Knowledge
Words of Dead Worlds: Apocalypse
We understand the word “apocalypse” as referring to the end of the world, but it didn’t always have such a sinister meaning. Coming from the Greek, it is made up of two words: “Apo” which […]
Knowledge
Knowledge
People of Dead Worlds: Weyland the Smith
Weyland the Smith (aka Volandr, Welund, etc.) had an unusual background. Let’s start with his grandparents. His grandfather Wilkinus was a tough-minded man, much given to war and raiding. One such raid took him to […]
Knowledge
Words of Dead Worlds: Money
We generally take the words we use for money for granted. After all, we don’t need to know where it comes from as long as we get more of it! But since money is generally […]
Wisdom of Dead Worlds
The Strong Will Do What They Can
“When the shepherd’s weak, the wolf shits wool.” – Medieval French maxim
Knowledge
Trivia of Dead Worlds: Scandinavian Snakes
In many regions of medieval Scandinavia, snakes were considered benign – and even lucky – to the extent that families would leave out milk or other enticements to attract snakes into the house. They seem […]
Knowledge
Words of Dead Worlds: Guest and Host
The words “guest” and “host” are two sides of the same coin — they’re related concepts but they have opposite meanings. Strangely, they are both descended from the same proto-indo-european root: ghosti, which meant “stranger” […]
Knowledge
Words of Dead Worlds: Quarantine
The word “quarantine” comes from the Italian word “quaranta”, which means “forty”. At the height of the Venetian trading empire, one of the major threats that the city faced was the danger that foreign trade […]
Knowledge
Words of Dead Worlds: Raum
In old Icelandic, calling someone a “raum” or “raumr” was a way of mixing an insult in with your compliment (or vice-versa). That’s because if someone was a “raum”, they were both exceptionally large, and […]