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Fireside this week! First off, it seems like last week’s post on the Hollywood myth of archery volley fire really got out there, so if you are a new reader just joining us, welcome! If you are in to discussions of historical tactics with an eye towards correcting common myths in games and film, you … Continue reading Fireside Friday, May 9, 2025 (On Lighter Bows) →
This week, I want to keep unloading my Tolkien-related thoughts, turning from last week’s character study to a look at the way ‘magic’ and spiritual power work in Tolkien’s legendarium and in particular to how contests between fundamentally magical beings in Middle-earth are decided. This is a topic that I think even the best adaptations … Continue reading Collections: How Gandalf Proved Mightiest: Spiritual Power in Tolkien →
This week (and probably next) I want to talk a bit more Tolkien, but in a somewhat different vein from normal. Rather than discussing the historicity of Tolkien’s world or adaptations of it, I want to take a moment to discuss some of the themes of Tolkien’s work, which express themselves in the metaphysical architecture … Continue reading Collections: Why Celebrimbor Fell but Boromir Conquered: the Moral Universe of Tolkien →
This is the final part of our five part (I, II, III, IV) series on the Siege of Eregion in Amazon’s Rings of Power. Last time, we looked at the orc siege and marveled at both their lack of works and also their nonsensical siege engines, concluding that Adar had launched a siege assault which … Continue reading Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part V: What Tactics? →
More in history
Smuggling Under the Cover of Plague JamesHoare Thu, 05/15/2025 - 08:59
In the heart of the dense Amazonian jungle, researchers are realizing that what was long believed to be an untouched wilderness is anything but. Recent archeological discoveries indicate that the rainforest’s native populations spent centuries modifying and transforming the natural landscape. The so-called city-forest theory challenges traditional views of human-nature dynamics in the Amazon, […]
“We stayed in boarding houses with similar families, made intense friendships and lived on the memories through the following winter!” – Barry Lewis on magic holidays in Blackpool, Lancashire Since Victorian times Blackpool on Britain’s north west coast has been the country’s most popular seaside resort, Synonymous with wide sandy beaches, donkey rides, … Continue reading "Blackpool 1984–1989" The post Blackpool 1984–1989 appeared first on Flashbak.
Samuel Johnson was an English author and lexicographer who lived between the years of 1709 and 1784. He is best remembered by literary historians for his famous Dictionary. This dictionary, formally known as A Dictionary of the English Language, was published in 1755 and apparently made him worthy of becoming known widely—unofficially—as Doctor Johnson. […]
