Ben Hellman
Into Adulthood's Dark Forest with Bynum's 'Likes'
Likes, and author Sarah Shun-lien Bynum. Folktales are said to help us deal with the most terrible of human fears, that of the unknown,...
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Ben Hellman
- Sep 24, 2020
Weaving New Tales; A Tapestry for a Modern Hero
The Eisenhower Memorial in Washington D.C. Photos from Designboom.com Adding to the Greco-Roman temples and Egyptian obelisk in...
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Ben Hellman
- Sep 17, 2020
"This Little Book;" Marjory Wardrop and the Tales of the Georgians
Statues dedicated to Marjory Wardrop and her brother Oliver in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2015, for the siblings' dedication to the nation and...
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Ben Hellman
- Sep 12, 2020
Two Trolls and a Dragon Walk into a Tale; Bridging the Grettir-Fafnir Divide in Beowulf
Two devis relax over a game with pieces that look suspiciously like human bones at Musthaid Park in Tblisi, Georgia. Devs are troll-like...
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Ben Hellman
- Sep 6, 2020
Kathleen Herbert and the Lost Gods of the Harvest
(Left to right) Kathleen Herbert’s Looking for the Lost Gods of England; an epitaph for John Barleycorn in my wife's family cabin, dated...
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Ben Hellman
- Sep 3, 2020
No Stone Unturned; An Investigation of Steinn from Grettis Saga
Rock eaters, controllers, destroyers and shapers: Left to right and top to bottom: The Rockbiter from The Neverending Story; Ludo from...
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Ben Hellman
- Aug 30, 2020
"Asphurtzela" and the Bear's Son Tradition
Public statue of the giant- and dragon-slaying Georgian culture hero Amirani, ამირანი, a figure associated with the Greek Prometheus myth....
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Ben Hellman
- Aug 24, 2020
The Mahabharata for the Intimidated
An Illustration to the Mahabharata: The Pandava and Kaurava armies face each other, circa 1700, Mewar, India; courtesy of Wikimedia. To...
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Ben Hellman
- Aug 18, 2020
The Protester and the Power of Ancient Ireland
Portland protester, photographed by Dave Killen, Oregonlive.com and a Sheela-na-Gig (Lavey, Cavan) found in a churchyard in 1842 and...
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Ben Hellman
- Aug 7, 2020
Clinging to Summer with Lughnasadh
Today is the midway point between the summer solstice and the fall equinox and perhaps, like me, you feel a sudden desire to stop time...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 29, 2020
The Sex Demon Catch 22
An Incubus; Colour print [19th century?] after a painting by Georg Kininger, 'The Dream of Queen Eleanor', 1795. What is a folklorist to...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 27, 2020
On the Challenges of Adapting Beowulf and My Suggestions for a Richer Experience
Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s and Michael Crichton's 1999 The 13th Warrior understood the visual nature of...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 27, 2020
An Anglo-Saxonist Reviews Another Beowulf Rock Opera
Stage adaptations of Beowulf from 2019, 2013 and 2005. (Left to right) The Met Cloisters, A.R.T's Oberon and New York's Irish Repertory...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 22, 2020
Biblical Numerology for the win!
Mel Brooks as Moses with these fifteen... TEN commandments. History of the World, Part 1, 1981 “How much do you pay for oil a month?”...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 21, 2020
A Lesson from the Mahabharata for a New Homeowner
The Khandava forest fire, from the 10th century Cambodian temple Banteay Srei, in Angkor. As I plot the destruction of the rodents...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 20, 2020
Portland Protester and the Power of the Female Nude
Portland protester, photographed by Dave Killen, Oregonlive.com and a 12th Century sheela na gig carving from the Church of St. Mary and...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 19, 2020
Is the Georgian Folktale "Asphurtzela" an unrecognized Beowulf Analogue?
Beowulf Mural, Robert Eva, photographer, Sheerness, Kent, Great Britain, 2017 I've found some details in a Georgian folk tale that align...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 19, 2020
A Review of P. Lal's Mahabharata
A warning that Lal's Mahabharata, in English, does not seem to be in print or easily obtained. I purchased one of two available used...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 19, 2020
The Parable of the Stink Bug and the Urinal
I want to share with you a story about an encounter I had at a urinal, but stick with me, because this is also a story about life and...
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Ben Hellman
- Jul 19, 2020
Black Lives Matter and Hardened Hearts
Mural painting in tomb of Ramose, Necropolis of Thebes, Egypt. I am reading Robert Alter's translation of Exodus and see some powerful...
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