Jurnalele

Jurnalele is a fictional term used in world-building contexts to describe a long-running diary-like manuscript that records the social, economic, and environmental life of a community. It blends personal notes with official records and is typically illustrated with marginalia, maps, or diagrams, organized chronologically or by thematic sections.

Origin and diffusion: In the imagined history, the practice emerges in coastal city-states of the archipelago of Verdaea during the early medieval period of the setting and spreads to inland towns through scribal guilds. The name combines a root meaning to record with a suffix indicating collection.

Contents and format: Jurnalele entries commonly include daily events, weather observations, trade prices, genealogies, public notices, and sketches. They appear in codex form, illustrated rolls, or, in contemporary works, digital archives used in games and novels. Languages and scripts may vary within a single jurnalele, reflecting its diverse readership and creators.

Significance: The jurnalele functions as a memory archive, a tool for governance, and a source for historians and storytellers, reflecting the community’s values, networks, and daily life. In fiction, authors of jurnalele may be clerics, merchants, or scholars who contribute to the chronicle over generations, shaping how future readers understand the past.