Category Archives: Etymology

Warrior Women at Work

Posted on June 24, 2017 by

The Dark Prophecy, by Rick Riordan – The follow-up to The Hidden Oracle continues the adventures of Apollo in a mortal body, with only occasional access to his godly powers when he least expects them. The previous volume established the … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Comics, Etymology, Greek Mythology, Humor, Language, Mythology, Poetry, Rick Riordan, Roman, Trials of Apollo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Real Food

Posted on May 20, 2017 by

I recently received a comment on my post on the Roman goddess Anna Perenna asking whether I knew of any connection between her and the Hindu Annapurna. I have to say I don’t know of any, but the names are … Continue reading →

Posted in Dice, Etymology, Food, Games, Hinduism, Mythology, Names, Philosophy, Religion, Roman | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Counting Kallikantzaroi

Posted on December 3, 2016 by

I found the subject of this post a few months ago while looking for information on fairy lore from the Caucasus (I’m hoping to use it in a story I’m writing, but that could be a long way down the … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Christmas, Etymology, Fairy Tales, Greek Mythology, Holidays, Language, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Slavic | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Harum Scarab

Posted on October 22, 2016 by

The ancient Egyptians seemed to have a god for every kind of animal with which they were familiar, some of which were quite prominent and others more obscure. The scarab beetle was a common symbol in Egypt, used for many … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Egyptian, Etymology, Language, Mythology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Friends in Grindylow Places

Posted on October 15, 2016 by

You might remember the Grindylows from their appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which they lived in the lake at Hogwarts. They are an actual sort of creature from English folklore, being particularly associated with Yorkshire … Continue reading →

Posted in British, Etymology, Harry Potter, Monsters, Mythology, Slavic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Etymology in Oz

Posted on September 7, 2016 by

I bought a few old Baum Bugle issues at OzCon in Portland, and they have some interesting content. There was apparently a sometime recurring feature called “Footnotes to Oz” that explained names in the Oz series, written by Jerry Tobias. … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Characters, Etymology, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jack Snow, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Language, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Seasons Change and So Does Vertumnus

Posted on September 5, 2016 by

It’s common knowledge that most of the Roman gods were basically the same as Greek ones, sometimes with a few differences to reflect the culture. The Romans did have some of their own deities without Greek counterparts, however. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, Etymology, Holidays, Language, Mythology, Roman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment