Obscure words to use in fantasy

[RangerWickett]

Does anyone know if there's a dictionary of terms that might crop up in fantasy stories (and games), stuff that is often defunct in the modern day?

Did anyone here have those books when you were a kid that explained how cathedrals and castles were built, and they explained what's a rostrum, a clerestory, a flying buttress, and so on?

I'd love a book with sections on different topics. Like, what's the name for the little round piece of armor that protects the armpit if you're wearing plate? What are some terms that would have been used in blacksmithing? Silversmithing? Bronzesmithing?

Or like, if you go to a joust, and the VIPs are sitting on one side on a raised platform with comfy seats, is there a name for that spot?

Anyone got any suggestions for something like that?

 

[Ryujin]

For things armour related you could cruise through the descriptions on the website of The Wallace Collection or pick up one of the several books on the subject by their Curator of Arms and Armour, Tobias (Toby) Capwell. I have his book "Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour in the Wallace Collection."

For just plain odd old expressions from English you could use the Website Grandiloquent Word of the Day.

 

[Monte At Home]

The Words Museum by Jeffrey Kacirk
Lost Beauties of the English Language by Charles Mackay
Poplollies and Bellibones by Susan Kelz Sperling
Rare Words and Ways to Master Their Meanings by Jan Leighton and Hallie Leighton

That's a good start, anyway.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The Grandiloquent Word of the Day is here for you.