of Gudrun" of the ''Literature/PoeticEdda'', Gudrun does not weep over her murdered husband Sigurd. Several women attempt to console her by relating her own sad stories, but fail to get a reaction. Only when Gudrun's sister uncovers the dead Sigurd's face does Gudrun weep.
234* UptownGirl: [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Prince Justinian I]] married Theodora, a low-class actress/prostitute. As emperor he actually [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem abolished the laws prohibiting their marriage.]]
235* {{Valkyries}}: May have dated from earlier, but the age of Vikings was in full-swing during this period, and most Myth/NorseMythology was codified and recorded during this period.
236* VikingFuneral: The first instances are the funerals of King Scyld Scefing of Denmark in ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' (no fire), of the god Baldur in ''Literature/SnorraEdda'' (fire), and of King Haki of Sweden in ''Literature/{{Heimskringla}}'' (fire. Probably neither variant represents real-life burial customs).
237* VillainousBreakdown: In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Zhou Yu is completely unhinged by the failure of his last plan against Zhuge Liang. Zhou Yu's rage causes a wound to reopen and he sickens and dies shortly thereafter.
238* WackyFratboyHijinks: The first recognizable Western universities were founded in the High Middle Ages, as far back as the 11th–13th centuries... and already students were being condemned for drunkenness, getting into violent brawls, and engaging in all sorts of mistreatment of women, up to and including rape. It was worse in some ways because medieval university students in those days were younger on average than their modern descendants.
239* WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: ''Literature/TheSagaOfHrolfKraki'' has Queen Olof of Saxony bearing a baby daughter after being raped. She names the girl Yrsa after one of her dogs and has her raised as a serf.
240* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: In the framing story of the ''Literature/ArabianNights'', as well as within more than one tale. The women in question are Persian, but the dynamic with black male slaves is the same.
241* WhoNeedsTheirWholeBody: In the Arthurian story of ''Literature/SirGawainAndTheGreenKnight'', the Green Knight gets beheaded and then calmly talks and walks while carrying his head.
242* WifeHusbandry: Hikaru Genji does this with/to Murasaki in ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji''. King Conchobar of Ulster tries to do this with Deirdre in ''Literature/TheExileOfTheSonsOfUisnech'', but it doesn't work.
243* TheWildHunt: Unequivocal instances of this trope date to this era, the oldest probably found in the ''Literature/BhagavataPurana'' of Hindu literature (9th or 10th century), where mention is made of a travelling army of ghosts, headed by Shiva. For Europe, this supernatural phenomenon is probably first described by the chronicler Ordericus Vitalis in the 1130s.[[note]]The "Wild Hunt" myth is also often connected to the army of the ''Harii'' described by Tacitus in ''Germania'' (c. 100 AD). The ''Harii'' supposedly attack at night, with their bodies painted black, thus willfully spreading fear. However, Tacitus says they are a real, living tribe.[[/note]]
244* WilliamTelling: The earliest instance is that of Palnatoki or Toko, recorded in the 12th century in Saxo Grammaticus' ''Literature/DanishHistory''. William Tell, in contrast, is first described performing the feat in the 15th century in the ''Literature/WhiteBookOfSarnen''.
245* {{Wishplosion}}: In the original ''Literature/ArabianNights'' a man's wife gets rid of an evil genie by wishing he would straighten out a single hair. (In today's age of salons, this wouldn't work.)
246* AWizardDidIt: The Man of Law's Tale from ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''. Constance was alone on a ship, adrift at sea, for years. Why didn't the ship sink? Why didn't she run out of food or fresh water? Conclusion: Jesus did it.
247* WorldOfFunnyAnimals: ''Literature/ReynardTheFox'' features both anthropomorphic animals as well as plenty of stuff that would not be out of place in an actual city such as houses, churches and an actual court. Although the story is not funny in the slightest.
248* YouAllMeetInAnInn: The pilgrims in ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'', and Liu Bei and his (future) sworn brothers in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''.
249* YouCannotKillAnIdea: Quoth [[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]] in the ''Literature/PoeticEdda'' (more specifically, in the poem ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1vam%C3%A1l Hávamál]]''): "Cattle die, kinsmen die, you yourself will also die; but the fair fame never dies of him who has earned it."
250* YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb: In ''Beowulf'', the eponymous hero describes his and his cousin's swimming across the sea as something they did when they were young and prideful.
251[[/index]]

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