England – VoVatia (original) (raw)

Category Archives: England

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 |

Easy Camelot, Easy Ganelon

Yeah, I’m writing about books again. The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur, by Lev Grossman – I wasn’t sure what to expect of this modern take on the Arthurian legend, but I ended up quite liking it, despite … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Arthurian Legend, Book Reviews, British, Christianity, England, Fairy Tales, History, Humor, Islam, Judaism, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Religion, Slavic, Technology, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged avalon, bazonga bird, camelot, chernobog, demons, eleggua, fairies, ganelon, geoffrey of monmouth, gondwane, king arthur, king constantine of britain, knights of the round table, lev grossman, lin carter, lord of shadows, maya and the return of the godlings, merlin, morgan le fay, naomi novik, nimue, orishas, paganism, roger zelazny, round table, rumplestiltskin, sir bedivere, sir dagonet, sir dinadan, sir mordred, sir palomides, sky island, spinning silver, staryk, terra magica, the bright sword, the wand of gamelon, the warrior of world's end, yama yama land |

Snarks and Grumkins

The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, by Walter Moers, translated by John Brownjohn – I’d only just recently heard of this German author, but this book really grabbed me. It’s a funny and absurd fantasy, narrated by a bear who … Continue reading →

Posted in Arabian, Art, Authors, Book Reviews, British, C.S. Lewis, Celtic, Christianity, Chronicles of Narnia, England, Fairy Tales, German, History, Humor, John R. Neill, Judaism, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Religion, Scottish, Semitic | Tagged a game of thrones, a song of ice and fire, adam and eve, andrew lang, atlantes, atlantis, bible, brothers grimm, daenerys targaryen, dragonrouge, dragons, edmund spenser, faerie queene, fairies, felixmarte of hyrcania, george macdonald, george r.r. martin, jinn, john brownjohn, kesrick, korrigan, lin carter, mazikeen, oberon, orlando furioso, peris, portunes, seals, selkies, talmud, terra magica, the 13 1/2 lives of captain bluebear, the light princess, the mythology of fairies, the scalawagons of oz, the world guide to gnomes fairies elves and other little people, thomas keightley, trolls, unicorns, walter moers, westeros, zamonia |

Tell Me About the Dragons, George

I had a few other things I wanted to write about, but since I found out Saturday was St. George’s Day, I thought he might be worth looking into. As someone who didn’t attend a church where saints were really … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglicanism, Authors, Catholicism, Christianity, Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Crusades, Diana Wynne Jones, Eastern Orthodox, England, Greek Mythology, History, Holidays, Humor, Islam, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Religion, Roman, Roman Empire, Stan Freberg, Tom Holt | Tagged dragons, edith nesbit, emperor diocletian, gordon r. dickson, hercules, kenneth grahame, king edward iii of england, medusa, order of the garter, ovid, paint your dragon, perseus, prince marvel, smaug, st. dragon and the george, st. george, st. george's day, st. patrick, st. theodore tiron, the deliverers of their country, the enchanted island of yew, the hobbit, the reluctant dragon, unicorns, witch week |

Angling for the Saxons

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s idea for an America First Caucus based on Anglo-Saxon values sounds kind of bizarre to those of us who don’t run in white supremacist circles. Like, why Anglo-Saxon in particular, and why would a group focusing on … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthurian Legend, Authors, British, Celtic, Colonization of America, England, Ethnicity, Etymology, History, J.R.R. Tolkien, Language, Lewis Carroll, Monarchy, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Norse, Politics, Prejudice, Roman Empire, United Kingdom | Tagged america first, angles, anglo-saxon attitudes, britons, dragons, english, geoffrey of monmouth, hengest, historia regum britanniae, horsa, jutes, king alfred the great, king arthur, king vortigern, marjorie taylor greene, mary rambaran-olm, merlin, nationalism, normans, odin, picts, racism, robin hood, rowena, saxons, through the looking-glass, time magazine, vikings |

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 |

A House Full of Ginger

Gingerbread houses are a well-known Christmas tradition, not that I’ve ever seen anyone actually make one. They’re a pretty cool idea, though. The idea of objects made of foodstuffs is an old one in legends throughout the world, especially when … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Authors, Characters, Christmas, England, Fairy Tales, Food, Germany, History, Holidays, Jasper Fforde, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Nursery Crime, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged a. baldwin sloane, architecture, brothers grimm, candy, gingerbread, gingerbread houses, gingerbread men, hansel and gretel, john dough, john dough and the cherub, johnny gingerbread, kolobok, pancakes, queen elizabeth i, the gingerbread man, the little gingerbread man, the wizard of oz, witches |

Guinevere Out of Control

Arthurian literature hasn’t often been kind to Arthur’s wife Guinevere, presenting her as having an ongoing affair with his favorite knight, sometimes even goading him into it when he doesn’t really want to go against the king. It’s pretty much … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthurian Legend, British, England, History, Magic, Mythology, Relationships, Welsh | Tagged absalom, adultery, battle of camlann, bible, cywyrd of gwent, false guinevere, geoffrey of monmouth, gians, gogfran gawr, gwenhwyfach, gwythyr ap greidawl, incest, infidelity, jenny jump, king arthur, king constantine of dumnonia, king david, king leodegrance of cameliard, queen guinevere, sir bertholai, sir lancelot, sir mordred, t.h. white, the once and future king, tower of london, triads of the island of britain, vulgate cycle, welsh triads |

Knight Time Is the Right Time

The King Arthur Collection – I’ve been reading this one on and off for about a year and a half. It’s long, but worth reading. There are six separate works included, as well as some background information about the historicity … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Arthurian Legend, Authors, Book Reviews, British, Christianity, England, Fairy Tales, Final Fantasy, History, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Mythology, Poetry, Religion, Roman Empire, Video Games | Tagged a connecticut yankee in king arthur's court, alfred lord tennyson, baba yaga, camelot, charlton miner lewis, dolorous stroke, emperor magnus maximus, fisher king, garland, garlon, gawayne and the green knight, geoffrey of monmouth, holy grail, idylls of the king, jesus, john william waterhouse, joseph of arimathea, king arthur, king arthur and his knights, king arthur and the knights of the round table, lady of shalott, lady of the lake, le morte d'arthur, lucius tiberius, mark twain, maude radford warren, queen guinevere, round table, siege perious, sir balan, sir balin, sir galahad, sir gareth, sir gawain, sir jame knowles, sir lancelot, sir thomas malory, spear of destiny, the hobbit, the king arthur collection, vasilisa the fair |

Land of Dairy Milk Bars and Honey

Tonight, I’m going to take a look at British Israelism, the movement popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that insisted the British were descended from refugees from Israel. This was essentially a way to be pro-Semitic and … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthurian Legend, British, Christianity, Conspiracy Theories, England, Ethnicity, History, Judaism, Language, Middle East, Mythology, Religion | Tagged aeneas, beli mawr, bran the blessed, british israelism, bron, brutus of britain, cimmerians, conan the barbarian, dan, elaine of escalot, emperor constantine, enygeus, ephraim, fisher king, geoffrey of monmouth, glastonbury, heli, house of tudor, igraine, ireland, israel, jeremiah, jerusalem, jesus, john of glastonbury, joseph of arimathea, judah, king arthur, king coel, king henry vii of england, king james i of england, king leir, king uther pendragon, king zedekiah of judah, lost ten tribes, nebuchadnezzar, pellas, robert e. howard, scota, scotland, sir galahad, sir lancelot, sir percival, t.h. white, tea tephi, the once and future king, william blake |