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.

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

Posted on March 28, 2023 by JE

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 →

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Fífling Around

Posted on March 26, 2023 by JE

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 →

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Alpha Ralpha Woulevard

Posted on March 26, 2023 by JE

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

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Words on the Wing

Posted on March 25, 2023 by JE

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 →

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The Dark Tower Is Thrown Down

Posted on March 25, 2023 by JE

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

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A god by any other name…

Posted on March 24, 2023 by JE

Two things were interesting to me in that piece about Sandon Branderson that everyone is talking about (and that I don’t propose to link to because, eh, it’s not great and also Wired has gotten plenty of hits from it … Continue reading →

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Trump or Carinus?

Posted on March 21, 2023 by JE
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Springy

Posted on March 20, 2023 by JE

Happy Equinox to my fellow Tellurians. All visitors: please make sure your waiver forms have been signed. https://manuelsantosmusico.bandcamp.com/track/equinox

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The Weird of the Worm

Posted on March 19, 2023 by JE

Reading Snorri’s account of Ragnarǫkr this noon over blunch, and I was struck by this poetic phrase in Snorri’s prose: Þórr berr banaorð af Miðgarðsormi “Thor bears the baneword from Midgard’s Serpent”. Old Norse orð is cognate with English word, … Continue reading →

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Accidental Theology (or Zoology)

Posted on March 10, 2023 by JE

Typo of the day: amle (for an intended male). Amle looks like a real word, but I’m not sure what it’d mean. In OI ama is “to vex, annoy” so maybe Amlé would be like Purgatory for Norse Gimlé (“High … Continue reading →

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