One of the First Age tales in The Silmarillion is how Luthien, an elf, falls in love with Beren, who is human, and aids him in his quest to recover the three Silmaril jewels from Morgoth. This part of The Sil has a more fairy tale flavor than the rest of the book, involving overt …
Tag: Ancient Egypt
Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/30/24: Mummies
The 1930s and 1940s were a golden age for horror movies AND graphic design for horror movie posters. Look at the color, the composition, the pleasing mix of typefaces in the poster above! It’s gorgeous. Which brings me to the subject of mummies. Mummies are part of the rarefied classic movie monster club that includes …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 12/7/22: Magic Spells of Ancient Egypt
As far as we know, most of the magic spells of ancient Egypt dealt with protecting the dead on their journey to the afterlife. Amulets were concealed in mummy wrappings and spell-prayers carved in hieroglyphics all around the tombs — on the walls, columns, even ceilings. These people took their afterlife very seriously. As I …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/30/22: Magic Items of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt, I’ve found, is so fascinating on its own that for fantasy writers and worldbuilders there isn’t a lot that needs to be created from scratch. The amulets above, for example, were created in about an hour using text prompts and various AI art generators. And ancient Egyptians did love their amulets. Any significant …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/23/22: Names of Ancient Egypt
The civilization of Ancient Egypt has enthralled the Western world ever since Napoleon’s forays down the Nile brought it to the attention of European scholars. Part of that was the indecipherable hieroglyphics that covered its temples, tombs, and monuments. Not until the 1850s were these translated into English, using cross-translations from the Rosetta Stone. In …