Greek myths were chock-full of magic items, most of them made by the gods; and with a few exceptions, most of the humans who meddled with them came to a bad end. Take the tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece. It’s a very long and involved one, but the gist goes like this. Disinherited …
Pretty much all fantasy writers are familiar with Greek myths, or they should be: they’re one of the unfailing constants of Western Culture. The Iliad, which told of the fall of Troy (and the Trojan horse.) The Odyssey, about the hero Odysseus’s epic journey to find his way home. Theseus and the Minotaur, Icarus who …
The first time I ever saw a lady dressed in traditional Welsh clothing was in a book about quilting. At the time I couldn’t make heads or tales about it, because it was so different from the Slavic ethnic costumes I was familiar with. But it was a real thing, women really did dress that …
Want to make your fantasy world really fantasyish? Add in some -wyns, -yrs, -wys, with a sprinkling of gws and lls, just like the characters and places in The Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh folktales written down in the 14th century. Based on oral traditions that were older, they served as the basis for modern …
Centaurs are one of the mythic creatures most associated with Narnia, along with fauns and nymphs. They appear in four of the seven books (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle) where they are renowned for being wise teachers, prophets, healers, and stargazers, as well as …
The White Album by Joan Didion Open Road Media, 2017 (Originally published by Simon & Schuster, 1979) [ #1 — 3rd Year, 23rd Letter: A book whose title begins with the letter W) ] When I first made up my reading list at the start of the year I hadn’t decided on a candidate for …
The Granta Book of India Edited by Ian Jack Granta Publications, 2004 [ #15: East meets West: A book taking place in Asia (Turkey to Japan, Siberia to Vietnam) ] The local Little Free Library has, again, provided me with a challenge book! This one, The Granta Book of India. I had a good experience …
Previous parts of this series: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV It was not only the green hue of absinthe that broadcast the deadly nature of the Lady of the Green Kirtle. It was the color itself, which received a such a bad rep in the 19th century it became synonymous with …
The School of Whoredom by Pietro Aretino (Translated by Rose Maria Falvo, Alessandro Gallenzi and Rebecca Skipwith) Hesperus Press Ltd., 2003 [ #31 — No hablo: A book originally written in another language (either a translation or in the original if you’d like!)] The School for Whores, by Pietro Aretino, is not long, but boy …
Victorian writer Charles Dickens was known for the odd and whimsical names he gave to his characters, presumably so readers would better remember them. As his stories were first serialized in publications over many weeks or months, this makes sense. These odd names also served a satirical purpose. Some of the more memorable of these …