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Top 10 Real Life Dragons
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the term dragon means “A mythical animal usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws.” These magnificent monsters have captured the human imagination for millennia. Cultures throughout the world have their own spin on grand, powerful, and mysterious reptiles. Dragons,…
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Fantasy Races and Peoples: Beyond “Pretty and Pointy-Eared”
I’m the kind of person who looks at fantasy games where you choose your character’s species/race and thinks, “Yessss.” Being human in real life is all well and good. But speculative fiction is all about breaking from the norm and trying something new. And for me, that means going really new. Skip the usual elves…
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Medieval Bestiaries and Mythical Creatures: Unnatural History
Of all the literary forms in human history, the illuminated manuscripts of medieval Western Europe are among the most memorable. With their thick parchment, elaborate opening letters, and colorful and often strange illustrations, what’s not to love? Perhaps the most famous illuminated manuscripts were the great medieval bestiaries, curious tomes describing both natural history and…
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Griffon Gryphon: Fantasy Creature Naming Conventions
Before starting this blog, I spent several years working as either an educator or animal keeper at a few different zoos and aquariums. Shocker, I know. In that career, I learned all kinds of animal names: from the eighteen different species of penguin, to the impressive variety of names for a single skink species, to…
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Monstrous Monsters: Conflict and Natural Aggression
Open up any Dungeons and Dragons book about game monsters, and chances are good that you’ll end up on a page detailing either an evil entity out to ruin your day or a powerful and dangerous creature that may very well want to eat you. Even the less enemy-focused creatures have “stat blocks” detailing how…