N: Nixies and O: Ogres

Nixies are water shape shifting water spirits from Germany. They are fond of music and dancing and can change into fish, serpent, or human form. In human form however they always have trace of wildness left on them such as green teeth or a damp skirt. They are, above all wild, and therefore can be as harmful as they can be helpful. (Anyone else having trouble seperating paragraphs with blogger's new set up?) An ogre is a humanoid monster of French origin. They are typically depicted as large, bullying animals who brutalize men and women and eat their flesh.

L: Little People and M: Mermaids

Little People (also known as Leprchauns but be careful calling them that. They can be tempermental and might curdle your milk) are the shoemakers of faeryland. They originally wore red but are now more often depicted as wearing green. They hoard their gold and keep it in a pot at the end of the rainbow. If you catch one they have to grant you three wishes before they can go free but be carefull. Little people are tricky and may not give you what you meant to ask for. They love to solve riddles but even more they like to confuse people with them.

Amazing book featuring Little People:

Instead of Three Wishes --by Megan Whelan Turner



Mermaids are half fish, half human creatures. There are meremaid myths in every part of the world with access to the sea. In most tales their lovely voices and alluring beauty lead sailors to their doom out on the ocean. It some stories they inter marry with humans and live in elaborate underwater societies. Some mermaids cry pearls while others posess healing powers or the power to call on the wind and rain to sink ships. In most British folklore mermaids were said not to have immortal souls.

Mermen are less often talked about but also existed in most of the folklore. They are often cosidered ugly as opossed to the beauty of mermaids. Matsya Avatar, the first incarnation of Vishnu was said to be half man and half fish.

Amazing stories featuring Mermaids:

The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen --by Delia Sherman
The Little Mermaid --by Hans Christain Anderson (There will be more about this if you join me for my fairy tale series in May)
The Golden Bird --by the Grim Brothers

Rope and Mast
Salt stinging spray, collecting on my face
A wind dried throat, burning with pain.
You grasp at my soul for your saving grace,
Mock my desperation with self disdain.
My lungs are weak like yours, gasping for air,
My eyes blinded by wind, squinting for light.
My skin withers under the sun's false glare
I can drown too in the sky's endless fight.
You chase your will-o-the-wisp, your siren.
You beg the fish-girls for a a place in their waves,
Careless that their kiss is as deadly as sin.
You flail and you rave, too afraid to save.
I will not drown whatever my life costs.
If you plunge to the depths it's you who's lost.

J: Jinn and K: Kelpie

Jinn were originally spirits in middle eastern cultures. Another common name for them is genie. In later folk lore they are prescribed as living in a jar, bottle, or lamp and granting wishes with their powers. They can be benevolent, malevolent, or anywhere in between depending on the particular jinn, but most wishes end up being double edged and hurt the wisher more than help him. Jinns can take most any form from a winged human to any kind of animal. They travel fast across great distances and often hold great but dangerous knowledge.

Amazing books with jinn in them:

A Thousand and One Nights
Castle in the Air --by Diana Wynne Jones



A Kelpie is a Celtic water horse that can often change into human form to lure young men and women to watery deaths. They are sometimes dripping wet with wild reed ridden hair while in their human form. It the water horse form the kelpie lures people, often children onto it's back so that it can drown and eat them.

The best way to control a kelpie is to get a hold of it's bridle.

Unfortunately there seems to be a lack of good kelpie books. If you know of any please give me the title so I can read them.

H: Harpy and I:Incubus

Harpies are bird-woman, usually bad tempered thieves since their name means "Snatcher". In Greek mythology they are a set of either two or three sisters who steal food and are eventually driven away by the North Wind. In Medivial times they were sometimes refereed to as virgin eagle.

My favorite book with a harpy:

The Last Unicorn --by Peter S. Beagle

"Here the repellent harpies make their nests,

Who drove the Trojans from the Strophades
With dire announcements of the coming woe.
They have broad wings, a human neck and face,

Clawed feet and swollen, feathered bellies; they caw
Their lamentations in the eerie trees"
--Dante's Inferno



An Incubus is a demon in mail form who takes human lovers sometimes willing and sometimes by force. The same demon in female form is called a succubus. In Arthurian legend Merlin's father was said to be an incubus. Incubi originated in Mesopotamian mythology but there are many similar creatures of other cultures such as the Brazilian boto or the trauco of Chile.

My favorite book featuring an incubus:

American Gods --by Neil Gaiman

G: Goblins

A goblin is a mythical humanoide creature typically of malicious intentions and unsightly appearance. They are seldom friendly and often eat humans but their existence is more often wretched than synester. They are small, hardworking creatures who wish good to no one.

Hobgoblins are even smaller than regular goblin and can therefore get up to even more harmful mischeif

Amazing books involving Gablins:

Snuff --by Terry Pratchett
The Princess and the Goblin --by George MacDonald

In The Princess and the Goblin Goblins are repelled by singing:

Curdie's Song
'Ring! dod! bang!
Go the hammers' clang!
Hit and turn and bore!
Whizz and puff and roar!
Thus we rive the rocks,
Force the goblin locks. -
See the shining ore!
One, two, three -
Bright as gold can be!
Four, five, six -
Shovels, mattocks, picks!
Seven, eight, nine -
Light your lamp at mine.
Ten, eleven, twelve -
Loosely hold the helve.
We're the merry miner-boys,
Make the goblins hold their noise.'

...

'Hush! scush! scurry!
There you go in a hurry!
Gobble! gobble! goblin!
There you go a wobblin';
Hobble, hobble, hobblin' -
Cobble! cobble! cobblin'!
Hob-bob-goblin! -
Huuuuuh!'

F: Fair Folk

The Fair Folk are etherial human-like creatures who inhabit the earth. You might know them better as "Fairies", "Fay", "Faeries", or elves. Almost any mythical being with a vaguely human appearance could be considered one of the Fair Folk depending on which folklore or mythology you are following. Most often they are associated with the sorts of beings who live in faeryland: small, flutery things on wings, siren-like queens who entice young men away from their sweethearts, pointed eared beauties, mischevious imps who like to play tricks on people. However, they can also include more obviously dangerous creatures like goblins and trolls.

Even the more beautiful versions of the Fair Folk are more dangerous than benign. Among their most famous exploits is the changling --switching a human child with one of theirs and raising it as a sort of pampered pet while the human's parents are left with a tempormental faery wreaking havoc on their lives. They are also known to entice adults --particularly men--away from their lives with their honeysicle words and wild night dancing. Many of them can change shape and appear to be something harmless until it is too late. The simplest way to keep them from harming you is by keeping a bit of iron on you.

Two of my favorite books involving the Fair Folk:
A Midsummer Night's Dream --by William Shakespeare
Perlious Guard --by Elizabeth Marie Pope


La Belle Dame Sans Merci
--by John Keats

Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,
Alone and palely loitering;
The sedge is wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing.

Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel's granary is full,
And the harvest's done.

I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever dew;
And on thy cheek a fading rose
Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads
Full beautiful, a faery's child;
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long;
For sideways would she lean, and sing
A faery's song.

I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look'd at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.

She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew;
And sure in language strange she said,
I love thee true.

She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she gaz'd and sighed deep,
And there I shut her wild sad eyes--
So kiss'd to sleep.

And there we slumber'd on the moss,
And there I dream'd, ah woe betide,
The latest dream I ever dream'd
On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings, and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
Who cry'd--"La belle Dame sans merci
Hath thee in thrall!"

I saw their starv'd lips in the gloam
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke, and found me here
On the cold hill side.

And this is why I sojourn here
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing.

E: Elephant

No, they aren't exactly mythical but they are AWESOME.

I've always quite loved elephants. I swear there is wisdom in those huge dark eyes. And they hold funeral wakes and cry over their dead. That is really amazing, especially for such a big powerful creature. They are the largest living land animals and yet they show many almost humanistic signs of intelligence such as play and tool making. It is no wonder that they symbolize wisdom in Asia.

Amazing story involving an elephant:
Water for Elephants


Curtsey of Samwise Gamgee:

Grey as a mouse,
Big as a house,
Nose like a snake.
I make the earth shake,
As I tramp through the grass.
Tree's crack as I pass.
With horns in my mouth,
I walk in the South,
Flapping big ears.
Beyond count of years,
I stump round and round,
Never lie on the ground,
Not even to die.
Oliphant am I,
If you ever meet me,
You wouln't forget me.
If you never do,
You won't think I'm true.
But ole' Oliphant am I,
And I never lie.

D: Dragon

Aside
What? Falling behind? Me? I don't know what you're talking about.

Ok. Yes. Yes I do. I am sorry. There were some unforseen life circumstances (my own inner and outer dragons) that have been taking up all of my energy over the last week or so. I will do my best to catch up but that may mean doubling up some letters. Thank you for all your lovely comments. I will be making my rounds to catch up on your A-Z posts :)


Dragons are probably one of the most, if not the most, well known of mythical beings. Also they really existed. You've seen "dinasour" bones right? Giant lizards? Yeah. Dragons. Whether or not they lived on earth at the same time as humans I don't think people told stories about them for hundreds of years because they didn't know they existed. There was some sort of deep DNA memory or something going on there.

A dragon is a giant lizard, usually with wings and the ability to breath fire. In some legends they have feathers or no front arms. In most stories they are depicted as destructive, wiley monsters who hoard treasure, live in caves, eat virgins, and ransack villages. They are also wise, however, if a hero can ever get close enough to one to ask a question. If they know which question won't get them eaten.

Every culture has its own Dragon legends. Britain alone has two dragon stories that all but define parts of it's culture; St. George and the the Dragon and the Red Dragon of Wales. Even King Arthur has the sirname of "Pendragon" and European dragons are the most well known in modern fiction.

Chinese and Japanese dragons are more serpantine creatures without wings. They are usually associated with water and are powerful but lucky more than dangerous.

Most Russian dragons have three heads.

Two of my favorite books featuring dragons:
Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame.


Here There Be Dragons
The ocean's blue gleams against scales of green,
My reflection dripping in saliva.
Teeth gnash. I sharpen my claws for hunting.
My prey struggles against an armada
of chains welded with fear made mania.
I can not escape the shrieks of my heart ,
self lit fires impeding nirvana.
I am imprisoned by a breath scorched art
of my creation; poison bled from my own dart.


Growling the secrets of safety, of lies,
My longing becomes a song of restrain.
Devouring the stinging salt of sighs,
a gust of destruction guards in my veins,
That place of horror where my mind still reigns,
A key buried deep in a weave of nest,
the chord pulling tight against heavy strains.
Here there be dragons, warring in my breast.
But past the sea's horizon lies eternal rest.

B: Banshee

Most of know banshees as faery women in Irish folk lore who wail, foretelling a death. The details, however, vary a lot depending on the particular story.

In the older legends a banshee heralds a death rather than foretells it so that family members far away can be warned before they are sent the official news. In some legends banshees are old hags and others beautiful young women or they can change between the two as they will. Sometimes a banshee is a ghost and sometimes a faery. Sometimes they wail in groups when someone important dies. In Scottish folk lore they are washer women who can be found washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. They usually wear long robes and hoods in blacks, grays, or reds.

A: Avatar

No, I don't mean the blue people.

Or the amazingly cheesy anime series involving Ang, the last airbender.

I don't mean your RPG characters or the icon on your yahoo page either.

I mean the root for these uses of the word; a hindu gods' phyisical form on earth.

Most often the term refers to manifestations of Vishnu, the supreme God, coming to restore the earth to it's natural order. With that in mind you can see how the blue people movie got its title. A story about restoring the earth to ballence. Characters manifest themselves in a new form in order to inhabit the planet.

The Last Airbender probably follows the root the closest. Ang is the Avator of his world, incarnated in the form of a boy to restore ballance to the world.

Even RPG characters have some remnant of the root left. When the god Ganesha manifests on earth he is said to destroy demons.

As for yahoo . . . well it's representing you in the world of the internet where you, like the hindu gods, can't exist in your current form, but I don't know if forwarding those cat pictures to everyong you know really counts as restoring ballence to the universe.



p.s. It is not April Fools. Do not be warned of the coming mayem the day will bring.

Z: Zonked

I took this picture while waiting for my food at a crit group earlier this month. I thought it was fiting. Even if it does remind me a little too much of Sesame Street.

I should probably come up with some clever insight to acompany it but my creative mind is currently zonked.

Happy writing all.

Y: You

As we approach the end of the A-Z challenge I just wanted to say thank You to everyone who stopped by my little blog and to everyone who frayed the edges of their creative minds this last month posting delicious nougats on their own blogs for me to read. And of course to all of our hosts Alree Bird, Jeffrey Beesler, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Jen Daiker, Candace Ganger, Karen J. Gowen, Tali Roland, and Stephen Tremp for creating this fantastic event. It has been a lot of fun. But most importantly I hope to still YOu all around the web from time to time. Don't be a stranger!

X: X Marks the Spot

A shrine hidden in a faraway land
Calls me to follow what I cannot see
With no promise I ever be free
From the siren pull of desire’s hand.
Bound by the gravity of native sand,
I choke and spew on the salt of the sea.
Danger drowns my in strains of apathy
Unless I chase the waves beyond the strand.
A treasure is buried, waiting to be found
By the lost fires of my soul unbound.

W: Wanton and Wild

In a book I read once upon a time on Medieval history (Growing Up in Medieval London)the author stressed the concept of Medieval children beginning as 'wanton and wild' and becoming 'sad and wise'. The idea is not quite as dismal as it appears as the Medieval concept of 'sad' was more serious than forlorn and yet . . . who would choose to be serious when they could be wanton and why oh why must 'wild' be the obvious counterpart to 'wise'?

I am contesting long forgotten conventions, of course, which means that there will be no one (or few) to dispute my theories but I feel that some of the attitude from that concept may have leaked through the centuries of our culture. It is understandable that in an age of such violence and political instability predictability would be valued in a person's behavior. It is also understandable that those even of today who have lived longer might look at the antics of those who haven't with a slight shake of the head and think "They have no idea". Still, there is an undertone of lifelessness in giving up everything associated with youth once one enters the throws of wisdom. From my side of enlightenment --wanton and wild though it may be --it looks an awful lot like defeat. Wouldn't it be great if there was a way of reaching wisdom without allowing the world to beat the wildness out of us?

And so I read. And so I write. And so I live.

V: Very Awsome Story

Ok, I cheated. I used a qualifier. If it makes you feel better. V: Versus. As in Jack Vs. Them, the title of said Very awsome story.

This piece was submited to the Literary Idol Fertility Challenge. Unfortunately it was the only story submited so there won't be any voting this round. I considered writing one myself for it to compete against but wouldn't feel quite right if mine ended up winning. So, I pre-anounce Kris O'Connel April's Literary Idol for the following tale of out of control growth.

Congradulations Kris! Your zine and gift card will be sent to you forthwith.


Jack vs. Them

I had been lost before, but never this lost, never this displaced. Where I had come from the world was quiet and simple, I had known nothing of chaos and nothing of destruction. But that seems like so long ago, not in days but in life changing events.
I had come here out of greed, the food was plentiful and easily to obtain. They had warned me, there is no happiness there, not for one like you, but I didn’t listen, I never listened, And now this place. It wasn’t that I was in pain or even uncomfortable, it was the animals here. There were so damned many of them, flowing like streams down thin corridors, too many too feed from the food around them and yet they summoned it without work then without a flinch they would cast the excess food on the ground. I did not belong here amongst these creatures.
One morning they had come and taken all the bounty from our land, then they crawled into the belly of a larger noisier animal that created a vile black air around itself, leaving a barren spot that would take seasons to restore. They had not followed any of the ways that I was taught and I hadn’t seen why I had been taught those ways until that day, so much beauty and elegance was destroyed in so little time. But it was so easy for them, I had to follow. I had to know how they had taken so much so easily I wanted to take as they did; at least I had thought that.
I had followed them only a short distance before I found this “forest”. But the trees where so perfectly shaped and so very tall, the almost seemed to emit light during the day and definitely did during the night. The forest was alive with sound but none of them comforting, and all around these animals would continually work entering and exiting these perfect trees, raising them and tearing them to the ground. There forest edging ever closer to mine.
And in these moments I knew I could never stop them, they were too many and too great. What could a jack rabbit do to stop the endless progression of the human race?

U: Unknown

Never underestimate the power of the unknown.

Sometimes that might mean leaving something unstated in your WIP.

Sometimes that might mean allowing a piece of mystery to remain in it that even you don't know the answer to.

Sometimes it just means chasing new ideas, new styles; skill you're pretty sure you don't posess. Sometimes it just means taking a chance.

So go forth today and discover the unknown.

T: Tangled

Tangled. The word so acurately describes my feelings toward this movie.

On the one hand I really enjoyed it. It was cute and playful, full of swashbuckling, whimsey and charming characters. I supose that should be enough but . . .

I've loved the story of Repunzel for too long and I know that the Disney version will slowly milk the dark symbolism out of common tellings. No one tells the version of Cinderella where she speaks to her mother's ghost anymore or the version where her stepsisters cut of their heels and toes to fit into the slipper. No one remembers the other objects Snow White's stepmother tried to kill her with before the apple or that the prince, rather than kissing a dead girl, wanted to keep her on display in his castle. No one tells the part where the queen is forced to dance in hot iron shoes at Snow White's wedding.

Fairy Tales have been largely "Disneyified" in common thought. So much that a "Fairy Tale" often refers to a perfect world. Have you ever actually imagined being in a fairy tale? Sure they usually have a happy ending (If you are the hero or heroine. Otherwise you will be eaten or rolled down a hill in a barrel full of nails to pay for your sins) but first the poor princess or youngest son is beset upone by ogres, asked riddles they must answer on peril of their life, tormented by step relatives, nearly toasted by dragons, made to work in the scullery, lost for years at a time in the woods, turned into swans or pots of flowers, kidknapped by fairies, or tricked into making a bargain with the devil. I doubt any of the characters would describe their lives as perfect.

I don't for a moment beleive that adaptors of fairy tales must remain one hundred percent true to the original version. How would we ever know which one was first in a genre that originated in oral storytelling? Still, I do beleive that there is a reason why versions of the same stories appear almost everywhere cross culturally. It could, of course, be that there was an original version that was spread across the world and changed by each culture. Or it could be that rooting for the third and youngest son, discovering that the myserious stranger in the woods is really royalty, and being banished from home by relatives who aren't true relatives, are all part of our collective consciousness, integral to our experience as human beings. These motifs symbolize our love for the underdog, our ability to find beauty in the strange, and the feelings of alienation we sometimes experience at home. These ideas can be shifted and morfed to match the idealogy of the story teller but not ignored. Not if the power of a story that has been told over and over for hundreds of years is going to remain intact.

So what were the changes in the Repunzel story that I fear will be lost?

First, the character of the witch. I have always been facinated with the idea of an old woman, shunned and feared by society, wanting to raise and love a child but not knowing how. She gets the child by blackmail (because repunzel's parents tried to steal from her)and then locks her in a tower to keep her safe. The protection soon becomes a curse and doesn't even keep out the danger. In Tangled, however the witch is purely selfish, wanting to use Repunzel's magic hair to stay young forever. Becuase if we are to keep our own children in their ivory towers we can not allow them to entertain the idea that a single person could contain both admirable and despicable qualities.

Second, the whole metaphor or the girl in the ivory tower. I understand that this is a difficult issue because so many people --with good reason --are trying to change the ideaology of women being "won" or "obtained". I have no objection whatsoever of a more modern, gender equal twist being added to the prince's treacherous trek through the woods, poetical acrobatics to get the girl's attention, and scaling of a tower with no doors to reach her, but the element is so obviously there that it should at least be addressed. There is certainly potential for a strong love story there as well. Repunzel does help him by letting her hair down (figuratively as well as literally?) and he is blinded by trying to reach her (love is blind or so they say)and then healed by her tears after she is exiled by her family. Tangled encorperates a love story of course, but it doesn't use any of the symbolism.

Disney fairy tales remind me of the "Fair Re-Tells" my sister wrote when she was twelve. All the characters did the nicest and most logical thing from the very beginning, resluting in paragraph long stories that read something along the lines of "Once upon a time there were some people" without all the stunning conflict and tangle of magic and ideas that a story should be. They told us the right thing to do but didn't teach us anything about life.

So, do I recomend that you see this movie? Yes. It is charmingly entertaining and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Still, I regret the loss of the deeper, darker parts of the Repunzel story.

S: Selkies

A selkie is a seal shape shifter from celtic folk lore. The selkie sheds its skin and becomes human, usually to get married. Unless their spouse keeps the skin hidden from them, however, they soon sucomb to their longings to return to the sea and abandon their family.

Movies featuring selkies:

Ondine


The Secret of Roan Inish


Books featuring selkies:

Worfskin by Julliet Marillier



Foxmask by Julliet Marillier


Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia McKillip

R: Reminder

I just wanted to remind anyone who is interested in the Fertility Challenge that the deadline is the 24th.

Q: Query the Questing Beast

(image by Carisa Swenson)

Questing Beast: A beast with the neck of a serpent, body of a leopard, haunches of a lion, and feet of a hart that makes a sound from its belly like "thirty couple hounds question" (widepedia). Many knights chase after it put only Pelonore or someone of his blood-line (such as his son Percival) can capture it.

Query: A beast that must have the brevity of a paragraph, the drama of an opening scene, the personalization of a letter, and the cohesion of a sonnet that holds all the hopes of my manuscript in its jaws. Many writers can give me advise but only I can write it.

Only I can send it out.

I need to stop putting this off.