Well, I'm at it again. . . my fourth book of translated Icelandic sagas has been published. The Sagas of Hrafnista is a "cycle" of four sagas about four different members of a family from the Norwegian island of Hrafnista (modern Ramsta).
These are classic "legendary" sagas, with everything from a dragon to some hideous giants to plenty of crazed ( Read more... )

Right. So.

My sister has been doing her unique blend of Irish-Cajun-worldbeat-progrock-singer-songwriter music (what she calls "Heavy Wood") for many years now. But of late, she's started taking things in a different direction: she's started a project called the Potent Bathers (an anagram for her name, Beth Patterson). Check these out:

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I have the honor to announce that I've just published yet another book of sagas and tales translated from Old Norse. This one's 258 pages long -- the largest book I've ever done -- and includes four sagas and six shorter tales. It's called. . . Sagas of Giants and Heroes, and you can get it from Lulu.com at

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/ ( Read more... )

Yes, that was, in fact, me.EDIT: Look, folks, this all happened back in the Elder Days when most images were still being made using this flat floppy plastic stuff called "film", and printed out on this other flat glossy stuff called "photo paper". Those pictures are at my parents' home, and as far as I know, they've yet to be digitized. Even if I ( Read more... )

Since divesting myself of TV three years ago, and not watching much before that, I honestly haven't followed professional football much. I couldn't really tell you who won the last few Super Bowls, or much of anything else about the last few seasons. I mean, I enjoy watching a good game as much as anyone, but it's not something I concern myself ( Read more... )

I have the honor to announce that I've just published another volume of translated Old Norse sagas. . .

http://www.lulu.com/content/8084173

The Saga of Fridthjof the Bold (Friðþjófs saga inn frækni) was the first saga to be completely translated into English, back in 1839. It was ( Read more... )

For the past couple of years, I've been honing my Old English chops by translating the riddle-poems preserved in a great manuscript of Old English poetry known as the Exeter Book. The book includes about 95 riddles (there are some differences of opinion as to how to number them), not all of which are completely legible (besides the usual ( Read more... )

Aaaaaaand this just in:

My first book of saga translations, Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok, is now listed on Amazon.com. Check it out at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0578021382/.

The book includes the complete Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, a fragmentary text called the Sögubrot or Saga-Fragment, a short excerpt from a work called the List of Swedish Kings, the ( Read more... )

My sister got her start playing Irish traditional music, and she still does quite a bit of that. . . but she's quite happy to play songs in the English national tradition as well. Check out her tribute to one of the best-known British traditional ensembles:

http://www.vimeo.com/3302858

My exquisitely lovely and fiercely intelligent wife has just successfully defended her master's thesis on medicinal plants used in the Ozarks and Ouachitas. In a few weeks she will graduate with a MS degree.

Congratulations, beloved. You did yourself proud.