1954.
274 pages.
Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks.
Paperback.
Skafloc, kidnapped when he was a child and raised by the elves, received the sword Thyrfing as a naming day present from the Aesir. This was considered a perverse gift by most, as the sword has been broken by Thor to prevent it from being used to cut the roots of Yggdrasil [...]
Posts filed in Religiousity
I’m an agnostic atheist, but even I am religious about some things. Like the works of Joss Whedon. It’s a very secular kind of religiousity, though, and beyond watching his shows on a regular basis, it doesn’t really have any rites to speak of.
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
A TV Dante
My sister is one of the most important students at NTNU’s Department of Nordistics (or whatever) and Literature, primarily through her role as founder of the departemental body responsible for arranging events related to the relevant field of study (primarily Nordic linguistics and literature, as well as literature in general). Yesterday, she had arrange a [...]
The definition of preaching to the choir
You need to have flashplayer enabled to view this YouTube video
Seriously, I don’t know why these people bother. I mean, I agree with much of what the guy said, but jeez, does he honestly believe he is going to win many religious people over by antagonising them? Is this rational behaviour?
And what’s up with the islamophobia of these prominent atheists?
(On a concluding note, I’d like [...]
Some things I suspect I believe to be true
About eighteen months ago now, I realised I’m a materialist; I believe that everything in this world is matter, that there is no such thing as spirit, that what others might perceive as “spirit” can be explained materially. And for some thirteen, fourteen months, my Christian flatmate Håvard has challenged me on this.
To him there [...]
Atheists <3 Averröes (or ibn Rushd, if you prefer)
“In the Christian intellectual environment of the thirteenth century, apparent conflicts between argumentation in natural philosophy and argumentation in matter sof theological doctrine became exceptionally acute. The newly introduced writings of from the ancients — Greek philosophy and science, accompanied by Arabic and Hebrew commentary — rigorously set forth propositions alien to fundamental dicta of [...]
Midnight Nation
“Feel the misery of the world, David Grey. For one second, I’m going to open your mind to the song of pain, the song I have been forced to hear every day and every night to the last syllable of recorded time.
For just one, fleeting second, David, feel the totality of the suffering and pain [...]
The Dragon Waiting, by John M. Ford
First published in 1983,
this edition (365 pages, Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks) in 2002.
Winner of the World Fantasy Award in 1984.
In Wales, the boy Hywel rescues a wizard, and travels to the City — Byzantium — with him to become his apprentice.
In Byzantine Burgundy, an old imperial family arrives as governors, and their eldest son — Dimitrius [...]
Dogma
Watched Kevin Smith’s Dogma again, for the thrid time or so, last weekend. I was hardly as enthusiastic as I was the first time I watched it, but that was three years ago, so I take this simply as a sign that I have matured somewhat. And also of me having watched it before, of [...]
Security precautions
“We stood in the center of a football field-size dome that the Consu had constructed not an hour before. Of course, we humans could not be allowed to touch Consu ground, or be anywhere a Consu might tread; upon our arrival, automated machines created the dome in a region of Consu space long quarantined to [...]
Angel: After the Fall
This one took me somewhat by surprise. I’d heard that it was scheduled for release on 29 November, and then, last Thursday, Loki exclaims at me that this was some seriously good stuff. I, naturally, become flabbergasted, run home from downtown Trondheim (I was shopping for Christmas and November-Me presents when I got his message), [...]
2007-11-11 — Quote of the Day
“Another of Burckhardt’s characterizations of the civilization of the Reneissance, the discovery of the world around man, was not one of the humanists’ primary aims. Yet, in their quest for the writings of antiquity, they also discovered the large corpus of the scientific work of the ancients and this they also proceeded to publish. the [...]
2007-11-08 — Quote of the Day
“Some sixty years later the dispute between king and Church flared up again. This time it took the form of a quarrel between Henry II (1154-1189) [of England] and Thomas Becket [...] Just as in the case of the emperor Henry IV [of the Holy Roman Empire] and Pope Gregory VII, personalities played their part [...]
2007-11-07 — Quote of the Day
“The pagan barbarians had buried their most precious possessions with their dead. These possessions would vary, from the weapons of ordinary men and the simple bronze or copper jewelry which even poor women owned to the to the treasures of great warriors and kings, such as those superbly rich objects of Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk, [...]
Norske språklyder
Jeg kan hverken fatte eller begripe at Gudene har sett med slik velvilje på meg, og latt noen skape dette fantastiske programmet, utelukkende for min convenience. Jeg føler meg som universets navle. Eller, navler er egentlig ikke så jævla tøffe. La oss gå for øyesten.
Ja, øyesten høres bedre ut. (Ikke dermed sagt at det er [...]
Love In Rainbows
It’s been over four years. There have been times when I’ve almost given up hope. But on Monday, all my prayers (well, at least some of them) were answered.
Too bad I won’t get my hands on the physical record before some time late in December, but at least the digital version’ll be avaliable in five [...]
Ullr, the onion of war!
From Wikipedia’s kenning article:
Bárum Ullr, of alla
ímunlauks, á hauka
fjöllum Fyrisvalla
fræ Hákonar ævi;
nú hefr fólkstríðir Fróða
fáglýjaðra þýja
meldr í móður holdi
mellu dolgs of folginn
Simply based on meaning, i.e. without kennings, the passage runs: “Accursed King Harald! We carried gold in our arms during all of Hakon’s life; now the enemy of the people has hidden gold in [...]
Gudenes Fall
Gudenes Fall, by Cornelius Jakhelln.
2007, 428 pages.
Now, this might be a little weird. Gudenes Fall (The Fall of the Gods) is a book that most likely never will be translated into English, and yet, I choose to review it in English. But hey, my English is still worse than my Norwegian.
In the year 1000 AD, [...]
Movies Galore: A Summary
It’s nearly two months since my last movie review — a review, I might add, where I was unreasonably hard on the reviewed movie, as the fact that I’m in a foul mood shouldn’t really count against it. Anyway, since then I’ve watched a lot of movies: excellent movies, great movies, good movies, mediocre movies, [...]
Issue 5 — The Chain
My immediate reaction to this issue, is that it is the best one this far.
Because while it lacks those “OMIGAWD!1 IT’S HER/HIM/IT/THEM!!!1″ moments, it was a beautiful and sad story, with elegant pathos and an endearing main character whose name we never even learn.
Quite a treat; if all the “short ones” they intend to stick [...]
Serenity
It’s been over a year and a half since the (first and) last time, but I finally got around to watch “Serenity” again.
And it was a pleasant surprise; before I watched it again, after having watched the series a second time, I feared that the relationship between the characters would be messed up, and that [...]
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