# What was the most anachronistic thing you've seen in a fictional work that wasn't intentional or an accident? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2021, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956 "2021-11-08T03:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/201 "2021-11-17T22:23:02Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I knew ancient Greek was old, but 1,000,000 years old? Wow! It’s not even really Ancient Greek though, is it? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/202 "2021-11-17T23:59:08Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yeah- IIRC the _Kelly’s Heroes/Saving Private Ryan_ “Tiger” still had the T-34 Christie suspension, not the overlapping road wheels of the Tigers. But unless you’re actually looking at the running gear of the tank, it’s not particularly obvious. > > At any rate, a mocked-up T-34 is worlds better than just putting a Balkenkreuz on the tank and calling it a King Tiger. The Soviet movie _ **Liberation: The Fiery Arc** _ (1970), about the Battle of Kursk (the largest tank battle in history), did justice to its subject. All of the German tanks shown in closeups and longer shots where they were the focus of attention were convincing mockups. If you watched the edges of the screen, however, you could see most of the tanks moving in the distance were modern T-62s that hadn’t even been repainted. (And there must have been _hundreds_, if not thousands, of them.) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/203 "2021-11-18T02:56:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@MrDibble](#): > > > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > > > Great kilts are period > > > > No, they’re not. > > According to [this site](https://www.authenticvacations.com/top-ten-secrets-about-kilts/#:~:text=The%20first%20mention%20of%20kilts,the%20early%2018th%20century.): > > > The first mention of kilts is in 1538. They were worn as full-length garments by Gaelic-speaking Scots Highlander men. The knee-length kilt that we see today didn’t come around until the early 18th century. > > Wallace died in 1305. Not to mention that when belted plaids did come in to use, as pointed out they were worn by Gaelic-speaking Highlanders, a completely separate ethno-linguistic group from Wallace and his Scots-speaking Lowlanders. Wallace probably thought of Highlanders the way 19th c. Western settlers thought of Plains tribes - as dangerous, thieving “savages”. Between the belted plaids, the woad face-paint, and the lack of mail, _Braveheart_ is an ungodly stew of anachronisms. Imagine an Italian director decided to make a biopic of George Washington, and had him leading the Continental Army dressed in buckskin chaps, cowboy boots, and a wide kerchief, then topped it off with a Greek hoplite helmet; that’s about as ahistorical as _Braveheart_’s costuming is. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/204 "2021-11-18T03:04:15Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Between the belted plaids, the woad face-paint, and the lack of mail, _Braveheart_ is an ungodly stew of anachronisms. Imagine an Italian director decided to make a biopic of George Washington, and had him leading the Continental Army dressed in buckskin chaps, cowboy boots, and a wide kerchief, then topped it off with a Greek hoplite helmet; that’s about as ahistorical as _Braveheart_ ’s costuming is. Relevant Perry Bible Fellowship comic; [![](https://pbfcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PBF209-Now_Showing.jpg) ](https://pbfcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PBF209-Now_Showing.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/205 "2021-11-18T03:16:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > Between the belted plaids, the woad face-paint, and the lack of mail, _Braveheart_ is an ungodly stew of anachronisms. Imagine an Italian director decided to make a biopic of George Washington, and had him leading the Continental Army dressed in buckskin chaps, cowboy boots, and a wide kerchief, then topped it off with a Greek hoplite helmet; that’s about as ahistorical as _Braveheart_ ’s costuming is. > > Relevant Perry Bible Fellowship comic; > > [https://pbfcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PBF209-Now\_Showing.jpg](https://pbfcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PBF209-Now_Showing.jpg) Yep, that’s about as accurate as _Braveheart_. Bernadette Banner, a costume historian with a popular YouTube channel, got very exercised over _Outlander_’s Claire Fraser, who doesn’t wear stays and has a pair of zippered boots, in 18th c. North Carolina. But there is an in-universe explanation for both - Claire is a time-traveler from the 20th c. who brought the boots with her, and simply refuses to wear stays or corsets. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/206 "2021-11-18T08:15:34Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Yep, that’s about as accurate as _Braveheart_. The swastika is backwards! 😠 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/207 "2021-11-18T09:31:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Something I’ve seen more than once is the appearance of floating balloons in movies supposedly set in the Renaissance or the Middle Ages. Floating _rubber_ balloons, I’ll grant you. Floating paper balloons, though - perfectly period. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/208 "2021-11-18T10:08:56Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Between the belted plaids, the woad face-paint, and the lack of mail, _Braveheart_ is an ungodly stew of anachronisms. Imagine an Italian director decided to make a biopic of George Washington, and had him leading the Continental Army dressed in buckskin chaps, cowboy boots, and a wide kerchief, then topped it off with a Greek hoplite helmet; that’s about as ahistorical as _Braveheart_ ’s costuming is. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the film, but I seem to remember the _English_ wearing fairly accurate armor, with plenty of mail, as well as coats of plates and other “transitional” armor typical to the period. It was just the Scots who were turned into Ewoks. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/209 "2021-11-18T12:29:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I knew ancient Greek was old, but 1,000,000 years old? Wow! Yer bein’ facetious, I know, but _Archelon_ isn’t ancient Greek. It’s a modern synthetic scientific name constructed from Greek words in 1895 by Paleontologist George Reber to name the new giant turtle fossil from the late Cretaceous that he’d discovered in South Dakota, _Archelon ischyros_. and, yeah, the specimen found was only about 12 feet long – big, but nowhere near as big as the creature in the movie was. [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archelon#/media/File:Archelon_skeleton.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archelon#/media/File:Archelon_skeleton.jpg) [http://kaiju.wikidot.com/wiki:archelon](http://kaiju.wikidot.com/wiki:archelon) > **[One Million Years B.C. (1966)](https://californiaherps.com/films/turtlefilms/OneMillionYearsBC.html)** > > Reptiles, Amphibians, Snakes, Lizards, Turtles, Frogs, Salamanders in Movies ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/210 "2021-11-18T14:32:27Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Bernadette Banner, a costume historian with a popular YouTube channel, got very exercised over _Outlander_ ’s Claire Fraser, who doesn’t wear stays and has a pair of zippered boots, in 18th c. North Carolina. But there is an in-universe explanation for both That reminds me that Lois Bujold reported people complaining about American plants and animals (for example, one character had a raccoon as a pet) in her Sharing Knife books. The complainers expected it was a fantasy based on European mythology, as so many other fantasty stories are.\* But it was actually based on an American Indian myth, so wasn’t wrong at all. \*The archtypical European fantasy, LotR, has a couple mistakes of that sort, the major one being smoking pipeweed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/211 "2021-11-18T14:42:27Z")
Not to mention that if you pay attention to the geography in The Sharing Knife it’s very clear it’s North America, although a somewhat altered one (all the Great Lakes seem merged into one). ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/212 "2021-11-18T14:49:32Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > \*The archtypical European fantasy, LotR, has a couple mistakes of that sort, the major one being smoking pipeweed. It wouldn’t surprise me if the term “pipeweed” originally encompassed herbs. Euell Gibbons wrote of smoking coltsfoot and a herbal mixture from England. Apparently it’s still a thing: > **[Herbal Smoking Blends: A Brief DIY Guide to a Ritualistic Smoking Experience -...](https://www.amazon.com/Herbal-Smoking-Blends-Ritualistic-Experience-ebook/dp/B0818FKS2H)** > > Herbal Smoking Blends: A Brief DIY Guide to a Ritualistic Smoking Experience - Kindle edition by Baumberger, Jesse. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting... ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/213 "2021-11-18T14:53:13Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > It wouldn’t surprise me if the term “pipeweed” originally encompassed herbs. Fannish retcon. Tolkien was a pipe smoker. There’s no question what that pipeweed was meant to be. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/214 "2021-11-18T14:57:27Z")
Hmm, was I surprised to find the origin of the term: [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pipeweed](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pipeweed) But I see that Lord of the Rings fans have taken this to an entirely new level: > **[Pipe-weed](https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Pipe-weed)** > > Pipe-weed was a plant of Middle-earth, in particular grown and enjoyed much by the hobbits of the Shire, to whom it was first introduced by Tobold Hornblower. It was first grown in the Shire by Tobold Hornblower in Longbottom around SR 1070... ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/215 "2021-11-18T15:01:49Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > But I see that Lord of the Rings fans have taken this to an entirely new level: Of course, they have. There’s no end to the amount of fanwank LotR fans crank out. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/216 "2021-11-18T15:11:56Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The archtypical European fantasy, LotR, has a couple mistakes of that sort, the major one being smoking pipeweed. Not to mention eating “taters”. And the Wizards, at least, are savvy enough to know how to make black powder and that white light consists of multiple colors. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/217 "2021-11-18T15:19:40Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > That reminds me that Lois Bujold reported people complaining about American plants and animals (for example, one character had a raccoon as a pet) in her Sharing Knife books. The complainers expected it was a fantasy based on European mythology, as so many other fantasty stories are.\* But it was actually based on an American Indian myth, so wasn’t wrong at all. One thing I liked about the Song of Ice and Fire is that Westeros was clearly North America, with turkeys, corn, pumpkins, bison, alligators, mountain lions and sasquatch. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/218 "2021-11-18T16:05:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > The archtypical European fantasy, LotR, has a couple mistakes of that sort, the major one being smoking pipeweed. > > Not to mention eating “taters”. Yes, that was the other one. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > And the Wizards, at least, are savvy enough to know how to make black powder and that white light consists of multiple colors. Those fireworks are magic. No need for mundane explanations. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/219 "2021-11-18T16:16:41Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > all the Great Lakes seem merged into one They actually are one unified system. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956/220 "2021-11-18T16:28:54Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Those fireworks are magic. No need for mundane explanations. It’s consistent, though, with the bomb that Saruman’s orcs use to blow up the wall at Helm’s Deep. The incident is in the Tolkien book, but it’s also depicted in the Peter Jackson movie. In the extended edition, Saruman grabs Wormtongue’s hand when he’s playing with a glass flask full of a black powder near a flame while they talk about strategies. The implication is that the flask contains explosive that the orcs are later shown using. It was evident to both Jackson and to me that Tolkien intended the Wizards to have gunpowder technology. I’ve never interpreted Gandalf’s fireworks in any other sense – as described by Tolkien, they look and act like fireworks, not like magical devices (like his perpetual flashlight staff that they use to navigate Moria) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-anachronistic-thing-youve-seen-in-a-fictional-work-that-wasnt-intentional-or-an-accident/953956.md?page=12)