days of yore
The distant past
Days of yore are times long past, typically evoked with nostalgia or romantic distance: In the days of yore, knights roamed the land.
The phrase sounds deliberately archaic—yore itself means "long ago" and appears almost nowhere else in modern English.
Often used with gentle irony: Back in the days of yore, we had to rewind our videotapes.
Land-for-service social structure
- knightsTitled warriors on horseback
- castlesFortified royal residences
- chivalryKnightly code of honor
- serfsFeudal bound laborers
manor · jousting · crusades · vassals · fiefdom · heraldry · chainmail · moat
Very old indeed
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
- archaicBelonging to earlier times
- bronze ageNotable but subprime period
neolithic · primordial · primeval · dawn of time · time immemorial · early civilization · ancient world
Recalling past experiences
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
sentimentality · reflection · reverie · recollection · memories · hiraeth · retrospection · yesteryear
Of folklore, not fact
- heroesAdmired courageous figures
- sagasExtended heroic narratives
- epicsLong heroic narratives
- folkloreInherited cultural narratives
fables · tales · bard · dragons · quest · grail · wizardry · sorcery
Knightly code of honor
- gallantryCourage, especially in combat
- courtlyRefined and dignified
- troubadourMedieval Provençal lyric poet
- balladNarrative poem or song
idyllic · pastoral · noble · honor · virtue · valor · pageantry · fairytale
Those from whom one descends
- forefathersAncestral predecessors
- traditionsLong-established customs passed down
- relicsPreserved items from antiquity
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
scrolls · chronicles · ruins · legacy · lineage · ancestry · customs · heirlooms
feudalism
Land-for-service social structure
serfs · manor · jousting · crusades · vassals · fiefdom · heraldry · chainmail · moat · tapestries
ancient
Very old indeed
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
- archaicBelonging to earlier times
bronze age · neolithic · primordial · primeval · dawn of time · time immemorial · early civilization · ancient world
reminiscence
Recalling past experiences
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
- longingIntense, persistent desire
melancholy · sentimentality · reflection · reverie · recollection · memories · hiraeth · retrospection · yesteryear · halcyon
mythical
Of folklore, not fact
folklore · fables · tales · bard · dragons · quest · grail · wizardry · sorcery · enchanted
chivalry
Knightly code of honor
- gallantryCourage, especially in combat
- courtlyRefined and dignified
- troubadourMedieval Provençal lyric poet
ballad · idyllic · pastoral · noble · honor · virtue · valor · pageantry · fairytale · storybook
ancestors
Those from whom one descends
- forefathersAncestral predecessors
- traditionsLong-established customs passed down
- relicsPreserved items from antiquity
artifacts · scrolls · chronicles · ruins · legacy · lineage · ancestry · customs · heirlooms · antiquities
- memoriesmemories, remember, recollections, childhood memory, childhood memories
- nostalgianostalgia, nostalgic, memories, memory, remember
- Prehistoric Timesprehistory, ancient times, Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age
days of yorenowadays
In this era
modern times · today · tomorrow · modern era · the here and now
day, holiday, today, days, daylight, midday, yesterday, birthday, daybreak