Otherworld

Symbols of death have been commonplace in western cultures since their inception. However, the way in which these symbols are interpreted have gone through significant changes as the human relationship to death has progressed. This relationship has been fundamentally shaped by interactions with disease, war, and varying levels of technology, which influences the amount of death individuals encounter throughout their lives. This intersectionality of causal factors, symbolism, and interpretation of

1138. In some Welsh and Breton tales and poems that date from before this work, Arthur appears either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes associated with the Welsh Otherworld Annwn. It is not known how much of Geoffrey's Historia was adapted from such earlier sources rather than invented by Geoffrey

Ideals of the Renaissance The Renaissance is a time of rebirth. The world-view changed from a religious view to a Humanistic view. It focused on realism and man rather than spiritually and God; the belief was that man can control his fate. People started using reason to solve problems, they questioned truth, they became innovative, and people tried to understand the world. Man begins to think of himself so he starts venturing outward. Artists in this time tried to create new and innovative ways to

The novel Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead is a story about many things; it is a tale of adventure and battle but also the story of one barbarian named Gunnar. In part one of Byzantium he is ruthless, capturing and looting, participating in fights, raids and slavery. But as the book goes on Gunnar begins to convert the more he sees what Aidan’s, the main character, religion is like. In part one of the book Aidan’s ship of monks is attacked by a group of vicious Dutch pirates called Sea

of Mayan life, maize in their mouth. Maize or corn was so important in the Mayan culture because it was the number one source of food and was a symbol of rebirth. The Mayans also believed that the maize was food for the dead as the travel to the otherworld after death. This is why maize was placed inside the mouth of the deceased. Similar to maize, a jade or other stone bead may be placed inside the deceased mouth and its point was to provide currency for their journey through the afterlife. Along

When thinking about fairy tales many of us, if not all of us, revert back to childhood. When we were children some of the best memories are those of the movies we used to watch; Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Frog Prince, things of those sorts. What many of us do not know is that fairy tales go back farther than that of Disney’s productions. In this course, we have been learning about different views of fairy tales. One of the views that we have focused a lot on is told by Bruno Bettelheim

has become wealthier without becoming democratic; and it has become wealthier without making much progress toward gender equality (Michael Ross, 2012). The Middle East is characterized by having less democracy and more oil for decades, than any otherworld region (Michael Ross, 2012). Yet, it is said that oil wealth usually indicates authoritarianism; associated with corruption, economic instability, and conflict and the United Arab Emirates may not be an exception to this. The United

The magic in the story is tied to the change of seasons and a cycle of natural regeneration that allows the healing of Green knight after he was beheaded. Gawain meets Morgan La Faye alongside with lady Bertilak but she had changed her looks and looked much older. The poem combines natural and supernatural powers, which order and define men’s lives through growth, death, and rebirth, against the artificial world created by magic. This suggests that the Arthurian chivalric code exists in blankness

More often than not, the line that separates man from monster is blurred. This is evident in the existence of Grendel, one of the many antagonists to the main character in the anonymously-written epic poem, Beowulf. The poem depicts Beowulf, a strong and eager youth, arriving in the land of King Hrothgar and the Scyldings in order to try his hand at defeating the awful beast Grendel, who has been terrorizing the Scyldings and their mead hall, Heorot, for over a decade. Grendel is described in

Celebrated on October 31st, the festival of Halloween (also known as Samhain) includes dressing in costume, trick or treating, and decorating. Tracing back in history Halloween is considered to be one of America’s oldest holidays, and is still celebrated today. Halloween is believed to come from Celtic rituals. Celtics believed the cosmological myth of Saman (Lord of the Dead). Saman would call on the souls of the people that passed away that year to take them to the afterlife or underworld; the