Neil Gaiman – VoVatia (original) (raw)

Category Archives: Neil Gaiman

What a Life of Luxury to Be an Ape-Man

The Return of Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs – This sequel wraps up some of the hanging plot threads in the first book, but also takes the story in some different directions. While the first one was about a guy … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, British, Chinese, edgar rice burroughs, England, Fairy Tales, History, Magic, Mythology, Neil Gaiman, Prejudice | Tagged fairies, fletcher pratt, human sacrifice, jane porter, john hollyshoes, john uskglass, john uskglass and the cumbrian charcoal burner, jonathan strange and mr norrell, mary queen of scots, mr simonelli or the fairy widower, on lickerish hill, racism, rumplestiltskin, stardust, susanna clarke, tarzan, the blue star, the duke of wellington misplaces his horse, the ladies of grace adieu, the return of tarzan, the twelve, tom brightwind or how the fairy bridge was built at thoresby, treasures of the twelve, witches, zodiac |

You’re the Same, But I Got Different Eyes

Please enjoy my awkwardly phrased thoughts on some newish albums, plus some other musings loosely related to music. St. Vincent, All Born Screaming – This album has some intense rhythms and vocal stylings. The acoustic guitar and piano parts mix well … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums, Amanda Palmer, Authors, Celebrities, Concerts, Feminism, History, Music, Neil Gaiman, Relationships, Robyn Hitchcock, Tori Amos | Tagged abuse, all born screaming, annie clark, as it ever was so it will be again, colin meloy, dave grohl, david byrne, decemberists, diving deep live, king henry viii, st. vincent, talking heads, william fitzwilliam |

The Cauldron of Story

There’s sort of a recurring theme to a few of the books I’ve read recently, so I’ll expound on that in these three reviews. Tales from the Perilous Realm, by J.R.R. Tolkien – This volume collects some of Tolkien’s short … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Arthurian Legend, Authors, British, C.S. Lewis, Catholicism, Christianity, Chronicles of Narnia, Fairy Tales, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Neil Gaiman, Norse, Nursery Rhymes, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, Technology, Winnie-the-Pooh | Tagged alan lee, bilbo baggins, blunderbuss, bombadil goes boating, chrysophylax dives, dogs, dragonrouge, dragons, elric of melnibone, epic pooh, farmer giles of ham, fastitocalon, giants, hey diddle diddle, his dark materials, hobbits, lady of abundance, leaf by niggle, lin carter, lord of the rings, man in the moon, melnibone, middle-earth, moon, multiverse, on fairy-stories, philip pullman, roverandum, sexual harassment, smith of wootton major, spiders, tales from the perilous realm, terra magica, the adventures of tom bombadil, the fortress of the pearl, the hobbit, the last battle, the man in the moon, the man in the moon stayed up too late, the marvelous land of oz, the sailor on the seas of fate, the weird of the white wolf, the well at the world's end, tom bombadil, tom shippey, voluspa, weapons, william morris, wizards, wood between the worlds |

We’re Sunk

The King in Yellow, by Robert Chambers – This Gothic horror story from the 1890s is largely notable for being incorporated into H.P. Lovecraft’s mythology. The title is that of a play that exists within the universe of the book, but … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Authors, Book Reviews, Carribean, Catholicism, Characters, Christianity, Global Warming, Health, Judaism, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Names, Neil Gaiman, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Relationships, Religion, Rick Riordan, Santeria, Science, Sesame Street, Television, Terry Pratchett, Voodoo, Yoruba | Tagged ballad and dagger, candide, carcosa, caroll spinney, catherynne valente, demons, dr. pipt, galanika, good omens, h.p. lovecraft, hastur, horror, liquid of petrifaction, orishas, oscar the grouch, outlaw saints, pirates, rick riordan presents, robert chambers, the king in yellow, the past is red, voltaire, ys |

Follow the Arrow

Sculpture by John Raimondi Abaris the Hyperborean is one of those mysterious magicians who shows up in multiple sources, and has led to additional speculation and apocryphal stories in more recent times. He was first mentioned in Archaic Greek texts, He is … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, British, Comics, Dragon Quest, Greek Mythology, Greek Philosophy, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Neil Gaiman, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Video Games | Tagged abaris the hyperborean, abhras, anacharsis, apollo, arimaspea, arimaspoi, aristeas of proconnesus, asclepius, athens, belial, bladud, boreas, constellations, croesus, cyclopes, demons, divination, dragon quest ii, druids, geoffrey of monmouth, griffins, herodotus, hyperborea, iamblicus, john wood the elder, north wind, phalaris, pindar, plato, pythagoras, ravens, sagittarius, sandman, satan, scythia, solon of athens, thrace, zalmoxis, zarlox |

The Gods Must Be Choosy

Paul Dana suggested a few weeks ago that I should look into the concept of chosen people in religion, and how common that was. Nowadays, it’s mostly used to refer to the Jewish people, or sometimes to other religions that … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Christianity, Comics, Discworld, Greek Mythology, History, Judaism, Mythology, Neil Gaiman, Religion, Semitic, Terry Pratchett | Tagged 2 kings, american gods, animal sacrifice, athena, bible, chemosh, chosen people, covenant, hogfather, human sacrifice, israel, jesus, john of patmos, judah, maasai, mesha of moab, mesha stele, moab, poseidon, revelation, sacrifice, small gods, spider-man, stan lee, supersessionism, twelve tribes of israel |

Fiefdoms of the Fay

I wrote years ago about how, largely due to Shakespeare’s influence, Oberon and Titania are often regarded as the rulers of the fairies, appearing in a lot of different media. I mentioned a few other fairy queens in the post, … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Authors, British, Celtic, Characters, Christianity, Dreams, Fairy Tales, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Mythology, Names, Neil Gaiman, Norse, Oz, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, William Shakespeare | Tagged a midsummer night's dream, aesir, bebo, cuchulainn, daione sidhe, edmund spenser, elves, faerie queene, fairies, gloriana, iubdan, j.m. barrie, kenna, kensington garden, king ailill mac mata, king fergus mac leda, king finvarra, king henry viii, lurline, mercutio, oberon, peter pan, peter pan in kensington gardens, prose edda, queen elizabeth i, queen mab, queen medb, queen oona, romeo and juliet, snorri sturluson, stardust, tain bo cuailinge, tanaquill, thomas tickell, titania |

Away From Armageddon

I have a movie and a miniseries to review this time. They’re not very similar, but they do both relate to religion. Constantine’s Sword – This documentary film from 2007 was based on an earlier book by former priest James … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Catholicism, Christianity, Crusades, Fundamentalism, History, Humor, Judaism, Music, Neil Gaiman, Politics, Prejudice, Religion, Roman Empire, Technology, Television, Terry Pratchett, VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged adam young, adolf hitler, anathema device, angels, anthony crowley, antichrist, antisemitism, apocalypse, aziraphale, bible, constantine, constantine's sword, david tennant, demons, elvis presley, four horsemen of the apocalypse, good omens, gospel of matthew, holocaust, james carroll, jesus, michael sheen, newton pulsifer, pontius pilate, pope gregory, pope paul v, prophecy, queen, roman ghetto, second vatican council, ted haggard, the omen, witches |

Let Us Contemplate the Sadness of a Banjo-Playing Frog

One thing I noticed in the book Yama Yama Land, by Grace Duffie Boylan, was a reference to a giant frog playing a tennis racquet like a banjo. Picture by Edgar Keller So what’s the connection between frogs and banjos? … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Authors, Cartoons, Comics, England, History, Humor, Muppets, Music, Neil Gaiman, Nursery Rhymes, Poetry, Relationships, Television, Terry Pratchett, They Might Be Giants | Tagged a frog he would a-wooing go, a moste strange weddinge of the frogge and the mowse, a very sad story about a frog and a banjo, anthony crowley, banjo frogs, banjos, chris ware, edgar keller, fiddles, frog and banjo, froggy went a-courtin', frogs, good omens, grace duffie boylan, kermit the frog, mcsweeney's, mike doughty, miss mousey, miss piggy, pobblebonks, soul coughing, the muppet show, the muppets valentines show, tom and jerry, yama yama land |

Bleed for the Mead

One Norse myth I can’t recall coming across before reading Neil Gaiman’s retelling was about the god Kvasir and the origin of poetry. Since poets were the ones telling these tales in the first place, it makes sense that they’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Mythology, Neil Gaiman, Norse, Poetry | Tagged aesir, bolverk, braugi, dwarves, fjalar, galar, giants, gunnlod, kvasir, mead of poetry, odin, suttung, vanir |