Mythic Humanoids – Serpent People and Dragons – Part 3 (Survey of Dragons and dragon literature)

Here's Part 3 (Survey of Dragons and dragon literature) of my blog on serpent people and dragons. For Part 1 (Research Deluge) and Part 2 (Symbolism)

There are many ways to organize the numerous varieties of dragons.

Categorizing dragons by :

1. Color [like shoes in a closet or crayons in a box, not based on mythological research.]
2. Sea serpent v flier
3. Old v New
4. North v South
5. East vs West [Does respect for dragons affect the interpretation of their myths?]

Cryptozoology and Mythological Humanoids # 35 - Yetis and Sasquatches

With snow covering our ground and rooftops and icy winds blowing whenever we step outside I'm not surprised Yetis and Sasquatches capture my imagination and attention for research.

What are the legends of the Yeti and Sasquatch based on?

The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies - Movie Review

Let me start by prefacing this with the fact that the end is my least favorite part of The Hobbit book. The slow degradation of the Thorin character, that I was barely able to like anyway, into a greedy tyrant was always uncomfortable for me.

Also, I don't like battles or war. [Oddly enough I find the series I'm writing demanding a war. Does all fighting have to end in war?] A battle where people are destitute yet fighting over gold and no one is being reasonable is even more uncomfortable for me.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; Extended Edition - Movie/DVD review

In anticipation of the final movie in the series coming out in a few short weeks, Jackson has released the Extended Edition of his Hobbit movie from last year The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Though the movie itself suffered a bit from the effects of Jackson's team switching from doing the Hobbit movies in two volumes to doing it in three volumes on short notice at the direction of his producers, my family, being the Tolkien geeks that we are, of course were one of the first in line to get this Extended Edition.

Mythological Species # 30 – Goblins and #31 - Brownies

The nights are coming earlier and the dark loving creatures are more and more on my mind. The elves and fairies, creatures of twilight, came stealing along the hedgerows and at forest edges, but now there are the creatures of darkness. Creature of the pitch black mines and the midnight hours. Among the most famous denizens of the night are the more treacherous counterparts to elves, the goblins and their ilk.

There are many names for goblins and goblin-like creatures: Hobs, hobgoblins, orcs, bogie men, boggarts (boggles, bogles), bodach (Highlands), brownies, spriggans, Fenoderee (Isle of Man), redcaps (Scottish) – said to redye the caps in human blood - brags, gremlins, Puck, phookas (Irish), Pwca (Welsh), bwca (Welsh) Trows (Shetland Islands), trous (Scandinavia), knolls, knockers (Cornish and Devon), Coblynau/Koblernigh (Welsh), Kobolds (German), wichtlein (Southern Germany), dwarfs/duergar (Scandinavia, Germany, North England), Pixie/Pisgie/piskie/pigsey/puggie/(Cornwall), Will o' the Wisps.

Water - Part 2 - People of the water (Mythological Species of Humanoids #25 - Merpeople)

As one travels from the forests through marshes, dunes and the shore line to the ocean, the land changes dramatically until it is not land at all. This dramatic shift in life forms and even the earth' composition is  mysterious and emotionally moving. The sea itself is unearthly; its creatures foreign and strange. To stand at the edge of the sea stirs the soul and the imagination. It opens us up to emotions we don't feel in other places. Is it any wonder that mythologies from around the world have peopled it with so much variety?

Father's Day - Super Dad and Mythological Species # 22 - Mewlips

Super Dad

I had a couple of fun paragraphs I wrote in my high school English journal for Father's Day. It was called Super Dad. I've turned my house upside down looking for it, but have failed to locate it. I'll have to save it for next year.

Father's Day

Sunday is Father's Day. This is a holiday that has always been a source of sadness for me growing up, since like many children around the world,

Easter Vigil Mass and Happy Earth Day

Well, I wasn't planning on writing on this topic. I've already written about Easter, but the Easter Vigil mass this year moved me. And the topic of the homily was directly related to this blog, so I decided to post an extra entry.

Let me set the stage. It was a typical busy Holy Saturday, full of grocery shopping, Easter Egg dying, taxiing kids, defending Peter Jackson's

Elves Mythology

In honor of the recent release of the Hobbit, Desolation of Smaug and the fast approaching Christmas Eve, I'll share some of my research about Elves.

The word “Elf” seems to have originated in Scandinavia, specifically among the Norse people of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and spread to Iceland and Greenland with their settlers.

Movie Reveiw - PG13 - Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug

It was a fun roller coaster ride from the Misty Mountains to the Lonely Mountain. Peter Jackson's team had me on the edge of my seat and dodging 3-D projectiles for a good hour before I even remembered my nine year old beside me experiencing his first midnight showing.

He loved it, by the way, and is still sleeping off the after effects.

And just a word to people considering young children's viewing, it is very violent due to the huge numbers of battles. But at our house orc-elf-dwarf violence is firmly in the fantasy realm and doesn't really count as violence if done properly. Peter Jackson helped us out there, because the battles are not nearly as gory as the prime time TV commercials that annoy us so much as parents of a young child.