Knightmare.com

Hi Knightfans!

I was just wondering where Dunshelm/Knightmare Castle was supposed to be.

Was it in meant to be Norwich, or was it sumwhere further up north like the books?

My guess it would be Northumbria as Can You Beat The Challenge says about less trouble in England if Saxon swords face North.

Anyone have any ideas or comments?

I think Dunshelm is situated very near the border with Scotland, probably in Northumberland, as one of the members of the garrison was called Eric of Northumbria. It is expressly said to be situated amongst the northern mountains, so it could be in Cumbria, ie the Lake District kind of area. Of course, all this comes from the first book, and there are some issues about whether the books are canonical with the TV series, but seeing as Tim Child co-wrote the first book, I'd be inclined to accept the events of this one, at least, as canon, including the location of Dunshelm.

We also have to consider that season 4 onwards don't seem terribly consistent with seasons 1 to 3. There's little doubt that Dunshelm in the early days was set in the north of England, but from season 4 the scenario is altered, and described as being, not so much in the Past, as in an alternative reality lying 'beneath' our own (in an inter-dimensional sense).

I tend to bypass this description myself, as it's a jarring retcon that goes completely unexplained. For me, Dunshelm is in the north of England, one of the fortifications built to defend the border from the incursions of Malcolm Canmore's armies.

Thought as much!

Just thought I'd seek futher opinion as we all know and have said many times the show and the books run in different directions...

Seeing McGrew was doing his 'marauding' there (such as it was), it can't have been far from the border.

Here's an interesting afterthought. I'm visiting Conisbrough Castle tomorrow, which is a twelfth century donjon/keep in Yorkshire. It's a bit grand for Dunshelm, but I'll take some photos while there and put them online so people can compare it with what they imagine it to be.

www.conisbroughcastle.org.uk

You can now find some of the pictures I took at Conisburgh on the below page.

http://havetstorm.tripod.com/knightmare/id49.html

Wow! I live near Rotherham and had many a trip there when I was a lad. Used to love imagining it was part of Knightmare. Mind you, where I live there are plenty of great locations for that - woods, lakes etc