There's a reason most historical fiction focuses on nobles and land-owners. You can tell interesting stories about them, and modern people can sort-of relate to their lifestyles. If you told stories about the common people, modern people wouldn't be able to focus on the story, and would get distracted by how brutal and awful their day-to-day lives were.

[–] pingveno@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Now fairy tales, that's where the brutality comes in. Ever heard of "The Death of the Little Hen" collected by the Grimm brothers? The last line is, I kid you not, "and then everyone was dead". Gotta get those kiddos used to pandemics and family sized tombstones.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca -1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Not really

You tell stories of people who could have it recorded and preserved