Nov 29
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 …
Nov 25
One of the more oddball Greek myths I am fascinated with is that of Zeus and Ganymede. It’s NSFW so buckle up, and like most Greek myths, differs according to who tells it. Basically, Ganymede was a comely youth who caught the eye of Zeus so Zeus kidnapped him in the form of an eagle, …
Nov 22
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 …
Aug 16
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 …
Aug 28
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this topic I looked at the folklore and symbolism behind the White Stag, then at how that folklore and symbolism was both right, and wrong, for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the world of Narnia itself. I’ll continue in that vein and also take a …
Aug 27
[The] two Kings and two Queens with the principal members of their court, rode a-hunting with horns and hounds in the Western Woods to follow the White Stag. — from the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe In Part 1 of this essay I explored the myth and folklore of the White Stag, and …
Aug 25
It’s getting close to the end of the 2022 Summer of Narnia. Though I got to explore some topics I wouldn’t have ordinarily written about (depictions of Aslan in theatrical productions, AI used to generate images of Jadis, my own Narnia fanfic) I’ve been remiss in exploring the ones I set out to do at …
Jun 22
In contrast to Narnia’s monotheism and its “true” God, Aslan, the desert nation of Calormen was polytheistic. Three gods are mentioned: Tash, Zardeenah, and Azaroth, all referenced in the book The Horse and His Boy, which was written by Lewis after The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but published later. HHB was Lewis’s ode to …
Apr 22
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 …