x Yes, it’s going to be another Summer of Narnia here on my blog! I’ll be tying up some loose ends from last year’s Summer of Narnia, as well as introducing new topics and insights I’ve found since then. Keep visiting!
Tag: Fantasy
Worldbuilding Wednesday 5/12/21: Druid Magic
As prevalent as druids are in fantasy literature and gaming, very little is known of them from the historical record. What we do know comes from the accounts of the Romans who colonized Europe and Britain. They were famously derisive of the native tribes, seeing them as little more than uncouth barbarians, and also had …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 4/21/21: Fill Your Bookshelf
Sometimes when you DM or write fantasy, you need to list books in a character’s library. Books that sound obscure, magical, historical, singular. Tolkien has his imaginary Book of Redmarch, Lovecraft his Necronomicon and Pnakotic Manuscripts. Here’s a randomgenned list of some more. Library Books, Fantasy Style A Man’s Tome of Migford Four Books …
Buttscratcher
Even barbarian heroes get itches in the most private of places.
Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/3/21: Fairy Tales III
This illustration by Arthur Rackham appeared on the cover of a book of Grimm’s fairy tales given to me by my parents. I forget the name of the story, but in it, the child hero, who is peeking out of the stove at the illustration’s approximate center, is hiding from the ogre. He has been …
Yellow Fairy Book
The first collections of fairy tales, like Andrew Lang’s Yellow Fairy Book above, were intended for offspring of wealthy consumers. The book itself is sturdily made and sumptuously illustrated with pen drawings in a flowing, Art Nouveau style. More decoration is seen on the spine and cover, which has embossing as well as a two-ink …
Kriss: The Gift of Wrath [Review]
Kriss: The Gift of Wrath by Ted Naifeh Art by Warren Wucinich Oni Press, 2019 This graphic novel is the perfect gift for a middle school child of 11 – 12 who is getting into experiencing adolescent angst, heavy metal, Goth culture, and fantasy fiction. The story is a time-worn one: a young orphan and …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/17/21: Fairy Tales II
The plasticity of fairy tales is demonstrated by these illustrations of Beauty and the Beast from over the years. In the original fairy tale, the Beast is never explicitly described, so artists had to use their imaginations. From the top left, going clockwise, he’s a spotted hyena, a wolf-boar, a very weird walrus-mole hybrid, and …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/10/21: Fairy Tales I
Fairy tales were not intended for children. I repeat that, fairy tales were NOT intended for children. Just take a look at the Kay Nielson illustration for Cinderella above. Despite the name, Kay is a he, a classically trained Danish artist who worked heavily during the first half of the 20th century. The moment depicts …