The Realms of Legend

A dream made real

The worlds largest and most complete medieval and fantasy recreation facility

Opening in 2007

By Robert Waldbauer

The Realms of Legend -- a medieval & heroic fantasy theme park; that is the short version. James Anderson, CEO and creator of the facility, calls it a "themed eco-village and resort park with historic and fantasy sections." Even that does not aptly describe the full scope of the facility. One scholar describes the concept as an “immersive learning facility”; while a writer of fantasy literature calls it “both history and fantasy come to life.” It is hard to put a single name to this project because there is nothing out there even remotely like it. Years of meticulous & broad research and inspiration have come together to create the unique idea whose time has come. It is not the fact that these are new and innovative ideas but rather old ideas integrated into something original. Because of that, it does not yet have a fully comprehensive name. Until a new term is chanced upon or coined to describe this project exactly, it is better to describe exactly what is included in this visionary facility. For now, we will call it a park. What matters most is that this facility will provide an experience that is vibrant, healthy, immersive and engaging fun and as educational and stimulating or as simple and relaxing as you like with numerous activities and options for all age ranges and interests.

Let us start with the medieval premise. The primary foundation of the park is to build a 15th century Welsh inspired castle and town where people both live and work while re-enacting life in the Middle Ages. Imagine coming around a bend in the road after passing by fields being ploughed with oxen, nearby cosy thatch-roofed farmhouses nestled into the landscape, to come upon the startling view of a huge stone castle with a grand central keep sitting picturesquely in the middle of an island in a huge lake. Adjacent to the castle is a square-walled town with the roof peaks rising up above the walls like a novel take on such arrangements as Carcasonne. That image is just the core of the project. What sets this idea apart from others and contributes to its uniqueness is that it has an actual working medieval economy that completely supports and sustains itself while remaining ecologically viable. Try to imagine the many industries that an actual medieval village would have had in and all around it to keep it functioning. It would have farms, grain mills and fishponds, smithies, sawmills, guildhalls, merchants of all sorts, inns, taverns, a monastery, a church, universities and all of the various other institutions of the era. Medieval industrial and craft pursuits will be everywhere for park visitors to immerse themselves in.

Whether they want to try their hand at blacksmithing, weaving, spinning thread, dipping candles, or creating stained glass, or simply purchasing items made on site by the professional artisans, the public is drawn into the world of the past. The medieval atmosphere goes far beyond the hands-on and purchasing aspects. Events such as faire and feast days, jousting tourneys, plays and other entertainments abound. The great appeal of the park is the ever-changing entertainment. Special events will be held daily in all parts of the park. The past jumps from the dry pages of a history book to full colour and action before your eyes.

To anyone who has gone to a renaissance faire and felt that they wished it could be just a bit more realistic, the people a little more believable, the architecture as exact as it could be--then these things are what they will find here. The main facility will be as purely authentic to the times as possible in every detail without violating any health laws and federal regulations. After all, no one really wants to see the return of the plague. In other words, this park is the first of its kind to be an educational entertainment asset as well as more general asset to the surrounding community and the environment.

Another major goal of The Realms of Legend is historic and environmental education. This does not mean sitting people in front of a chalkboard with a textbook in their laps. This means hands-on exploration, vivid articulate explanations, and plain wonderment at the pervading beauty and elegant simplicity of this very detailed and immersive world. The idea is to have fun and engaging experiences that happen to educate as well. There is direct interaction with the past in the form of apprenticeships, one-on-one tutorials, and instructional classes with master experts in their fields, all in a setting that is sure to enthuse and excite while demonstrating the comfort and vitality of a pre-industrial, environmentally friendly lifestyle. Such an experience will aid in educating people to the possibility for such things in their normal lives. One of the aims of the parks is to show the an alternative lifestyle where people are not ruled by the credit card and the need to always have more material goods but to appreciate voluntary simplicity. The facility helps people learn on the individual sphere but it also goes towards changing how people think and act and corporations are internally arranged in order to teach that the future of business lies in sustainability and new workable practices that are beneficial to the environment. In this pursuit, the facility is designed as a prototype ecological village.

Of course, the environmentally friendly practices extend far beyond the community site and even beyond the park itself to the surrounding region. The CEO has designed and is patenting many of the ecologically beneficial infrastructure systems. Included in the design are grey water systems to recapture nutrients from the organic wastes and water systems, using a hybrid methane system, which will then be used for the organic farms and land reclamation projects located within the confines of the park. The methane tanks are a system of converting organic and biodegradable materials into a usable form of energy, rich fertilizer and organically loaded water. The park will supply most of its own food from the organic farms and orchards to be used by the various restaurant facilities and to feed the park employees as well. Authentic farming is combined with modern farming. Park employees will use the best modern and historic options to produce crops and products.

Along with a very strong environmental stance, the CEO has a strong commitment to better health for people in general. The park will be supplied with top quality chefs that create very healthy dishes from organic produce, high in flavour and healing properties, low in fat. While most restaurants have a 30% food loss, which in most cases goes into the trash, here the waste goes directly into the methane systems to break down and create fertilizer and energy for the park. In addition, biodegradable food related items would be used throughout the facility, making it economically viable for companies to package their products in an environmentally friendly fashion, utilizing materials that can be used in the reclamation tanks to continue the process of methane generation and the production of organic fertilizer.

Among the other employee benefits, they will have the option of living on site, either in private modern residential facilities disguised to fit within the ambience of the park, or in a separate themed living community away from the prying eyes of the public. The benefits extend to the outside population as well. Benefits to any existing local community near the park will include watershed improvement, many employment options, on the job training, human intensive agriculture and operation, less machine pollution and hundreds of new jobs. Instead of the hum of power machinery echoing through the air, hand tools of the period will be substituted, insuring that overhead, maintenance and other costs remain low. Overall, every section of the park will not only engage the sense of history and wonder, but will do so in a people oriented, safe and ecological manner.

Above all will be the pure pleasure of the site. That is not only expressed in the historical side of things but also in the fantasy side. Among the re-enacting communities, there has long been a rivalry between those who wish to do things from the purely authentic point of view and those who wish to add the element of fantasy into the mix. This facility will provide the ultimate outlet for both. Based on the premise of “the mythical lands to the West, “the fantasy section of the park will be placed to the West of the main facility, hidden from view from the historic sections.

Surrounded by an artificial mountain and protective valley, the fantasy section will contain all the elements of a good fantasy novel. Included in the design is an Elfish tree village, a mermaid lagoon, Dwarven mines, a dragon's mountain lair, goblin infested ruins, an evil wizard’s tower and dungeon and much more than there is space to mention in this article. Each race will be complete in its individuality and economy. All parts of the fantasy world will be interactive as a community. Every fantasy group will have their own economy and relations with the others. Visitors will be able to buy an Elfish blade in the village and next take a wild mining cart ride underground in the Dwarven mines. Entertainment rides similar to those found in other theme parks will be in the fantasy section, each fully integrated with the atmosphere of the place. This does not mean that there will be anything like a roller coaster with a dragon’s head painted on the front and called a fantasy ride--each amusement will blend harmoniously with the fantasy world around it. Aside from the integral rides and amusements, the entire area is to be riddled with paths, both above and below ground, with secret hidey-holes and mysterious places to discover around every corner. Fairies will cavort teasingly on the edge of your vision: hidden trolls might be behind any rock; will-o-wisps may lead unwary travellers into the swamplands and barrows and leave them there to find their way out again. Visitors can relax and refresh themselves at the different taverns and rest houses found in every village, there to sample some fine dwarven beer, spiced Elfish wine, or fantastic local bakery or cheese items. Again, the goal is to create a truly immersive experience amongst the historical or in the fantastical.

A theme park is not the only use for the facility. As a fully functional city there will be a wide range of commercial activities pursued which fit with the overall picture but help keep the facility alive and thriving for decades to come. The CEO emphasizes a year-round diversified capitalization system, which also includes plans for media centres such as an on-site production office and sound stages for making films. Hollywood producers and production houses will have contracts to use the site when they need to film certain movies. Producers and directors have already expressed a strong interest in using the facility when the time comes, for it will save money on the expense of an overseas shoots or custom constructed sets. The CEO has plans for a museum of literature and media for science fiction and historical fantasy. He believes that the many inspirations for the project should have a respectful place within the facility.

For those who have dreamed of taking part in the middle ages, for those who want to see corporations and big businesses take responsibility for their environment, for those who believe in the values of chivalry, for those who want to see companies care for their employees as more than a work drone, and for those who believe a company can preserve the environment and still continue to be financially viable, The Realms of Legend is all that and so much more. So much that even by the end of this article we have not come up with a fitting term to describe this park. To get to the bottom line of the facility--can an ecologically and ethically sustainable corporation really make money? The answer to that is yes, it can and will, while reducing the impact of human activities on the ecosystem.

For more information on The Realms of Legend go to http://bhfi.1st.net on the web, and please consider joining both the Friends of the Realms and H.E.L.M.S. (Historic and Ecological Living Medieval Society), supporters of this project.