Category Archives: Poetry

Shanower Shorts

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Nathan

I don’t think I’ve ever done a proper review of The Salt Sorcerer of Oz and Other Stories, by Eric Shanower, and I’m not sure I’m entirely doing so here either. I’ve recently written about two of the tales, “The … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Book Reviews, Characters, Eric Shanower, Families, Humor, Jack Snow, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Monsters, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Poetry, Relationships, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged aa the salt sorcerer, abby, bladgaar, bungle the glass cat, cap'n bill, clank, conjo, dorothy gale, emerald city, fardels, flicker, forest of gugu, glenn ingersoll, gugu and the kalidahs, hungry tiger, kabumpo, kalidahs, king gugu, lake quad, ma-dul-ma-dun, merfolk, multiplying overcoat, mushrooms, oziana, ozmapolitan, parts unavailable, patchwork girl, quaddle, queen piopelp, scarecrow, shroom city, shrooms, speedy in oz, the balloon-girl of oz, the final fate of the frogman, the flying girl, the ice king of oz, the purple prince of oz, the salt sorcerer of oz, the salt sorcerer of oz and other stories, the shaggy man of oz, the silver jug, tik-tok, trot griffiths, trot of oz, twiffle, twink and tom jones, waddy, woozy, world war ii, zyzzwyzz | 1 Comment

Jumping Through Hoopoes

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Nathan

Here’s the book review post I mentioned before, which is partially about Greek mythology, and includes a lot of tangents. I always wonder whether people like those, or just want me to stick to the media I’m discussing. The Bird … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Book Reviews, Catholicism, Christianity, Comics, Games, Greek Mythology, History, Islam, Judaism, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Plays, Poetry, Religion, Uncategorized | Tagged antillia, aristophanes, bible, birds, clash of the titans, cloudcuckooland, doctor who, dungeons and dragons, farid ud-din attar, g. willow wilson, hercules, hercules the legendary journeys, hoopoes, iris, jinn, joseph, kamala khan, kevin sorbo, king solomon, koh-e-qaf, lamia, liz gloyn, marvel comics, medusa, ms. marvel, nephelokokkygia, nimrod, poseidon, prometheus, puns, quran, ray harryhausen, sheikh sam'an, simurgh, sufism, sultan mahmoud, tereus, the bird king, the birds, the conference of the birds, tracking classical monsters in popular culture, triballus, xena warrior princess | 3 Comments

Cities of the Damned

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Nathan

The idea of the world of the dead as a physical place is fascinating to me, probably at least partially because I love maps. Whether people in ancient times who wrote about such things genuinely believed that the Underworld had … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Etymology, Final Fantasy, Greek Mythology, Language, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Poetry, Religion, Roman, Video Games | Tagged aeneas, aeneid, afterlife, angels, bible, dante alighieri, demons, dis, divine comedy, emperor mateus, erinyes, final fantasy ii, final fantasy ix, final fantasy xiv, furies, garland, gorgons, hades, hell, hephaestus, inferno, john milton, lucifer, mammon, medusa, mulciber, mysidia, pandemonium, paradise lost, revelation, river styx, satan, stygian council, ultima, underworld, virgil | Leave a comment

These Judges Are Such Cretans

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Nathan

When the world of the dead is presented as a place of reward or punishment, as has become pretty standard, that generally means that someone has to decide who goes where. The Underworld of Greek mythology came to have three … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Greek Mythology, Monsters, Mythology, Poetry, Roman, Video Games | Tagged achilles, aegina, aeneid, alcmene, androgeos, ants, apollo, apollodorus, arabian nights, aristophanes, bulls, cadmus, cerberus, cyclopes, daedalus, dante alighieri, divine comedy, eleusinian mysteries, elysian fields, europa, fortunate isles, hades, helios, hell, hera, hercules, inferno, king aeacus of aegina, king aeetes of colchis, king asterion of crete, king minos of crete, kronos, law, minotaur, myrmidons, nymphs, odysseus, odyssey, pasiphae, patroclus, peleus, plato, polyphemus, poseidon, rhadamanthus, sarpedon, sinbad the sailor, the frogs, theseus, triptolemus, trojan war, underworld, virgil, zeus, zork | 1 Comment

Instar Search

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Nathan

Elektra, by Jennifer Saint – This is the author’s second book based on Greek mythology, after Ariadne. I liked that one better, but maybe that’s my preference for the more fantastic myths. Not that Elektra’s story isn’t insane as all get-out, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arabian, Authors, Aztec, Book Reviews, Fairy Tales, Greek Mythology, Humor, incryptid, Magic, Mayan, Mythology, Names, Native American, Plays, Poetry, Prejudice, Relationships, Rick Riordan, seanan mcguire, Technology | Tagged agamemnon, ah-puch, aladdin, antimony price, arabian nights, ariadne, arthur harrington, cassandra, chalchiuhtlicue, clytemnestra, demons, elektra, follow the lady, genie, imaginary numbers, instar, j.c. cervantes, jaguar warriors, jennifer saint, jinn, johrlac, meru, mount meru, noel langley, omar khayyam, pantomime, rick riordan presents, s.b. divya, sarah zellaby, shadow bruja, tezcatlipoca, the land of green ginger, the lords of night, the wizard of oz (1939), trojan war, widow twankey | Leave a comment

Secret Mountain Sex Parties

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Nathan

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 →

Posted in Arthurian Legend, British, Catholicism, Celtic, Christianity, Fairy Tales, German, Greek Mythology, Japanese, Magic, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Norse, Poetry, Religion, Roman | Tagged antoine de la sale, calypso, curious myths of the middle ages, fairies, giants, gudmund of glaesisvellir, heinrich von ofterdinger, helgafjell, helgi thorisson, ingibjorg, jotun, king olaf tryggvason, klingsor, ludwig bechstein, morgan le fay, mother holle, nymphs, odysseus, odyssey, oisin, opera, parsifal, pope urban iv, richard wagner, sabine baring-gould, sangerkrieg, scorpions, sebile, sibilla, sibyls, sir percival, snakes, tam lin, tannhauser, the twelve dancing princesses, urashima taro, venus, venusberg, wolfram von eschenbach, yule | Leave a comment

Why Don’t You Get Things Started?

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Nathan

We finished watching what’s available on Disney Plus of The Muppet Show, which means all of them except for the Brooke Shields and Chris Langham episodes, the former because of music rights issues (mostly for “Off to See the Wizard,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Celebrities, Humor, Monsters, Muppets, Music, Poetry, Prejudice, Sesame Street, Star Wars, Television | Tagged bobby benson, c-3po, chewbacca, cookie monster, count von count, debbie harry, fozzie bear, glenda jackson, jerry nelson, kermit the frog, koozebane, link hogthrob, lips, liza minelli, luke skywalker, mark hamill, marty feldman, miss piggy, pigs, pirates, r2-d2, racism, rats, rizzo the rat, robert frost, robots, roosevelt franklin, sam the eagle, shirley bassey, Statler and Waldorf, steve whitmire, the great gonzo, the muppet movie, the muppet show, the muppets, they shoot horses don't they | 2 Comments

Roland in the Deep

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Nathan

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 amazons, andromeda, arimaspoi, astolfo, atlante, avalon, basil of caesarea, battle of roncevaux pass, beowulf, chanson de roland, charlemagne, childe roland to the dark tower came, cortana, durendal, elijah, fairies, faleero, falerina, ferragut, giants, griffins, halo, hector, hell, hippogriffs, holga danske, horses, hugh capet of france, huon of bordeaux, jesus, john the apostle, king lear, lethe river, lord of the rings, ludovico ariosto, matteo maria boiardo, merlin, moon, morgan le fay, ogier the dane, orcas, orcs, orlando furioso, orlando innamorato, paladin, penthesileia, pliny the elder, prester john, rinaldo, robert browning, roland, roland the headless thompson gunner, ruggiero, st. denis, st. peter, stephen king, swords, tristan and isolde, virgin mary, warren zevon, water of oblivion, weapons | Leave a comment

Ready to Fly ‘Round the World in the Shuffle Man’s Boot?

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Nathan

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any albums, or at least it feels like it’s been. Here are three recent releases I’ve been listening to. Pixies, Doggerel – I quite enjoy this album. I know some Pixies and Frank … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Albums, Animals, Aztec, Egyptian, Frank Black/Black Francis, Humor, Mayan, Music, Mythology, Native American, Pixies, Poetry, Religion, Robyn Hitchcock, They Might Be Giants | Tagged anubis, bible, cats, dmitry zarkov, doggerel, exodus, george hanger, hotel 165, hypnotic clambake, joey santiago, johnny marr, kukulkan, maury rosenberg, moses, paz lenchantin, quetzalcoatl, raymond chandler, sean lennon, shufflemania!, socrates | Leave a comment

The Mistress of Misdirection

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Nathan

In my Oziana reread, I thought I might say a bit more about the 2012 issue, made up of a round robin story based on the brief fragment known only as “An Oz Book.” Robert Stanton Baum credited it to … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Atticus Gannaway, Authors, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Dennis Anfuso, Dick Martin, Jared Davis, Jeff Rester, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Maps, March Laumer, Marcus Mebes, Music, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Phyllis Ann Karr, Places, Plays, Poetry, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Tom Holt | Tagged aging, ahriman, an oz book, betsy bobbin, carter green, chow bird, dorothy gale, emerald city, gilbert and sullivan, glinda of oz, good witch of the north, h.p. lovecraft, john wellington wells, kabumpo, kim mcfarland, krumbic witch, lake quad, lurline, magic belt, magic dishpan, magic picture, mike conway, mycroft mason, nikki haladay, oziana, ozma, paul dana, paul ritz, percy the personality kid, queen coo-ee-oh, red jinn, robert stanton baum, ruddigore, sam milazzo, shawn maldonado, the baum bugle, the boy baronet in oz, the green dolphin of oz, the hollyhock dolls in oz, the lost princess of oz, the sorcerer, tik-tok of oz, time travel, witches, yips, yith | 5 Comments

Category Archives: Poetry

Shanower Shorts

Jumping Through Hoopoes

Cities of the Damned

These Judges Are Such Cretans

Instar Search

Secret Mountain Sex Parties

Roland in the Deep

Ready to Fly ‘Round the World in the Shuffle Man’s Boot?

The Mistress of Misdirection

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