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Puck’s Castle
Via Atlas Obscura:
Some say that Puck’s Castle, in Rathmichael Co. Dublin, was built from sacred stones culled from the nearby Bearna Dhearg (or “ringfort”), but little is really known for certain about the structure today. Because of the “sacred stones” story, Puck’s – an English derivative of the Gaelic “púca” or “pooka” meaning ghost or spirit – is said to be haunted.
The Mathematics of Vampires
Yes, apparently there is such a thing.
A surprisingly large number of academic studies—as in, more than one—have applied mathematical modeling to the concept of human-vampire co-existence. Using the depiction of bloodsuckers in various forms of media, from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to True Blood, these papers look at whether Earth’s vampire population would inevitably annihilate humanity, and, if so, how long it would take.
A Map of Middle Earth with Tolkien’s Annotations
You never know what you’ll find tucked into an old book.
In the 1960s, the British illustrator Pauline Baynes was working on a color map of Middle-earth, the land of wizards, elves and, of course, hobbits. While she was drafting the map, she worked closely with J.R.R. Tolkien, who sent her a copy of a map from a previous edition of Lord of the Rings, covered in notes revealing details of Middle-earth.
Baynes tucked that map into her copy of Tolkien’s trilogy, where it stayed for decades, until, just recently, it was found at Blackwell’s Rare Books, reports the Guardian.
Trows
The Faery Folklorist has posted a wonderful introduction to the trows of the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In case you’re not quite up to speed on your trow-lore, the article begins,
According to Saxby and Edmondston’s ‘Home of a Naturalist’ (1888), “This interesting race of supernatural beings is closely allied to the Scandinavian Trolls, but has some very distinctive characteristics of its own. The Trow is not such a mischief-making sprite as the Troll, is more human-like in some respects, and his nature seems cast in a morbid, melancholy mould.”
From there, the article discusses what trows look like, where they live, and the sorts of things they do. There is even a brief but delightful list of trow names culled from Orkney and Shetland folklore.
Jersey Devil Sighting
Yeah, it looks pretty fake. But what photo of a cryptid doesn’t? Though at least the Jersey Devil doesn’t emit the same kind of photo-blurring effect one associates with Bigfoot, for example.
The Hero’s Journey in About a Minute and a Half
If you’ve ever wondered why the protagonists of so many books and movies have similar stories, here’s why:
(H/T: mental_floss)
Sword of Summer Book Trailer
A trailer has been released for Rick Riordan’s <em>The Sword of Summer</em>. It looks pretty nice, and I’m confident the narrator’s Boston accent (or approximation thereof) is significant.
So Apparently There’s Going to be a Krampus Movie
‘Cause nothing screams “holiday spirit” like a horror movie based on this legend about Saint Nick’s stern left-hand…being.
I blogged about Krampus a couple of Decembers ago. As I explain in that post, Krampus seems to be a variation on the Percht, a terrifying satyr-like creature from the Alpine region. Also, in the local German dialect, the plural of Krampus is Krampusi. But one of them is probably bad enough.
Tolkien’s Kullervo to Be Published
Via PBS:
A 1914 manuscript that formed the early basis for J.R.R. Tolkien’s works of epic fantasy will be widely published for the first time this summer.
“The Story of Kullervo,” which Tolkien wrote while at Oxford University, has previously only been published in the journal “Tolkien Studies: Volume 7.” It will be widely distributed for the first time in the U.K. on Aug. 27 and in the U.S. on Oct. 27.
The book follows the story of an orphan seeking revenge on the dark magician who killed his father. Tolkien based the book on the Finnish epic poem “The Kalevala,” which was published in English for the first time in 1888.
Darrell J. Pursiful 