Author Archives: JE

About JE

James Enge is the author of the World-Fantasy-Award-nominated novel Blood of Ambrose (Pyr, April 2009). His latest book is The Wide World's End. His short fiction has appeared in Black Gate, Tales from the Magician's Skull, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and elsewhere.

Happy Easter!

Οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε, ἠγέρθη γὰρ.

Posted in music | Comments Off on Happy Easter!

Winter Is Over

The Spring Equinox notwithstanding, I know that winter has ended when the westering sun doesn’t reach through the southern window of my bookroom to punch me in the eye as I’m writing on my computer. That happens sometime around the … Continue reading

Posted in art, astronomy, writing | Comments Off on Winter Is Over

The Hood, the Bad, and the Bitey

I was looking up something else in Cleasby & Vigfusson’s Old Norse dictionary when my eye fell on gríma, meaning “a kind of hood or cowl”; by extension “the night”. A lot of badasses, starting with Óðin, are called Grímr … Continue reading

Posted in art, fantasy, fantasy art, Myth & Legend, words | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Hood, the Bad, and the Bitey

Further, Deponent Sayeth Not

The joke, such as it is, doesn’t really come off in English. But the Latin means something like “‘I am Spoke/I have spoke<n>,’ spoke Spoke.” Live long and prosper, Spoke.

Posted in fantasy art, language, sff, television, words | Tagged , | Comments Off on Further, Deponent Sayeth Not

Sharp Dialogue

I was watching an old video where John Sharp, the British actor appeared. I always think of him as the outstandingly creepy Number Two in the Prisoner episode “Change of Mind”. Then I wondered if the actor’s name had anything … Continue reading

Posted in review or meta-review, sff, television | Tagged , | Comments Off on Sharp Dialogue

Clods Without Witnesses (Dorothy L. Sayers, CLOUDS OF WITNESS)

In summary: Clouds of Witness features Sayers and her aristocratic detective at or near their best—or most unbearable, depending on how it hits you. This is a literate (even pretentious) and witty mystery story which also shows Sayers’ burgeoning skill … Continue reading

Posted in books, mystery, review or meta-review | Tagged , | Comments Off on Clods Without Witnesses (Dorothy L. Sayers, CLOUDS OF WITNESS)

Fífling Around

I fell into the dictionary again today and learned that Old Norse fífl (“fool”) also meant “monster” (cf Old English fifal “monster”), hence the fíflmegir (“monster men”) who rowed the hellship from Muspellheim that Loki steered on the way to Ragnarǫk. I wondered if the … Continue reading

Posted in books, Myth & Legend, words | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fífling Around

Alpha Ralpha Woulevard

Alpha wolf, schmalpha wolf. Time to slay that zombie idea. https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-myth-of-the-alpha-wolf

Posted in Minnestoics, science | Tagged | Comments Off on Alpha Ralpha Woulevard

Words on the Wing

I was reading the Eddas today, which is what Tolkien would probably be doing on Re(re)ading Tolkien Day, and I was struck by a pair of birdy lines: Ǫrn mun hlakka,  slítr nái niðfǫlr. —Vǫluspá (quoted in Snorri, Gylfaginning 50) … Continue reading

Posted in Myth & Legend, words | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Words on the Wing

The Dark Tower Is Thrown Down

Happy Downfall-of-Sauron Day, but remember: “Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.”

Posted in fantasy, fantasy art, politics | Comments Off on The Dark Tower Is Thrown Down