RenFaire Fiction — When the Author Doesn’t Care, and That’s Why It’s Fun

Photo by Kayla Koss on Unsplash

I have a phrase I use, and that is a “RenFaire” movie or, less commonly a “RenFaire” book.

I thought I would explain this and go into the phenomenon and hey, maybe it will take off as a term.

Think About Renaissance Faires

The American Renaissance Faire (Ren) is a fascinating and honestly marvelous cultural concept. People dress up and go watch jousting, plays, and exist in this peculiar, anachronistic, liminal pseudo-Medieval space.

I haven’t made it to the ren in a while, but I enjoy the ren. The thing is, though, you expect it to be anachronistic.

You don’t go to the ren to learn about history. You go to be entertained. It’s entirely authentic in its inauthenticity. I mean, at the Minnesota Ren, there were pens full of tortoises. Which is entirely in the spirit of a Medieval fair, but unlikely to get anywhere close to the letter.

So, you might be starting to get an idea of what I mean by “RenFaire” fiction.

It’s When the Writers Don’t Care But It’s Still Fun

I encounter RenFaire movies more than I do books. They feature things like, oh, random shots of asphalt roads. Garb from different…