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Yearly Archives: 2014
Sunday Inspiration: The Critical Hour
One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive one.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Hero’s Journey
Over at Fantasy Faction, Aaron Miles explains the concept of “The Hero’s Journey,” a very common structure for stories old and new that have been told all around the world. Joseph Campbell first drew attention to this structure, and Christopher Vogler adapted it for writers. As Aaron explains,
The overall arc is called a journey, even if the protagonist doesn’t actually travel very far. The events listed in the stages can be physical or metaphorical, and subject to interpretation. Not every story will fit the pattern exactly, following the same progression, or even contain all the elements of the formula. An author should not feel bound by this idea, or feel that their story must conform to it, but at the very least they should be aware of the structure, and have a basic understanding of the different elements.
Children of Pride might be read as a kind of “Hero’s Journey.” At least, I had those themes and structural elements in mind while I was writing it. I’d love to see some middle- and high-school essays on the topic, actually. 🙂
Mind-blowing Extinct Animals
Emily Graslie of Mental Floss introduces us to some more extinct animals. Some of them might make cool additions to somebody’s fantasy stories.
Tolkien’s Beowulf Is Coming!
Via The Guardian:
John Garth, author of Tolkien and the Great War, said the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf had “a deep and detailed impact on what Tolkien wrote – from his earliest poem of Middle-earth, written in September 1914, right through The Hobbit with the theft of a cup from a dragon hoard, and The Lord of the Rings with the arrival at the halls of Rohan”.
The author also, said Garth, changed attitudes to Beowulf “completely in a 1936 talk which rescued this marvellous poem from being treated as a mere quarry for historical enquiry”.
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, edited by Tolkien’s son Christopher Tolkien, will be published by HarperCollins on May 22. And there was much rejoicing!
Wit and Grit in Fantasy
Sebastien de Castell explains why you need both in a very nice post at Fantasy Faction.
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a tragic play fraught with intrigue, betrayal, and murder that makes us question the very foundations of human nature.
It starts with a joke.
To be more precise, the first scene is a series of puns in which a nobleman is made ridiculous to the audience by a cobbler who refers to himself as a ‘mender of soles’ (which, of course, the nobleman hears as ‘souls’.) It’s a remarkably clever scene that no doubt set the audience of the Globe Theatre in 1599 falling out of their seats from laughter. But what follows is the destruction of friendships, the breakdown of civil society, and an unending series of killings until the world of the play becomes utterly desolate. So why on earth does Shakespeare start with a joke?
Southern Fantasy with No Stereotyping
Thanks to Harriet for bringing out something in her review of Children of Pride that I felt was very important to get right:
I love that this is a fantasy tale that originates in the South and there is no stereotyping!
If all goes well, she and others will be able to enjoy more stereotype-free southern (especially Louisiana!) fantasy perhaps by the end of the year.
Movie Review: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Christine Amsden’s bottom line is near the top of her review: A good movie for an eight-year-old. For anybody else, maybe not so much.
Portland, Oregon Has a Leprechaun Colony
“Ireland” may be the most popular first answer given when someone is asked about where leprechauns live, but Portland, Oregon, has its very own population of little green-clad Irishmen, too. And they’ve even got a dedicated area—Mill Ends Park—to prove it. Here are 11 fun facts about what has been described as “the only leprechaun colony west of Ireland.”
Early European Depictions of Exotic Animals
Vincze Miklós has posted several images at io9 from medieval and early modern sources of the animals of Africa and Asia, based on hearsay and rumor.
The Breastplate of Saint Patrick
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all who are observing it. Perhaps you’ll appreciate the discussion of the Lorica of Saint Patrick posted today at the Celtic Myth Podshow. A lorica (literally, “breastplate”) is a poetic prayer form especially associated with Ireland. It is a prayer of protection by which the pray-er claims divine protection from various threats and enemies, hence the “breastplate” imagery.
As with much early Irish Christian religiosity, this traditional prayer (not likely to actually go back to St. Patrick himself) is steeped in earlier pagan or druidic forms:
It is written in the style of a druidic incantation for protection on a journey. It is part of the Liber Hymnorum, a collection of hymns found in two manuscripts kept in Dublin. This beautiful prayer of St. Patrick, popularly known as “St. Patrick’s Breast-Plate”, is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over Paganism. It’s fascinating to compare the structure of this prayer with many of the incantations found in the Carmina Gadelica as well as many of the meditations and rituals seen in Druidry, Wicca and Ceremonial Magic today.
The text of the prayer is included both in its most familar English form and in a more literal translation from Old Irish.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m wearing green today only because it’s 38° F in Charlotte, where I’m currently away from home on business, and green is the color of the only clean long-sleeved shirt I have with me!
Darrell J. Pursiful 