Monthly Archives: August 2010

The Real Horses of Oz

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Nathan

L. Frank Baum tells us in a few different books that there are no horses in Oz, aside from the magically animated wooden Sawhorse. This seems to be an idea that he developed over time, however. In The Wonderful Wizard … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Oz | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

State of Confucianism

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Nathan

Today, we take a trip back to the Warring States period of Chinese history, and to a a guy called Confucius, legendary sage and subject of a lot of broken English jokes. The traditional dates given for his lifetime are … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Confucianism, Historical Personages, History, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Blood of Kings

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Nathan

If the monarchical system is obsessed with one thing, it’s bloodlines. And if it’s obsessed with two things, the other one is authority from God. So it’s no surprise that a few different royal families traced their lineage to King … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Historical Personages, History, Judaism, Monarchy, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Restoring Horror

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Nathan

I thought Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally yesterday would be good for either a few laughs or some righteous anger, but from what I’ve seen of it, it’s mostly just boring. To even call it a rally is pitching it … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Current Events, History, Mormonism, Politics, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Horsing Around

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Nathan

You might well know that Link’s horse in the Zelda games is named Epona, but do you know where the name comes from? Well, maybe you do, but I didn’t at first. Epona is actually a goddess of horses, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Celtic, Mythology, Roman | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Kings’ Things

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Nathan

David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible’s Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition, by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman – This book combines archaeology and historical study to try to separate fact from fiction in … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Christianity, Historical Personages, History, Judaism, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Ghostly Romance of Errol and Olivia

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Nathan

An interesting thing about Dragon Quest III (originally released as Dragon Warrior III here in the States, and that’s how I played it) is that its world is modeled on our own Earth. Yes, there are some significant differences, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Dragon Quest, Music, Mythology, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Lay of Lurline

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Nathan

Although she never appears on stage in the canonical Oz books and does so only sparingly in apocryphal ones, the Fairy Queen Lurline is an important part of the universe in that The Tin Woodman of Oz identifies her as … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Greek Mythology, Mythology, Oz | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

What Is Up Satan’s Ass?

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Nathan

We all know Martin Luther as the guy who nailed the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, and the founder of Protestantism. He is known as a thorough Biblical scholar and writer of hymns, and encouraged … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholicism, Christianity, Historical Personages, History, Judaism, Lutheranism, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Requiem for Ravana

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Nathan

Since I attended a horror convention yesterday, I figured I might as well look at a villain for my weekly mythology post. One who came to mind pretty quickly was Ravana, the bad guy in the Ramayana. In the epic, … Continue reading →

Posted in Hinduism, Mythology, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments