Why the Dark Ages Were Never Dark

Between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD and the Renaissance nearly a thousand years later, there lies an interesting in-between period — a “middle age.”
The early medieval period, known to many scholars as the “Dark Ages,” is often maligned as a cultural desert of barbarism, ignorance, and violence. Its cultural achievements get less attention than the splendor of classical civilization on one side, and the beginnings of modernity on the other.
The truth is that the Middle Ages were alive with their own vivid culture, history, and artistry, but modern perceptions are often blind to it.
Here are 4 facets of culture that reveal the light of the so-called age of darkness…
1. An Enchanted Worldview
Have you ever wondered why so many fantasy novels are set against a backdrop of a medieval-inspired era?
The epic, enchanted world of fantasy is virtually inseparable from the Middle Ages. The time period was charged with a pervasive wonder — medieval Europe had what’s called an “enchanted worldview.”
Essentially, it saw the natural world as intermingling with supernatural forces. Interacting with those forces became part of a larger story of the battle between good and evil. It imbued normal people’s everyday actions with a sense of meaning, adventure, and heroism.
These elements, all features of a medieval worldview, are inseparable from the fantasy genre. It’s no wonder the Middle Ages gave rise to works like Beowulf, The Song of Roland, and the Arthurian legends that still linger in our cultural consciousness today.
A world full of elves, prophecies, wizards, dragons, castles, and knights might sound like a Tolkien fan’s dream, but of course there’s danger in romanticizing the Middle Ages. There’s no denying that life during these centuries was rugged and brutal.
But at the same time, medieval life was more than a struggle for survival: it was a world charged with meaning and mystery. Framed by the Christian story, its worldview was saturated in the drama of good and evil, with every person understanding their life as a piece of this great narrative.
It’s no wonder epic stories like Tolkien’s find their expression in the medieval worldview — and no wonder that, in our disenchanted world, readers find themselves drawn again and again to the light emanating from this era.