[Jewel] spoke of Swanwhite the Queen who had lived before the days of the White Witch and the Great Winter, who was so beautiful that when she looked into any forest pool the reflection of her face shone out of the water like a star by night for a year and a day afterwards. This …
Yes, it’s the start of a new Summer of Narnia! This is the third one. Stay tuned for more Narnian names, essays, worldbuilding, commentary, and artwork, like the marvelous painting above. Which shows the unshowed final meeting of lion and witch, though she’s more resigned than terrified, and looks like she’s rather enjoying it. But …
As I’m sure every fantasy fan already knows, Dumbledore (full name Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore) is the mysterious but kindly Headmaster of Hogwarts, the magical boarding school Harry Potter attends. In the movie series, he’s depicted in full-on Gandalf mode, with hippy-style long gray hair and a like beard he keeps tied in …
As I said in my post about traditional artistic depictions of chimerae there was little doubt to the creature’s appearance, which remained iconic over hundreds of years. The written descriptions, however, differed in the particulars. Artists of the Medieval age and beyond, depending on which writer they had access to, created different beasts from the …
Wherever there’s a fantasy world, there’s probably some sort of fantasy drug. Robert E. Howard’s Conan had Black Lotus, and inhabitants of Phillip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld had Dream Gum to chew. Tolkien gave the Hobbits and Gandalf pipe-weed, or tabac, to smoke, which was likely tobacco and NOT marijuana. If you’re wondering why I included …
It was a single being that had the force of three beasts, the front part of a lion, the tail of a drakon, and the third–middle–head was that of a goat, through which it breathed out fire. — Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 31 – 32 (Greek mythographer c. 2nd A.D.) Chimerae depicted in ancient …
Undead are some of the most terrifying creatures in the AD&D universe. Yet, there doesn’t seem to be much magic that deals with them. So here’s a few randomgenned spells created on the fly. Undead Magic Hair of the Skeleton: Strands of hair still existing on the skull of an otherwise defleshed skeleton can …
In Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain series, one of the main characters is Gurgi, a sort of apelike wild man who Taran, the protagonist of the series, first encounters living in the forest. Though a pest at first, Gurgi later grows into his own as a hero and participant in Taran’s quest. Though Gurgi struck …
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander Square Fish, 2006 (Originally published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964 ) [ Challenge # 23: Read the first book of a series. ] The Chronicles of Prydain is a much-loved children’s book series originally published in the 1960s. It consists of five books that follow the adventures …
Miskatonik University may be the most beloved of Lovecraft’s imaginary locations. This Ivy League college, known for its library of occult books and daring expeditions, lies near a river of the same name which runs through imaginary Arkham, Massachusetts, * which Lovecraft based on Salem. He even drew his own map of the city to …