My first introduction to the use of creative license and Celtic mythology came from the 1981 John Boorman film, Excalibur. It was a few years after its release, and I was 12 years old, watching it on T.V. I fell in love with the story. I wanted to be Guinevere, of course, with a happier ending where she and Lancelot lived happily ever after. And yet, I mostly wanted to know more about Morgana and Merlin and the magic of the dragon. Fast forward a couple of decades, and that movie still holds a special place in my heart. More importantly...Read More
Month: October 2024
Understanding Ancient Civilizations
The Importance of Language One of the reasons I first gravitated to the earlier ancient civilizations of the Sumerians, Greeks, and Egyptians, was the vast amount of information we have about their cultures. They left behind an incredible legacy of literature, artwork, and monuments over thousands of years. This made it easier to incorporate into fictional stories. Take, for example, the Sumerians of Mesopotamia who created the first known written language. Several examples still exist today in the form of clay Cuneiform tablets. These include a customer service complaint, the oldest known musical composition, and the enduring Epic of Gilgamesh. Because the Mesopotamians...Read More
Books on Ancient History
Living in the age of the internet, I’m eternally grateful for the volume of information and research material that’s available. However, I was born in the 70s, the age of libraries and the Dewey Decimal System. Books, especially history books, are a hard habit to break—at least for me.To say my personal library has grown somewhat over the years would be an understatement. Many hours have been spent perusing the shelves at my local thrift stores, and I’ve found some treasures you’d have to pry out of my cold, dead hands. But if there is one downside, beyond an ever-expanding...Read More