Trivialities of Dead Worlds

At the time of Genghis Khan, the religion of medieval Mongolia was a kind of animistic shamanism. The principal deity was Tenggiri, the blue sky. While other gods existed, the religion lacked the sense of […]

Whenever you’re reading an ancient saga, lay, or poem, and the main character gets separated from their group while chasing a remarkable deer (or some other animal), it can mean only one thing: sex, fairies, […]

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 […]

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 […]