Category Archives: Myth & Legend

Forever Blowing Bubbles

Frank Kelly Freas, “The Piper”–a WEIRD TALES cover in 1950 and 1990. (See Deuce Richardson’s writeup at the DMR Books site.)

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“Look Up, Not Down!”

Κύκλοψ: βλέπετ᾽ ἄνω καὶ μὴ κάτω. Χορός: ἰδού: πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν Δί᾽ ἀνακεκύφαμεντά τ᾽ ἄστρα, καὶ τὸν Ὠρίωνα δέρκομαι. —Euripides, Cyclops Cyclops: Look up, not down. Chorus: I am looking up! I’m looking ‘way up!

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Coca þola

I was looking up þola in Cleasby & Vigfusson this afternoon even though I was pretty sure I knew what it meant, which is a totally normal thing to do. They said it meant “endure”, as I expected, and connected … Continue reading

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Looking Forward

Gearing up to teach one of my favorite courses, “Medieval Legends”.

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The Ygg and I

Today I’m thinking about Weird water and eggs. Snorri says that the first root of Yggdrasil comes down in Ásgarð and that next to it is the Pool of Weird. The Norns come out to it each day and splash … Continue reading

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Good for the Gander?

Apparently the gands that appear in Gandalf and in Jǫrmungandr (the name of the world-girdling serpent in Norse myth) are really the same root. Cleasby and Vigfusson say “the exact sense of this word is somewhat dubious; it is mostly … Continue reading

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The Late, Late Show

I was watching TV, and for some reason there was a rather elderly Kim Basinger talking about awkward marriage proposals she’d received in her life. “But the worst,” she said, “was from Maxen Wledig.” This interested me, as Maxen Wledig … Continue reading

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