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Tag Archives: richard wagner

Secret Mountain Sex Parties

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 |

You Should Have Put a Ring on It

The Wizard of Oz has been said to be the ultimate chick flick, as it’s about two women fighting over shoes. But then, J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium is one where a lot of world conflicts arise from jewelry, so maybe that’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Arabian, Authors, Fairy Tales, Greek Mythology, Greek Philosophy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Music, Mythology, Norse, Philosophy, Semitic, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged aesir, aladdin, alberich, andvari, arabian nights, brothers grimm, candaules of lydia, demons, draupnir, dwarves, elves, fafnir, glaucon, gollum, gyges of lydia, hades, invisibility, isildur, jewelry, jinn, king solomon, link, lord of the rings, magic rings, middle-earth, one ring, plato, republic, richard wagner, ring cycle, ring of solomon, rings, rings of power, sauron, silmarils, socrates, tarnhelm, testament of solomon, the hobbit, the king of the golden mountain, the legend of zelda, the silmarillion, wishing rings |

Nibbles of Nibelungs

Although I’ve been interested in classical mythology for most of my life, it was really Final Fantasy VI that made me want to check out the Teutonic hero Siegfried, a mysterious character in the game possibly intended to be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Comics, Fairy Tales, Final Fantasy, German, Germany, History, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Norse, Poetry, Video Games | Tagged alberich, andvari, anna russell, attila the hun, brunhilda, burgundians, der ring des nibelungen, donner, dragons, dwarves, fafnir, final fantasy v, final fantasy vi, final fantasy vii, freyja, giants, gibichungs, gilgamesh, gudrun, hagen, huns, idun, ildico, king gunther, king sigebert, kriemhild, loki, marvel comics, mime, nibelheim, nibelungenlied, nibelungs, niflheim, oberon, opera, prose edda, queen brunhilda of austrasia, regin, richard wagner, siegfried, siegmund, sigurd, sinfljoti, snorri sturluson, thor, valhalla, valkyries, volsunga saga, volsungs, worms, xanten |

The Ring Recycled

Expecting Someone Taller, by Tom Holt – Holt has written many books of weird fantasy, science fiction, and satire; but his main thing is bringing a fictional world into the modern one. This was actually his first comic fantasy, based … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, German, Mythology, Norse, Tom Holt | Tagged alberich, der ring des nibelungen, expecting someone taller, freia, freyja, giants, ingolf, loge, loki, malcolm fisher, rhinemaidens, richard wagner, ring cycle, tarnhelm, valkyries, wotan |

We’re Certainly Dwarfs

So, is the plural “dwarfs” or “dwarves”? I believe the former is considered preferable, but J.R.R. Tolkien and I like the latter. Regardless, modern media tends to portray them fairly consistently, as diminutive but sturdy people with thick beards, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, C.S. Lewis, Christianity, Chronicles of Narnia, Discworld, Fairy Tales, Final Fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Judaism, Language, Magic, Mythology, Norse, Religion, Terry Pratchett, Video Games | Tagged chrono cross, cid pollendina, dwarves, excalibur, final fantasy iv, final fantasy ix, jadis the white witch, khuzdul, king giott, kokkol, nerrick, nikabrik, Poul Anderson, prince caspian, richard wagner, ring cycle, snow white and rose red, snow white and the seven dwarfs, the last battle |

Give Me That Old Norse Religion

While polytheistic religion is a definite minority nowadays, you can probably find groups and individuals worshipping any god or group of gods if you look hard enough. Worship of the old Norse pantheon is known as Asatru, or worship of … Continue reading →

Posted in Mythology, Norse, Prejudice, Religion, Wicca | Tagged adolf hitler, aesir, asatru, germanic paganism, neopaganism, odin, polytheism, racism, richard wagner, thor |

Gabbin’ About Gabooches

The Gabooches are characters in John R. Neill’s Lucky Bucky in Oz, but it’s not entirely clear what a Gabooch actually is. They first show up when Bucky throws enchanted doorknobs at the Nomes, and they promptly turn into four … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, John R. Neill, Oz, Oz Authors | Tagged davy jones the wooden whale, flummux, gabooches, lucky bucky in oz, lucky bucky jones, richard wagner, scarecrow, tin woodman |

The Vanderdecker Policy

Since the most recent book I’ve read involves the legend of the Flying Dutchman, I figure I should give an overview of that story. I actually thought I already had, but I can’t find it through a Google search. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Dragon Quest, Music, Mythology, Tori Amos, Video Games | Tagged bernard fokke, captain vanderdecker, dragon quest iii, flying dutch, flying dutchman, folk tales, heinrich heine, juan de montalban, legends, phantom ship, richard wagner, tom holt |

Don’t Sleep in the Ring of Fire

Brunhilda is a figure from Norse myths and legends who has somehow come into popular culture as a really fat woman. In fact, thanks to Wagner, she IS the singing fat lady of the saying. And while I certainly don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in German, History, Middle Ages, Monarchy, Mythology, Norse | Tagged brunhilda, brunhilda of austrasia, grimhild, gudrun, gunnar, kremhild, niebelungenlied, odin, richard wagner, ring cycle, siegfried, sigebert of austrasia, sigurd, valkyries |

Even Other Phreex Hate the Freakshow

Continuing with John Dough and the Cherub, I’m going to take a closer look at the Isle of Phreex, where Chick the Cherub lived before journeying with John Dough to Hi-Lo/Lo-Hi. This island in the Nonestic Ocean (exactly where is … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Places | Tagged bebe celeste, brotherhood of failings, chick the cherub, circus sideshows, duo the two-headed dog, freak shows, fresh-air fiend, general of phreex, imar, isle of phreex, john dough, john dough and the cherub, kinglet of phreex, maria simpson, nebbie, nonestic ocean, prize potato, richard wagner, sir austed alfrin, sir pryse bocks, tietjamus toips, wart-on-the-nose-and-cleaver-in-the-neck |