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The Keltoi of Európi
I was very late to this party. For decades I thought of Celtic culture as located in the British Isles. You might tour Scotland to see sites and artifacts of the Picts and the Gaels, or Ireland to hear...
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Crossing the Danube
In the 4th century BC, a well-established trade route led from the Aegean Sea across Europe to the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. It was called the Amber Road, because amber washed up on the beaches...
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Lugh and the Lunasad
Lugh or Lú was a Celtic god with a long pedigree. He was part of Irish mythology in pre-Christian Ireland, that is, the centuries before 400 AD. But the Celts arrived in Ireland around 275 BC, bringing...
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The Ancient Goths
When Nerine, the sea nymph protagonist of Fate’s Door, traveled across Europe in the 4th century BC, I needed to know who she would encounter on her journey. The first part of her route along the...
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The Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea caused me all kinds of trouble in my writing of Fate’s Door. First of all came the problem of what to call the dang thing. I ran into this issue throughout the entire novel. The names...
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The Norns of Fate’s Door
The three Fates appeared in many of the mythologies of ancient Europe. They were often envisioned as goddesses weaving on a loom, the tapestry thus created shaping the destinies of both mortals and...
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Cottage of the Norns
My first experience of the cottage where my norns in Fate’s Door live was through the eyes of Nerine, their handmaiden. It’s the the end of winter, when the trees are leafless and the long grasses...
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Brocade and Drawlooms
Before I learned about yunjin brocade, I’d assumed that my norns in Fate’s Door would weave upon a floor loom, something like the weaver I saw working in historic Williamsburg. I hadn’t really thought...
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Nerine’s Room
When Nerine first enters her room in the 6th scene of Fate’s Door, she is desperate to find some oddment that she can add to the tapestry of destiny that will save her friend Altairos. The well at the...
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Mother Holle
Mother Holle (or Frau Holle) is one of the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm, but it may be far more than a fairy tale. In most of the other Brothers Grimm stories, anonymous and magical beings...
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