Medusa the Gorgon

This image was taken from Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths. We had many of them growing up. For some reasons, I associate Greek mythology with Easter. Maybe because I find it a more Mediterranean holiday? Be that as it may, I thought I shared this picture on the blog today. Medusa is by far my favourite monster that was created by the Ancient Greek's imagination and this is one of the best rendition of Medusa, so all the more reason to share it. She is absolutely terrifying.

Heracles against the Hydra

This picture was taken from Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths, one of the many books my brothers and I had about Greek mythology when we were kids. It represents Heracles (you recognise him easily because of the lion's hide he wears) fighting the Hydra of Lerna. I wanted to share it here, just because it is a darn good image, both very detailed and dramatic. One last note about the Greek hero: I always call him by his Greek name Heracles and not Hercules, which is the Roman equivalent. Mainly because I prefer to be as accurate as possible giving names (even though I call Ulysses by his Roman name and not Odysseus), but also because the original hero is far cooler than the watered down versions Hollywood has given us.

Balder and the Mistletoe

'Tis the season to be reading and troll the ancient Yuletide carols, and so on. It is not Christmas without a healthy dose of Norse mythology, so every year I try to read at least one story from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, usually more. I did not have the chance to read one so far since the beginning of December, but I intend to do it soon. There is one in particular, the story of the death of the god Balder (or Baldr, or Baldur, but the book uses the spelling Balder), which is particularly appropriate for Christmas as the mistletoe is instrumental in Balder's murder. Not exactly cheerful, but the Season does have a dark side.

Theseus against the Minotaur

As you may know, I am a big fan of Greek mythology. I love everything about it. One of the books we received when we were young (I cannot remember if it was a gift to one of my bros or to everyone) was Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths. It was beautifully illustrated by Giovanni Caselli. My father recently scanned a few images and sent them to me. I decided to share this one with you today, showing the fight between Theseus and the Minotaur. This is one of the scariest, most menacing rendition of the Minotaur I have ever seen. This time of year I often revisit Greek mythology and this picture and others make me want to get my hands on some books on the subject.

Jason et les Argonautes

Ces temps-ci de l'année, je suis d'humeur à lire et à me replonger de toutes les manières possibles dans la mythologie grecque. À ma demande, mon père m'a envoyé des scans d'images de l'un de nos livres sur le sujet. L'artiste est Giovanni Caselli, l'un de mes préférés. Je partage ce soir cette fresque magnifique de Jason sur l'Argos. On croirait y être. Avec Jason à la proue et Héraclès juste derrière (je refuse de l'appeler Hercule).

Norse Mythology for Christmas

For me, Christmas is also time to read about Norse myths. It is a tradition and every year I read a story or two of Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, from where I got this image. No, these are not Santa's little helpers. These are the dwarves Brokk and Sindri and they are creating various artifacts, including a magic ring, a magic boar and Thor's hammer Mjölnir. Way cooler than what the Magi gave to Jesus. I will also read another book of Norse mythology, which I will blog about in the coming weeks. These reads will as usual fuel my imagination for Dungeons & Dragons as hopefully we should play a game or two, if we find time.

Time for some Norse mythology?

I took this picture from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, but I am not blogging about this book in particular which I intend to blog about. I just thought that it fits the post well, and we cannot have enough of Giovanni Caselli's art on this blog. My wife bought me a book of Norse mythology for Christmas and I am wondering if I should not put it next on my reading list. It will make a change from the crime fiction I read this time of year and I miss playing Dungeons & Dragons. Reading old sagas is both a source of inspiration for future games (whenever they will happen) and a way to quench my need for playing. Also, I always want to know more about mythologies.

The perfect Yuletide read

I mentioned before that I have added at my Christmas reading list The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. Norse mythology is simply perfect for Christmas, because a lot of the imagery and symbolism we have about the holiday truly originate from there. Christmas really is another name for Yule. Reading this saga is even more fitting as some of its stories are set during Yuletide, where supernatural encounters happen. I knew particularly of one story, which I read in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, where the hero Bodvar Bjarki fights a dragon on Yule night. So I am reading The Saga among other seasonal books, but I am nevertheless reading it too fast: I am already half way through it. All the same, it is such a pleasure to fully (re)discover characters I already know and love and see their whole story. And when I am finished with the original saga, I will still have the Yuletide adventure in Gods & Heroes to enjoy when Christmas is finally here, with the beautiful narrative of Brian Branston (you can read some of it here) and the gorgeous illustrations of Giovanni Caselli. 'Tis the season to be reading. And troll the ancient Yuletide stories. Oh yes, and they are also inspirations for our Dungeons & Dragons campaign, but this is another... story. Which I will probably blog about before long. For now, let's just say that The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki is the perfect Yuletide read.

Tyr's Day

We are Tuesday today, which means, of course, Tyr's Day. The day of the Norse god Tyr. I have blogged about the god Tyr, this too little known Viking god here and here. I have decided to celebrate the almost forgotten Aesir (the name of the Viking gods) again, because I like him a lot. Therefore I have downloaded again a picture from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Drawn of course by the admirable Giovanni Caselli. It is from the story of Fenrir being chained, when Tyr had to give his hand as guarantee to the demonic wolf. An admirable act of courage and sacrifice by Tyr, as he knew he was sacrificing his hand for the greater good. The image is in fact the second half of this one. You see Tyr with his freshly chopped off hand, Odin behind him and other gods, looking very carefree in spite of the gravity of the moment. So yes, Tyr is my favourite Viking god because of his courage and this is an example why. It may not be as impressive as fighting a giant, but it is much more admirable.

Thor fights the giant Hrungnir

I know that for my American friends, we are Thanksgiving. But for me it is merely Thursday. Which means the day of Thor. I am referring to the Viking god of course. So I decided to commemorate this Thursday with an image from this book. It represents the story of Thor fighting the giant Hrungnir. You can read tellings of of the story here and here. But I much, much prefer the version of Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. It was simply more dramatic, made you feel like you were there, watching the fight. The impressive drawings of Giovanni Caselli did help the narrative. It is one of my favourite stories from Norse mythology. I was so impressed by it that in high school, I made an oral presentation on it that bored stiff the class and my teacher. We were supposed to do an oral on an adventure story, the teacher was strongly recommending to take one of those real life stories from the Reader's (In)Digest. I thought what is more of an  adventure than a duel to the death with a giant. After the oral presentation, my teacher had said, with a condescending smile: "Well, it's complicated, your story." Idiot. I had a good mark, but I thought it was a way for him to make sure I'd stay off his back. Moral of the story (mine, not the Viking one): school often sucks big time and does not care one bit about education.

Valhalla

Anybody in the mood for some post about Viking mythology? I know it is not Tyr's Day, or Odin's Day or Thor's Day, that said I have not properly blogged about Viking mythology in a long while, so now is as good a time as any. This picture was taken from this book, my reference when it comes to Viking mythology and the drawing is from Giovanni Caselli. It represents of course the Valhalla, the hall where the brave warriors who fell in battle go in the afterlife to prepare for Ragnarok. The image is a bit heavy on pink to my liking, otherwise it is beautiful and as spectacular and richly detailed as the other images from Caselli. You can see Odin's eagle towering over the fortress, which is made of shields and weapons, a wolf's head over the gate and on the roof the cock Gullinkambi, who will crow only once, on the morning of Ragnarok. All of it surrounded by otherworldly fog. Pink otherwordly fog. All the same, it is still an amazing picture. I thought about this morning, as it was misty outside and cool, and it gave the whole surroundings an eerie feel, and I thought of this image of Valhalla.

Thor's Journey to Utgard

It is Thursday, which mean's the Norse god Thor's Day, which is a good excuse as any to upload on Vraie Fiction another image from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, another beautiful drawing by Giovanni Caselli. I really wonder how an Italian artist can draw Viking mythology so well. This is one of the bookmark-like image that are at the beginning of every chapter/story of the book. The story in question was titled Thor in the giants' stronghold and was about Thor's journey to Utgard, a giants's fortress where Utgard-Loki reigned (not to be mixed with the God Loki, also featured in the story). You can read an version of the adventure here. There are others you can easily find if you Google. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that in this story, the great Thor seems that he may have met his match. it is a rare thing to see Thor struggling against his sworn enemies the giants and here he struggles to the point of defeat. But nothing is as it seems in mythology. In the image, you can see Thor and his companion journeying into Jotunheim, the land of the giants, surrounded by "typical plants of the northern woods". You can see at the back the mortal Thialfi, his sister Roskva, then Loki the Mischief Maker (gotta love those nicknames) and of course opening the way Thor the Thunder God, holding Mjolnir. Somehow, it reminds me of a players characters party in Dungeons & Dragons, when they venture in a forest.

Battle Bjarki

This is a  new Viking mythology related post, about a Viking hero who is now probably lesser know than other Norse heroes. His name is Bodvar Bjarki or, as I knew his name back when I was a child, Battle Biarki. He is a character of the Hrolfs saga kraka, and don't tell me about the spelling, I know it is all wrong. Bjarki is lesser known because he may have been at the origin the same character as Beowulf. Maybe I just don't know enough about Viking mythology. All the same, I thought I would do like I did with Tyr and give the hero a publicity boost on Vraie Fiction.

I read about Battle Biarki in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, where he is featured in The Story of the Trembling Hood. The Trembling Hood of the story being the boy you see at the bottom left of the image. I don't know exactly how far Brian Branston move it from the original legend, but in the book it was an initiatic/coming of age tale with Bjarki teaching the fearful teenager Hood, bullied by the men of King Hrolf Kraki, to become a warrior. In the climatic scene of the tale, they had to kill a dragon that was eating the king's cattle and terrorizing his kingdom every Yule. Because of this, I find most fitting to read this story during Christmastime, before a game of Dungeons & Dragons. But I reread it recently and it is still enjoyable. Drawn by Giovanni Caselli, Battle Bjarki is an impressive warrior, especially in contrast to Hood. Heavily armed with a sword and an axe, high and large, he is very warrior-like. if you know more stories about him, please let me know in the comments.

Another Viking image

I am uploading this image because... Well, because. Amazon sent me an email recently, an automatic one, offering me to trade this book, Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, for something else. I was borderline offended. I bought this book, a rare gem, because I wanted to read it in original English and because I wanted to own a copy. Why would I want to trade it back for something else? If I wanted to just read books I buy, then I wouldn't buy them but borrow them from libraries. And this one, as I said, is a rarity, a forgotten treasure. I wouldn't give it back for an empire. And to top it up, it has gorgeous illustrations by Giovanni Caselli, which I want to show here, because I don't want them completely forgotten either, so I upload them here, to immortalise them so to speak. In this image, which I struggled to photograph, you can see the god Loki, disguised as a hawk (he ''borrowed'' goddess Freya's coat), flying over a giants' feast in Jotunheim. It is the hall of Gerröd and I let you find more about the story. Until then, enjoy the minutiously detailed depiction of Viking life Caselli draw. Luscious, beautiful, and a good enough reason for this post.

The Day of Odin

I know I have blogged about the very same topic before. Maybe this post is just a cheap excuse to upload another picture of Giovanni Caselli from Gods and Heroes from Viking Mythology. But I love this picture, heck all the ones of this book and today is, well, Wednesday, the Day of Odin. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a drawing by Caselli that looks like a bookmark, reprensenting symbols related to the story or the subject featured in the chapter. This one is for the chapter called Odin prepares for the Ragnarok. You see the throne of Odin, his spear, his two ravens Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory), the eagle "from his helmet", his two wolves Geri Greediguts and Freki Gobble-up and his eight legged horse Sleipnir and I think what seems to be at the bottom an hourglass, obviously to symbolise the passing of time and the upcoming doom that it the Viking end of days. Pretty much how I often feel every Wednesday, with a certain ominous unease, as if some catastrophe was about to happen. Apart from this flimsy association, the image is just... cool. With two of my favourite animals, the ravens and the wolves. I hope you enjoy. In the meantime, try to remember all these names and you'll impress people with your knowledge of Viking lore.

Sigurd and the Dragon

I left work earlier because of the snow that fell over the UK. Luckily, the trains left on time, so I was not stranded anywhere. Anyway, I spent my free afternoon reading, amont other things (as I read many books at the same time) Gods and Heroes from Viking Mythology. I am still at the creation of the world, with frost giants being very loud when they are having council, which is irritating Odin and his brothers. I am looking forward to get into the stories of Viking heroes.

Last Christmas, I read the story of Sigurd to my godson, because he had been very impressed by the image I uploaded on the right (drawing by Giovanni Caselli). I say I read it, but I didn't read it much, as it was quite a long story. I barely had time to read the introduction, until Fafnir murders his father Hreidmar and turns into a dragon. At least my godson had time to see the dragon get into the story. My mother kept telling me: "Oh, just read the bit about the dragon!". But it is difficult for the story to make any sense without any context. So I read it from the beginning, until he started dozing off. Of course I looove the legend of Sigurd. I read the Sigurd legend before the stories it had inspired, among them The Lord of The Rings, so it has an "original" charm to me.

Thor's Day

After a blog post on the Day of Odin and the Day of Tyr, I had to write one about the Day of Thor, Thursday. The picture at your left is of course taken from this great book and was drawn by Giovanni Caselli. It is the first uploaded picture of 2013. I thought it would be quite fitting as a transition post, after the Christmas holidays, as I associate Viking mythology with Christmas and winter. I am not the only one: my brother read the book during the holidays. it is no more Christmas, but it is still winter.

So, what to say about Thor's Day? About the day and the god, in fact. I have more to say about Thor himself. Thursday is for me the day where the weekend is so close, yet so far. Thursday is also Jupiter's Day (Jeudi as we say in French), who is of course the same god, only with a different name than the Norse's version, and a different place in the godly hierarchy. Thor was an important god, but he was below Odin. I like him enough, but less than Tyr, whom I find more admirable. I do enjoy a lot, however, many of Thor's adventures. I think it is for me the main appeal of Thor: the adventures he lived. They are more interesting to me than the character himself. The image I uploaded is a representation of an episode of Lokrur. I will not spoil the story for you and tell what is in the giant cup the giants have given him. Let's just say it is maybe the ultimate drinking challenge. I hope you enjoy it.

The art of storytelling

"Long ago, in the old days, there ruled in Sweden a king called Gilfy. King Gilfy loved his northland, even in the bitterly cold winter when, for months on end, the sun never shone and the gloomy forests and mountains were hardly illuminated by the shadowy light reflected from snow and ice. Poor people then were glad to keep close in their cabins, burning the logs they had chopped in the autumn to see them through, while the famished wolves flitted between the trees like ghosts and frequently snuffled up to the barred and bolted doors."

This was taken from this book, text of Brian Branston (this one?), drawing of Giovanni Caselli. When I said on this post that the story are nicely told, that was an understatement. This is setting the place and atmosphere so beautifully, it is crafted storytelling. To the northerner I am, it has the charm of the familiar beauty. I needed to share it, especially since it is a rare book now.

Fenrir the wolf

Well, today is Tyr's Day as my readership knows from this post. And I am reading at the moment this book. So I decided tonight to upload maybe my favourite picture made by Giovanni Caselli: the giant wolf Fenrir tied down. This shows when he was bounded by the Aesir (I cannot join the a and the e as it should be), after he ate Tyr's hand. The original image is much bigger, I have only uploaded here half of it. As Christmas is coming and I associate Viking myths with the Nativity, and as there is a dark side to Christmas, I thought it was fitting to blog again about Norse mythology and this wanton brutish force that is Fenrir, who personifies the scarier aspects of winter so well.

Viking Mythology

I have spoiled myself before Christmas and bought Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, second handed, from Amazon. Text by Brian Branston and (beautiful) images by Giovanni Caselli. I blogged about the book before. I intend to read it again in the upcoming weeks. As I mentioned in my first post about this book, I associate a lot Norse mythology with Christmas. So it is a fitting read. According to the back cover, it contains "28 exciting stories about the gods and heroes of the Viking world, 24 superb colour pictures specially painted for this book, 54 black and white line drawings." The stories are nicely told too. I hesitated a bit before buying it, as we have it in Chicoutimi, but then I thought this one needed a home. It once belonged to the East Sussex County Library. Funny how much it travelled and changed ownership. It is now right next to me as I am typing this.