Tag Archives: sirens

Listen to the Banshee

Posted on March 18, 2023 by Nathan

I’m not sure I’ve ever done a post about Banshees, of Inisherin or otherwise. I haven’t seen that movie, but I suspect it doesn’t have any literal Banshees in it. I did write before about the Bean-Nighe, which is sometimes considered a type of … Continue reading →

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She’s Come Undine

Posted on July 10, 2022 by Nathan

I keep forgetting to write something about the novella Undine, by German author Friedrich de la Motte Fouque, which I read on Gutenberg in a translation geared toward children. I’ve become somewhat fascinated with the influence of Paracelsus‘ concept of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Book Reviews, Catholicism, Celtic, Characters, Christianity, Fairy Tales, Final Fantasy, German, Greek Mythology, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Mana/Seiken Densetsu, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Relationships, Religion, They Might Be Giants, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

That Vodou That Yo Dou So Well

Posted on June 25, 2022 by Nathan

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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It’s All About Mimi

Posted on July 15, 2017 by Nathan

Last week, I finished reading the last book in Patricia Wrightson’s Song of Wirrun trilogy based on Australian mythology, which taught me about a few spirit beings from aboriginal folklore. One of them was the Mimi, a kind of spirit … Continue reading →

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Friends in Grindylow Places

Posted on October 15, 2016 by Nathan

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 →

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Ys Into It

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Nathan

One myth I’d heard of before and didn’t really know any of the details was that of Ys (pronounced like “ease”), sometimes called Ker-Ys, a sunken city in Brittany, France. Picture by Laura Csajagi There’s a series of video games … Continue reading →

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Gods, Men, and Monsters

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Nathan

In the Company of Ogres, by A. Lee Martinez – This was a comedic look on fantasy, hardly anything new, but still entertaining. It tells the story of Never Dead Ned, a guy who dies quite often, but is always … Continue reading →

Posted in A. Lee Martinez, Authors, Book Reviews, Greek Mythology, Heroes of Olympus, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magnus Chase, Monsters, Mythology, Norse, Rick Riordan, Terry Pratchett, Trials of Apollo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mything the War

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Nathan

Unfinished Tales, by J.R.R. Tolkien – Some friends of mine were getting rid of a copy of this, and I’d never read it, so I’m now its owner. This 1988 edition of a book originally published in 1980 collects various … Continue reading →

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Orpheus Melted the Heart of Persephone, But I Never Had Yours

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Nathan

While I’ve covered many of the important Greek heroes and demigods, I don’t think I’ve written about Orpheus yet. He is generally considered to be the son of King Oeagrus of Thrace and the Muse Calliope, but some myths make … Continue reading →

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I’m Not Ulysses

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Nathan

Having been a fan of Greek mythology since childhood, I had always meant to read the work of Homer, but I somehow never got around to it. I was given a copy of the Odyssey, translated by the late Robert … Continue reading →

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