Tag: History

Worldbuilding Wednesday 8/12/26: Tourney Pageantry (Narnia LXXXIII)

I found sooooo many pictures of Medieval knights in outrageous Liberace costumes I felt inspired to post more of my findings. These might not fly in Narnia, but perhaps in Galma or Archenland? First of all, this getup on the helmet of John I of Luxembourg. It’s a fanciful golden-furred creature that suggests boar, dog, …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 8/5/26: The Narnian Joust (Narnia LXXXII)

  Just as there were tourneys and tournaments in Narnia, surely there were jousts, which were part of King Lune’s future plans for Corin as relayed by Mr. Tumnus.  I quoted the passage in last week’s Worldbuilding Wednesday, then realized Tumnus didn’t mention a tourney, only tilting and jousting. But these skills were honed and …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 7/29/26: The Narnian Tourney (Narnia LXXXI)

Tourneys, tournaments, and jousts are mentioned several times in the Chronicles. The first time is in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in which Caspian mentions a tourney the Duke of Galma arranged for his visit. The second occurs in The Horse and His Boy, when Mr. Tumnus tells Cor (who he thinks is Corin) …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 7/1/26: Let’s Talk About Chervy (Narnia LXXVIII)

Two more practical people arrived in the little wood. One was a Red Dwarf whose name appeared to be Duffle. The other was a stag, a beautiful lordly creature with wide liquid eyes, dappled flanks and legs so thin and graceful that they looked as if you could break them with two fingers. “Lion alive!” …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/18/26: Old Christian Sects and Denominations

I’m gonna do something different this week. Religious sects! Christian ones specifically. There are, and were, dozens, and hundreds, of these. A lot of them arose in the early days of the Catholic Church when it was spreading rapidly and there was no central authority to set the dogma in stone. Thus we get Gnosticism, …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 12/24/25: Let’s Talk About Santa’s Reindeer Team (Part 2)

Clement Moore’s version of Santa’s reindeer team was not the only one. Children’s author L. Frank Baum, known for his Oz series, offered a competing version: A team of ten (!) named Flossie and Glossie, Racer and Pacer, Reckless and Speckless, Fearless and Peerless, and Ready and Steady. The names used a rhyming, alliterative style …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 12/17/25: Let’s Talk About Santa’s Reindeer Team (Part 1)

In my original plans for this post I wanted to generate some names for new members of Santa’s flying reindeer team, but instead I went down a rabbit hole of Christmas canon. For example, much of our (meaning American) ideas about Santa Claus came from poet Clement Moore’s work “A Visit from St. Nicholas” which …

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It Rhymes With Takei [Reading Challenge 2025]

It Rhymes With Takei by George Takei and Harmony Becker (artist) Adapted by Steven Scott and Justin Eisinger Penquin Random House, 2025 [ #1 Year of the Snake: A book published in any of the Chinese Years of the Snake: 2025, 2013, 2001, 1989, etc. ] Since I didn’t get into my Howdy, stranger (a …

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