Category Archives: British

Secret Mountain Sex Parties

One of the stories mentioned in Sabine Baring-Gould’s Curious Myths of the Middle Ages is that of Tannhäuser and the Venusberg, which is probably best known through Wagner’s opera. I wasn’t that familiar with it, so I looked into it … Continue reading

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Changing in the Telling

The Unkindest Tide, by Seanan McGuire – This book deals with the Roane, the aquatic children of the Luidaeg who had been mostly killed off centuries earlier, their skins then being used to create Selkies. The sea-witch vows to revive … Continue reading

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Through an Uskglass Darkly

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke – The author’s debut novel was recommended to me because I liked her Piranesi.This book was much longer and more complicated, but I liked it. It takes place in the early nineteenth … Continue reading

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Roland in the Deep

I think I first heard of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso in a blurb about C.S. Lewis comparing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings to it. Well, they do both have a magic ring that makes people invisible, and a monster … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Arthurian Legend, Authors, Book Reviews, British, C.S. Lewis, Characters, Christianity, French, Greek Mythology, Islam, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Video Games, William Shakespeare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Babes in the Woods

I remember, back in high school, reading about Scandinavian tales of women living in the forest who looked beautiful and human from the front, but were hollow in the back. I think the book just called them elves, and they … Continue reading

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Tammy and Tommy in Fairyland

Picture by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law I’ve come across multiple mentions of the Ballad of Tam Lin, so I thought that might be something worth addressing in a post. The Scottish song is thought to have existed as far back as … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, British, Celtic, Diana Wynne Jones, Fairy Tales, Greek Mythology, Halloween, History, Holidays, Magic, Music, Mythology, october daye, Poetry, Relationships, Scottish, seanan mcguire, United Kingdom, Welsh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Taliesin’s Tale

I don’t think I’ve said that much about the legendary bard Taliesin, although I’ve come across him when researching other British mythology. I tend to subconsciously associate him with Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer, I guess because they’re also … Continue reading

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It’s a Celtic Thing

I recently finished reading the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh mythological prose, translated by Lady Charlotte Guest in the nineteenth century. I understand there have been better English translations since then, but this is what I could easily find online, … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Arthurian Legend, Board Games, British, Celtic, Characters, Christianity, Games, History, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Magic Items, Mythology, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Relationships, Religion, Roman Empire, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Welsh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

That Vodou That Yo Dou So Well

The Hollow Places, by T. Kingfisher – When a woman named Kara is going through a divorce, she moves in with her uncle, a conspiracy-minded man who doesn’t believe in evolution until he figures he needs to in order to … Continue reading

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Of Bunnies and Bonnets

Picture by Helena Nelson-Reed Happy Easter! Some years ago, I wrote a little about the origins of the Easter Bunny and the name of the holiday. I don’t have a whole lot to add, but there’s some, so I might … Continue reading

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