Book Review: A fun, good introduction to the Celtic myths

Hallo everyone. Sorry it's been a while. I did get done with a new book and thought I should share it with you.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Story:
This book introduces readers to the mythological world of the Celts. From the coming of the Tuatha De Danann, or the gods of the Celtic world, to the exploits of heroes like Cu Chulainn and the brothers Lludd and Llevelys, the Celtic world is shown to be familiar and different to us. It gives a feeling of wonder and awe to the magic of the British Isles, and shows that each part of the world was different in the wonder and magic of the mythological past.
This book is more of an introduction to the Celtic world than anything, but the myths are easy to understand. There are also footnotes provided to help explain some unfamiliar terms and pronunciation guides to some of the names. I picked this up to learn more about the myths of the British Isles, and I was not disappointed. Some elements of these tales present themselves again in later legends, adding to the richness of the heritage of the Celtic lands. I definitely plan to read more Celtic myths and delve further into the legends.
Caution:
People are said to be mutilated, but not shown. Relationship affairs are mentioned, but not described.
Lessons:
Pride can lead to ruin. A good king puts the needs of the people ahead of his own. Families can be a source of strength and comfort.

More on Mermaids

Hi again. Sorry for no update last week, but I was a little busy. The reason why I'm revisiting the topic of mermaids is because I don't feel like I covered enough about them last time. Like dragons, there are so many myths and legends surrounding them that I had to do another blog post discussing what the ancient civilizations thought of these ancient creatures. First on the list is Greek culture.

In Greek legends, Triton, son of Poseidon was held to be the father of the mermaids and mermen. Instead of mermaids, however, they were simply known as Tritons and were often seen around the gods of the sea. Their appearance was also described as being more shark-like than what we have today. Some people may think that Poseidon had the basic appearance of a merman, but that is false. That was how his son Triton looked. Another myth of a sea god (though not as well known) is the tale of Glaucus. Glaucus was a fisherman who, after seeing his catch acting strangely, tasted some magic grass and was filled with a love for the sea. Poseidon called together many river gods and they made Glaucus a god of the sea, sealing the deal by giving him the tail of a fish. Therefore, we can conclude that the mermaids and mermen of Greek mythology were basically either gods or servants of the sea gods.

The mermaids of the Norse culture were called selkies, and were basically seals who took human form when they took off their seal skin. Legends vary at how often this would occur. Some say that it could only happen once a year, others say it only happens on Midsummer's eve. These legends say that humans could marry selkies, but very differently. Women had to shed seven tears into the sea to attract the love of a male selkie, while men had to simply capture the skin of a female selkie. This prevented them from returning to the sea and effectively made her his wife. It would appear that selkies were a type of wild person who could become tame if captured.

The Arabs also had their own tales of mermaids. Most of the time they were gods or goddesses of the sea (like Atargatis, who could not conceal her beauty no matter what). However, there were civilizations of merfolk who lived just like people do on the surface (and breeding between the two species did occur, with the result being children with the ability to breathe underwater). One tale from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights tells of how a sailor was brought to a mermaid city, where they lived in a society without money or clothing. Still, for the most part, the Arabs talked about how the societies of mermaids lived, something the rest of the ancient world didn't think of.

The British Isles had many tales of mermaids, most of the time taking a page from the Greek myths of the sirens and making them out to be a bad omen. They thought that if something bad happened, it was the work of a mermaid (whether they were trying to prevent it or not). They were also capable of swimming up rivers and living in freshwater lakes. One nobleman sought to rescue a woman he thought was drowning, but was saved by his servant who saw the maiden as a mermaid. The mermen were often wilder than their female counterparts, but basically had no part in the affairs of humans. Guess they enjoyed what they had under the sea.

Well, that's basically it for the ancient tales of mermaids. There tales of them in China, the Caribbean, and Africa, but unfortunately there wasn't enough to cover in this blog. I think that for the most part we like the modern tales of mermaids as half-fish people who love music and have civilizations under the ocean. I'm pretty sure that has long as we keep telling tales of mystical lands, we will tell tales of the mermaids and mermen.

Sailors, Curses, and Mermaids. Oh My!

I meant to do this yesterday with the release of Captain Jack Sparrow's new adventure in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, but unfortunately that didn't happen. I'll try to do better next week with blogging, but don't worry. I won't stay off for months. Anyway, on with the blog.

Ever since the release of the first film in 2003, Pirates of the Caribbean has captured the imagination of the entire planet. Fans have gone to see the heroics of Will Turner, the courage of Elizabeth Swan, and the cunning of Captain Jack Sparrow. The series newest title, On Stranger Tides, does not feature Will or Elizabeth, but Captain Jack has a great new adventure ahead of him. The pirate now searches for the legendary Fountain of Youth while confronting the woman from his past Angelica, and hot on their trail are the English Navy, zombies, mermaids, and Blackbeard himself.

While Captain Jack Sparrow is one of the smartest (or craziest) men to sail the oceans, he is not the first seafaring hero in the world, and he isn't the first person to encounter creatures like mermaids. Across the world people have had told stories of men who brave the vast oceans and encountered many dangers. I'll discuss some of the heroes in this blog, and what makes them so famous.
Perhaps one of the best known sailors in the realm of fiction is Sinbad the Sailor. First appearing in the collection of stories known as A Thousand and One Arabian Nights, what makes Sinbad so cool is that he didn't go on one, but seven voyages! Some of the adventures he's had involved a roc (a giant bird from Persian mythology that was supposed to carry off and eat elephants) that dropped rocks on his ship after he and his men ate the eggs of the roc. Another of his adventures find him on an island that turns out to be a giant sea animal. Some version say it is a turtle, but some recent adaptations had it as a fish. For some reason, no matter what happens, Sinbad always ends up setting sail again.
Another well-known tale of a seafarer is The Odyssey, which follows the adventures of Odysseus after the Trojan War is won by the Greeks. On his way home Odysseus and his men land on the Island of the Cyclopes, and end up having to blind Polyphemus to escape. Polyphemus calls on his father Poseidon to curse Odysseus, which seems to work considering the trouble that follows. Odysseus and his men encounter Sirens (bird women who lure sailors to their deaths with their voices), the sorceress Circe, and pass through Scylla and Charybdis before offending Apollo by eating some of his cattle. The result is that Odysseus loses his men and he takes twenty years total to get back home to Ithaca.

I think everyone's pretty familiar with what a mermaid is. Mermaids are the mythical sea creatures that are half-fish and half-woman, with the male counterpart being called a merman. Tales of mermaids extend all the way to the time of the Assyrians, over 3000 years ago (give or take). At first the tales of half-fish people were attributed to be the forms of the local mythology's sea god or goddess. Most of the ancient tales of mermaids are diversified, with some of them singing to lure sailors to their deaths to just being an underwater civilization that comes into contact with men. In our day and age the mermaid keeps the look of the original myths (although sometimes they're given seashell bikinis while the original mermaids were completely nude) while being portrayed as music lovers who live in the ocean like we live on the surface. Scientists believe that the stories of mermaids came up when sailors saw manatees swimming about, but that can't be so because tales of these beings have been told by the Arabians, the Greeks, and the Norse alike, long before America was discovered by the rest of the world. Some people even claim to see mermaids to this day. The legends are probably not true, but still it's fun to tell tales of these people and the sailors who encounter them.

Valentine History

Hey sorry about this being a couple of days late, but better late than never. I know that all of you know what Valentine's day is, but do you know how it came about? Well, I was told this legend about the holiday a long time ago when I was still in elementary school:

Long ago, there lived an emperor who wanted to increase the number of soldiers in his armies. However, married men were reluctant to leave their wives and families, so the emperor passed a law that made it illegal for men to marry. Valentine, however, did marriages in secret, so young couples were still able to continue. When the emperor found out what Valentine was doing, he threw him into prison and ordered him to be executed. On the day of his execution, he gave what legend says was the first card to the jailer's daughter, which said "From your Valentine".

I did read that there were a couple of Christian martyrs who were named Valentine. One was martyred in Rome, the other in what is now Terni. The two of them are honored on February 14 because it bears their name (and was probably named after them). They were probably executed for their faith in Christianity instead of love like most legends suggest. However, the name Valentine has come to represent a day for people who love each other. Sorry about no pictures. Hopefully the next blog will feature some.

Dragons Through the Ages

One of the most common creatures to encounter in the realm of fantasy, whether it's in a book, a movie, or in a country's legends or myths, is the dragon. Almost every culture that exists on this planet has a dragon of some sort. Sometimes they're large, winged reptiles that eat damsels and fight knights, other times they're protectors of nature and symbols of power. The question that I'm going to answer is: What is it about dragons that makes them so popular?
To answer this question, we must look back through the history of the dragon. The earliest cultures told stories of large, snakelike creatures that were said to be the bringer of storms and thunder. The Greeks called these creatures draco (which translates into English as dragon). Oftentimes they would be guarding treasure or something extremely valuable which the local town or village would be in desperate need of. Usually the legends would have some hero rise up to face and slay the beast (occasionally at the cost of their own life). These tales are common in stories from medieval Europe, but they have their origins in Greek and Babylonian folklore. To these people, the dragon would symbolize something terrible that held the promise of wealth once the big nasty reptile was out of the way.
Not every culture viewed dragons in such a way. In Asian cultures (particularly China and Japan) the dragon was worshiped oftentimes as a diety that would bring rain in times of drought. They still maintained the serpentine look, but this time they had clawed feet (varying from 5 to 3). The people of China believe that dragons are a sign of good luck, and still honor the dragon by having dragons in their new year celebrations. Never once did these creatures seek to eat anyone, and this may be the reason why they have survived into modern times.
Dragons are also mentioned in the Bible, but this time they are portrayed once again as vile, evil creatures. The bible often uses the word dragon to describe the Devil or something fierce. It is very possible that since these were large, scary creatures, their name was used to try and make people fear that which was evil a lot more than they did before. That belief carried on over to medieval times, where dragons began to take on the form of large winged reptiles breathing fire and threatening to eat princesses and damsels in distress.
Today our depictions of dragons are similar, but sometimes they vary. Most often in these times artists, movie makers, and writers describe dragons as large dinosaur-like creatures with bat wings breathing fire (although the Chinese still hold true to their ancestral depiction of the dragon). However, now dragons are more than just large monsters that guard treasure and eat people. Authors have written dragons to be helpful companions to humans and work with them to protect the innocent (the common depictions of these are found in the Dragonriders of Pern series and the Inheritance Cycle). Video games make them large, hard-to-beat bosses that if not stopped could destroy the land. Sometimes the dragons have the power to speak, other times they don't. They can either be made lovable characters for children (like Elliot in Pete's Dragon or in Dragontales) or hideous scary creatures (like in Reign of Fire and the Harry Potter series). One thing is for sure: It is very hard not to find a dragon somewhere in the world.
So, in conclusion, what is it about dragons that has made them so popular? They have existed in almost every culture across the globe, they are large and intimidating, they can breathe fire, and they seem to be unstoppable. My guess is that the reason dragons are so popular is that they are something the entire world can identify in the world of fantasy.