No, not like-- I mean the real dark ages when everybody lived in huts and couldn't read and they were scared of lightning and the moon and things like that.

[His knowledge of anything remotely related to history comes from video games now, but he's fairly certain that at least some of those things really happened.]

Surprising? Of course it's surprising-- even little kids can read. Though I guess if you're from ye olde Mikado or whatever, maybe that's normal.