Category Archives: Persian

May the Light Shine Upon Thee

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Nathan

Here’s something that was interesting to me and probably isn’t to that many other people, although maybe you’re an exception. That is the novelization of the first Dragon Quest game. The author, Hideo Takayashiki, wrote adaptations of the original three … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Babylonian, Book Reviews, Comics, Dragon Quest, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Persian, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Big Big Whoredom

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Nathan

There often seems to be an undercurrent of fear of female sexuality in religion and mythology. It isn’t always that direct, and sometimes male sexuality isn’t viewed that positively either, but it’s pretty blatant sometimes. The idea of the whore … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Focus on the Foes, Gender, Health, History, Judaism, Language, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Persian, Religion, Roman Empire, Sexuality, They Might Be Giants, Video Games, Zoroastrianism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Boil, Fry, and Rostam

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Nathan

Having read this post on Tor the other day, I was inspired to look up more information on the legendary Persian hero Rostam, sometimes spelled Rustam. By searching on Google, I discovered that Rostam is also the name of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Greek Mythology, History, Iran, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Persian, Poetry, Religion, Zoroastrianism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hello to Bygone Ages

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Nathan

Looking at Robert E. Howard’s essay on his imaginary Hyborian Age got me to thinking about a few different issues in fantasy fiction that deals with lost civilizations. The essay tells of a succession of great empires contrasted with barbarians, … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Christianity, Discworld, Evolution, History, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mystery Cults, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Persian, Prejudice, Religion, Roman, Science, Terry Pratchett, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Big Birds

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Nathan

I don’t think I’ve ever written a post about the Simurgh, the giant bird from Persian mythology that I actually first came across in the Xanth series. Pretty much always identified as female, this peacock-like bird is often shown as … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Babylonian, Final Fantasy, Greek Mythology, Hinduism, Judaism, Monsters, Mythology, Persian, Piers Anthony, Religion, Semitic, Video Games, Xanth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Scourge of Persia

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Nathan

Not too long ago, Marcus Mebes sent me a book of monsters from mythology, folklore, and fantasy literature. I was already familiar with many of them, but one I can’t recall having read about before was Zahhak, or Azi Dahaka, … Continue reading →

Posted in Monsters, Mythology, Persian, Religion, Zoroastrianism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Good Gods and Bad Gods

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Nathan

I don’t think people typically worship gods they think of as evil. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, just that it doesn’t seem to be the basis of any major religion. What does happen is that societies will demonize … Continue reading →

Posted in Babylonian, Christianity, Egyptian, Gender, Greek Mythology, Judaism, Monsters, Mythology, Norse, Persian, Religion, Roman, Satanism, Semitic, Zoroastrianism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Peri the Wind High, Low

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Nathan

I had heard of peris as basically Persian fairies, which is more or less true, but there’s a little more to it than that. In Persian mythology, including but apparently not limited to Zoroastrian beliefs, the peris seem to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Fairy Tales, Islam, Mythology, Persian, Religion, Zoroastrianism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment