Okay, so I admit it … I have been dissatisfied with the current design and quality of my version of Excalibur … so I redid it. Not only did I change the funky bolt-shaped hilt end pieces to circles (which is more authentic), but I took a cue from my son’s 3D art and used[…]
This morning I finished reading THE SKIN MAP by Stephen R. Lawhead. Last week I finished reading VENOM & SONG by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper. Both of these are excellent books, and both are fun to read. Venom & Song is the CSFF Blog Tour book for next week, and THE SKIN MAP[…]
Yes, it’s true. A white stag was seen near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. And the deer was photographed! It has only four points now, but imagine what it will look like with a full rack. The newspapers all say that the deer is albino, but in fact, it probably has leucism, a rare genetic alteration that[…]
Just where was Camelot, anyway? Scholars and romantics have been asking this question for ages. Well, I ran across an online video that covers some interesting theories about King Arthur’s possible presence in Wales. In particular, they argue that Camelot was ancient Caerleon, a Roman fortress with an amphitheater. This is where Geoffrey of Monmouth[…]
It is with great enjoyment that I recently picked up John Steinbeck’s The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights. This unfinished novel was a lifetime love and goal of Steinbeck, but he died in 1968, leaving it unfinished. In theme, it is almost a translation of the tales as written by Sir Thomas[…]
My son, Leighton, took my 2D Xara drawing of Excalibur and converted it to 3D using Blender (excellent free 3D software). To do this he imported the graphic, created a flat 3D model to match it, and then extruded it appropriately. After touching it up, he mapped my graphic to the proper faces of the[…]
When King Arthur gave the people of Britain the gift of life and liberty, he did so at the expense of the invading Saxons. But where did he fight them? This is a very interesting question, and little is known for sure. Nennius wrote in the Historia Brittonum that there were twelve battles fought by[…]
I ran across a fun news article about Cornwall’s mid-summer Golowan Festival, which has its strongest representation in Penzance. (If you want to get a taste of the culture of Cornwall, make sure you watch the video as well.) So what was the theme of this year’s Golowan Festival in Penzance? Well… it was the[…]
I found a very fascinating newspaper article today regarding the Welsh connections of King Arthur. The article was published at the News & Star, a Welsh newspaper. Now this is not like most news articles that are full of fluff and no substance. This one contains a lot of literary and historical information about Arthur’s[…]
This post is Part 2 of a series. Click here to read “Who Was Merlin? — Part 1“. So the question remains: Was Merlin a Druid? That is an open question. Certainly he was a bard, and therefore the question can be worded like this: How connected were the Bards to the Order Of Druids?[…]
I was going to post “Who Was Merlin — Part 2″ today, but found an EXCELLENT blog post over at Heavenfield about Merlin and how he “got his start” when Vortigern attempted to sacrifice him in order to get his fortress built. Lets just say ole Vorty was having a bit of trouble. So go[…]
This is a question that has fascinated people throughout the ages. I recently read an article on the BBC News website, titled “Merlin myths and links with Wales“. This article was prompted by the introduction of a new television series “Merlin – The Legend” (produced by the BBC, of course) about a young Merlin aiding[…]
This is an update on my previous post “King Arthur and Guinevere’s Wedding Site“. Well, it turns out that this historical hill has been purchased by four local villagers during an auction. They plan on setting up a land trust and opening up the land as a nature reserve for both local use, as well[…]
For those fascinated by old legends, I ran across one I hadn’t heard of before, in a blog post about a 13th century legend of the founding of the English town of Grimsby. It is the story of Grim, from Denmark, who saved the life of the heir to the Danish throne and brought him[…]
I found some of the text about King Arthur fighting werewolves in his tenth battle. Here it is, from the Welsh peom Pa Gur?: Though Arthur laughed he caused her blood to flow in Afarnach’s hall, fighting with a witch. He pierced Cudgel’s Head in the dwellings of Disethach. On the mountain of Edinburgh he[…]
Yes, it appears that King Arthur fought werewolves in a little-known legend. Although not exactly werewolves, but rather “dog-heads“, which are human type creatures with the heads of dogs, or wolves. This is highly interesting to me, because I have my third book planned out in great detail, and in it, King Arthur fights a[…]
I found a free online text of the stories of King Arthur, complete with illustrations at Sacred Texts. This is an edition of the legends as edited by Andrew Lang, who was a prolific scholar and author. I haven’t analyzed the text enough to tell what sources he uses, but it would appear to be[…]
It’s finally on sale! Pendragon Sword Of His Father is available to purchase on DVD at their website (currently under re-construction). Not only that, but they now have FIVE teaser-trailers to view, and one of them has a scene with me and my son, Leighton! I won’t give any details of this scene (that’s a[…]
I found some very interesting articles today regarding the Holy Grail and its possible location. Of course, no one knows for sure, but it is quite the question to ask, and academics are not without opinions, as we shall see. For my own fictional series based on the legends of King Arthur, I have decided[…]
Let’s just say that my kids are fans of my book! Last month for Father’s Day (June 15th here in the U.S.), my children worked many long hours and gave me a statue of King Arthur. They made him out of Sculpey Clay that you cure by baking, with tin foil for filler, and wire[…]