Category Archives: fantasy art

The Hood, the Bad, and the Bitey

Posted on April 8, 2023 by JE

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 →

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Further, Deponent Sayeth Not

Posted on April 2, 2023 by JE

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.

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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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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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Old Moon 1 & 2

Posted on March 9, 2023 by JE

These monochrome beauties came in the mail today.

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Swords Against Smog: SWORDS IN THE MIST by Fritz Leiber

Posted on March 5, 2023 by JE

In summary: This late-60s collection includes what many consider to be the two best stories about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, as well as the earliest complete story about the Mighty Twain. As such it’s essential reading for the sword-and-sorcery … Continue reading →

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More Morlock

Posted on March 2, 2023 by JE

I made a couple of sales in February: “The Venomous Sands of Amas Lamaar” to Tales from the Magician’s Skull (slated for issue 13) and “Evil Honey” to Old Moon Quarterly (slated for issue 3).

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Swords Against Redundancy: Leiber’s TWO SOUGHT ADVENTURE and SWORDS AGAINST DEATH

Posted on February 20, 2023 by JE

In summary: these two books collect the earliest stories Fritz Leiber published about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, ergo one or the other is essential reading for the sword-and-sorcery fan. Both are probably essential only to the Leiberian completist, so … Continue reading →

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SWORDS AND DEVILTRY by Fritz Leiber

Posted on February 11, 2023 by JE

Summary: this is essential reading for the fan of sword-and-sorcery, written by the guy who coined the name of the genre. Some mild spoilers follow. In terms of internal chronology, Swords and Deviltry (Ace, May 1970) is the first volume … Continue reading →

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The Strife of Camlann

Posted on January 10, 2023 by JE

Mordred vs. Arthur (by Arthur Rackham).

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