You may even scoop some lava from a nearby volcano and hold it in a ceramic or tugsten container, making your very own lava lamp (drumroll).Īnd while you may not have fire, if you scratch two iron rods really hard you still have sparks. Might be helpful if you don't mind living near a volcano. Magma emits a very beautiful light at night. It's magic, doesn't need to have an evolutionary purpose or even sense! Or maybe there's simply some glowing liquid (naturally, or by alchemical means). I know you said u don't want magic sources, but what about "natural" sources that came to be thanks to magic? Maybe some crystal or other mineral (possibly not radioactive or toxic) that sheds some light? Maybe a glowing small animal, something hamster-sized or larger.
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Maybe your world has multiple moons, making full moons a much more common event. Since it's a living being, it's going to requires some taking care of, or constant replacement.
From common fireflies, to rare fishes found on in the deepest trenches on the ocean floor, all the way to some kinds of plankton and algae or shrooms. Takes a bit of effort, but could be a source of dim light.īioluminescent animals and plants. Now make it smaller and portable, with a smaller blade attached. Imagine how much sparks come from a wheeled wetstone when sharpening a knife. Technically fire (?), but not a real flame. Not sure realistic, but hey, it's a magical world. If lightning storms are something common in your setting, it's not unthinkable that someone (maybe with some help from magic) has learnt to harness such power to use as light source. There are a few natural sources of light, which could be harnessed if you really need to. One possibility is electroluminescence this requires 100 Volts or so (which is a big bunch of battery jars), but could be made from minerals and metals that were available before the 18th century, if someone knew how (or stumbled on the effect - say, a jeweler plating a ring that already has a tourmaline mounted). However, there are various ways this low voltage electricity could be turned into light without requiring the ability to produce tungsten or platinum alloys (to take the heat). Speculation is that it was used for electroplating, to allow dishonest jewelers to pass off cheap base metal goods as solid precious metal. There is (slight, controversial) evidence that electricity had been created during the Bronze Age - the Baghdad Battery was a wine jar that contained a rolled core consisting of dissimilar metals separated by fabric it would have functioned as a simple electric cell if filled with wine or vinegar. Pure phosphorus was made by alchemists well before the 18th century, and glows from slow oxidation even when stored in water - but I'm not sure this wouldn't be a form of the lost fire.Īnother possibility is electric light.
It's the material that's incorporated into "glow in the dark" paints and plastics - it will absorb light energy and then release it over time, though it can't be "kept" and only lasts minutes to an hour or so unless there's a source of either UV radiation or something else (this was used in radium clock dial paint, excited by the radiation from the actual radium). I can't say whether it was known in pre-scientific times or not, but the mineral sphalerite (zinc sulfide) is moderately common in some regions. Other sources of phosphorescence, like certain fungi (foxfire), are very faint - easily bright enough to see in a dark forest, but not really bright enough to see by. Firefly larvae are "glow worms" - and I'm not certain whether they glow steadily or flash like fireflies. Fireflies can be nearly bright enough to (briefly) read by, if you can get even two or three of them near your page (their tendency to blink in synchronus is both helpful, because they're brighter, and unhelpful, because it'll be bright then completely dark). Glowing insects were the commonest, and brightest. In terms of what was known before, say, the 18th century, there were very limited sources of what we'd normally consider rather dim light, but fire wasn't the absolutely only light source (not counting the sun, moon - as it was thought to give its own light in pre-Renaissance times - and stars).
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