Poetry Month Gone Dark: DS Scott's Witch

Witch - © D. S. Scott - 2015

I am torn and bloody, whipped with birch

While you all sit and watch from your holy perch

Safety from an evil one, you look for and search

Thinking you will be protected by some church

I must find humor because I know otherwise

Your actions thought to save, will bring demise

To the ways of the world, you will soon be wise

I promise you this, I will tell you no lies

You cry and rage that the devil dwells inside

This simple truth, I will not try to hide

I am his servant and I must always abide

Up to the last moment when I have died

He is the true leader of your dear universe

And he giveth to me the power to curse

So you shall see, I will make it all worse

I will cast such spells, that have no reverse

Throughout my trials you covered me in pitch

You set me on fire and threw me into a ditch

Finding you couldn’t burn me, you called me witch

And your tactics for murder you had to switch

Trying to get rid of me, you cast me into the moat

You tried to drown me but all I did was float

Finally, you cast amongst yourselves a vote

And decided upon the fate of rope ‘round my throat

Now as I walk, I look up and see the gallow

Below, meant for me, lies a grave so shallow

Some think to the ways of the world I am callow

But the ground I walk is something to hallow

At last, the time has come for me to hang

I let out a shrill laugh followed by a harangue

Then as the rope snapped tight, bells rang

And all around people went and sang

At last you have finally gone and killed me

But all along these were my plans for thee

I swear, Lucifer shall come back for you all to see

Even God himself cannot stop what is to be

Satan himself will come back, you fool

He will not be confined to some burning pool

Putting me amongst you, he used me as a tool

I have simply paved the way for his glorious rule

 DS Scott's Bio:

When D. S. Scott was fourteen, a friend suggested he write a short story. He began writing and immediately took an interest in it. A couple weeks later he finished and was surprised to find how much he enjoyed writing it. In the years since, Scott has written in several genres but has found a particular interest in horror and suspense. He enjoys writing poetry, short stories and has started on a novel. Finding writing to be a creative outlet, he kept with it and followed his goal to publish.

He currently lives in North Carolina with his dog, Bandit.

Links:

Sulfur & Silk - D. S. Scott - Writer - Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sulfur-Silk-D-S-Scott-Writer/616324408427998

Amazon - He Comes In Many Forms

http://www.amazon.com/He-Comes-In-Many-Forms-ebook/dp/B00HV64X5E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395204991&sr=8-1&keywords=he+comes+in+many+forms

Smashwords - He Comes In Many Forms

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/391586

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The Dragon-Wizard's Crystal Skull.

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The Dragon-Wizard's Crystal Skull.

Dragon-wizard Gazzy Windstorm and his shape-shifting witch sister, Lori, decide to use their supernatural talents to fight global evil. The notoriety they gain as a result puts them dead in the sights of a group of vampire slayers looking for a new conquest.

To increase their odds, the hunters make an alliance with an evil priest with dreams of world domination. When they implement his plan to brainwash Lori and steal the ancient crystal skull that fuels the dragon-wizard’s power, all-out war begins.

Outnumbered, Gazzy summonses an undead knight, a garden-loving ghost, a static-superhuman and a dying witch, to aid him in his quest to save his sister and stop his enemies, before they use the enchanted talisman to beckon their own demon-dragon from the depths of Hell.

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Number 10 Witch of All-Time: Cordelia Foxx, AHS Coven

All hail the mighty Supreme Witch! The modern day Queen of Witch’s: Cordelia Fox! Cordelia? Who saw that coming? Or better yet, how could you not see that coming, American Horror Story Coven fans?

I must admit, while not totally blown away by the producer’s choice of Sara Paulson’s character, Cordelia Fox, to follow in her mother’s footsteps, I was surprised that her mother, Fiona Goode, portrayed by Jessica Lange, didn’t somehow find the secret to immortality and reign as Supreme forever. Alas, I was mistaken.

With the promotion of Cordelia, AHS’s coven pulled the ultimate surprise by allowing their annual mini-series scare fest to leave its fans with a happy ending. My, how far things have come since season one, when you could count the survivors on one finger.

Not that I’m complaining. I love Cordelia as Supreme, despite my life-long crush on Jessica Lange. The classic underdog tale, you must hand it to her. Her mom put her through hell her entire life with unrealistic expectations, harsh criticism and cruel intentions. But then, Fiona did that with everyone. Only more reason to admire Cordelia, who took all that punishment and came out even stronger.

Even though they both held the title of ‘Supreme Witch’ that’s pretty much were the similarities between the mother/daughter witch characters end. Cordelia, despite her upbringing or perhaps because of it, grew into the polar opposite of her mother. Where Fiona was evil, Cordelia was good. When Fiona was hateful, Cordelia was nice. The list could go on and on. But perhaps the most telling comparison would be this.  Whenever Fiona was needed to help save the Coven she would dodge the situation, unless something was in it for her. When Cordelia needed to help save the Coven she stabbed herself in the eyes to re-gain her second sight. Now that is a gruesome and noteworthy sacrifice.

As for Sarah Paulson, she is on a roll with her American Horror Story characters. This marks two seasons in a row that Jessica Lange’s character first appears as Sarah’s antagonist only to fail in her own corrupted quests for power, get her comeuppance and then meet her final fate at the end. No such death scenes for Sarah. Her characters have survived the utmost in terrors and emerged victorious both seasons. Let’s see if her luck holds next season in American Horror Story: Carnival!

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s give credit where credit is due. What Cordelia has done in Coven is the ultimate witch fantasy. After being suppressed, cast out and even slaughtered for centuries, Cordelia becomes the witch that changes all that, finding a home for wayward girls’ with gifts from the world of the occult. With Cordelia leading the nurturing Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, these women can now learn their craft in peace and find acceptance in a world long renown for hostility toward witches.

Thanks to this fictional story, for the first time witches are allowed to be truly accepted, as can be noted by the incredible response from the witch community on social media. For that, a huge kudos must go not only to the Cordelia character, but also the producers, writers and the millions of witches and witch-lovers that made mainstream witchery a reality.

Oh, and by the way, the first books Cordelia presents to all her young apprentince witches at the Academy is SUFFER THE WITCH CHRONICLES 1 & 2, Rise of the Raven Knights and The Dragon-Wizard's Crystal Skull. Purchase your copies at Amazon by clicking the book covers below!

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The Top Ten Witches of All-Time

10. Cordelia Fox

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Sara Paulson has to be commended, respected and feared for her portrayal of Cordelia, who tried to kill her mom, stabbed her own eyes out to gain second sight, and burned her mentor at the stake to cement her ascension to Coven Supreme. Well played, Cordelia!

9. The Charmed Ones

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Sexiest witches ever. The three sisters are also pretty darned good at snuffing out demons. What’s not to love about this group of witches? They are still extremely popular in syndication.

8.  Glenda the Good Witch, Wizard of Oz

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She rides bubbles and has one of the most recognizable voices in movie history. Oh yea, she isn’t scared of wicked witches either. By empowering Dorothy, she made female heroes possible.

7. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter

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The self-conscious perfectionist from the megahit Harry Potter series. She doesn’t get much credit, but were would Harry Potter and Ronald Weasly be without her and her timely spells?

6. Samantha, Bewitched

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She brought witchcraft to the mainstream. Her popular television series is still beloved today, decades after it originally aired. How many of you can twitch your nose like her?

5. Marie Laveau, New Orleans Voodoo Queen

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A true life witch of the highest order. People still go to her grave to pray for wishes granted. This is usually reserved for saints and whatnot, but New Orleans has its own way of doing things.

4. Stevie Nicks

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The ultimate white Wiccan, Stevie doesn’t like to be called a witch, but it’s pretty obvious. It goes deeper than her wardrobe too. Listen to the occult imagery in her songs and you will know.

3. Fionna Goode, American Horror Story Coven

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Fionna is as wicked as any witch on any list. She’s slashed throats, drowned girls, beheaded a minotaur, slept with ghosts, then had the ghost hack up her enemies. She is the Supreme, simply put.

2. Wicked Witch of the West, Wizard of Oz

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She had her flaws, like keeping the one thing that could kill her, water, just laying around. But her image has endured decades as the classic face of an evil witch. Green witches with warts, yea, that’s her. Her obsession over her late sister’s ruby slippers is timeless.

1. Morganna LeFay, King Arthur

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King Arthur’s sister, had sex with him, bore him a child that would bring down his Kingdom of Camelot and trapped Merlin the Magician, or Druid, in perpetual frozenness.  Yes, that’s pretty wicked.

Click to read Top 10 Witches of All-Time Honorable Mention 

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NUMBER 3 WITCH OF ALL TIME: JESSICA LANGE as FIONA GOODE, AHS COVEN

The first time I can remember seeing Jessica Lange was in The Postman Always Rings Twice. As a young teen, the blatant sexual prowess portrayed between her and Jack Nicolson was simply mind blowing. If this was what sex was all about, I had to have some! It was awkward, in your face, gritty, powerful. There is any number of powerful adjectives one could throw in here if inclined to grammatical gymnastics. You get the picture though. All references to Mrs. Robinson from 1967’s classic, The Graduate, aside, at that tender age I would have done Jessica Lange.

Back to the present. Jessica has lead an all-star ensemble cast through three seasons of American Horror Story. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if her character is good or bad. Not since the days of Larry Hagman’s portrayal of J.R. Ewing in Dallas, has an actor played a character that is so reviled, yet be nearly universally loved. Scruples could never get in the way of juicy roles such as these, which would explain her three year run, with talk of a fourth, before she goes her merry way, as she has publically stated.

This year she is once again, the ‘supreme’. Ironically, she is one of the few actresses I know that could steal the show even when she is the show’s main focus! Her delivery of the character, Fiona Goode, is flawless. A powerful leader of a dying witch coven, Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, Fiona is both strong and diabolical. She doesn’t flinch at killing anyone that stands in her way of achieving the power she so desperately craves. Her antics would rank her with some of the wickedest witches in fictional history. In my Top Ten Witches of All-Time Blog Series she comes in at #3.

There is more to this character, however. Jessica is as talented an actress as there ever was, so being able to flip the script and tug on the hearts of her audience is something she accomplishes effortlessly. Fiona’s character has a soft side after all. Fi as she displays a convincing, yet un-crippling, amount of self-esteem issues. She aging, and in fact dying of cancer. Huge ego hit on both counts. Years of affairs have left her feeling unfulfilled in her love life, with her only choice at present a ghostly axe murderer. Add this to the fact that as a new supreme emerges among the younger coven witches, he powers wane, leaving her quite defenseless as her wasting disease progresses.

Fiona’s answer to this? Dig up a centuries old witch, buried alive while carrying the curse of immortality. The problem is that the person responsible for the curse is equally evil New Orleans Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau, who is also an immortal. She also has a profound dislike for witches, white girls and particularly, Fiona.

The biggest sin in the coven is murdering a fellow coven member. Halfway through the season, Fiona has killed three in her attempt to gain and preserve her title of Supreme. First she offed her predecessor Supreme, when she was just a teenager, to take power the old fashioned way: in a coup.

Next, after her daughter brought in perhaps the final class of coven witches, she slashes the throat of the one she first fears to be her replacement, thinking it would restore her power. But, she picked the wrong one.

After that, Fiona executed her longtime rival, Myrtle, by casting blame on her for the murder of the young witch she thought was stealing her powers. Burning Myrtle alive at the stake, Fiona sets an indelible impression on the young members of the coven, who decided to take Fiona on in a high stakes game of chicken. The climatic final episode of the season looks to be extraordinary, if only to see who wins control of the coven, and title of Supreme. I wouldn’t count Fiona out!

Meanwhile, I will be thinking to myself that the 17 year difference between Jessica and myself isn’t as big as it was when I was 15. Yes, I would still do the beautiful Ms. Lange!

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WITCHCRAZE: A LOOK AT MODERN WITCHCRAFT

Alrighty folks, being a lifelong football fan, I know when to punt. Today’s blog was supposed to further the Knights of Lore series, but an older series of mine, The Top Ten Witches of All-Time, is still far surpassing the Knights’ series, so I’ve decided to jump back on the bandwagon and further explore the new ‘Witchcraze’!

It’s hard to believe that just a few hundred years ago, claiming to be a witch, or even being accused of being one, would get you burned at the stake! My, how times have changed. It seems like the only mythical creatures that can rival the skyrocketing popularity of witches is vampires. From a personal standpoint, I see witches winning that battle.

Nothing against those immortal blood sucking creatures of the night, but I will take witches any day! Hey, witches are pretty sexy! All one has to do is look at shows like American Horror Story: Coven, to see what I’m talking about.

That show, which is my favorite AHS yet, has sexy witches from all age groups and walks of life. From perennial bad girls, Fiona Goode and Delphine LaLaurie (portrayed by the esteemed actresses Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates), to younger bad girls like Madison Montgomery and Zoe Benson (Emma Roberts, Taissa Farmiga) and even witches in between, Marie Laveau, Misty Day and Cordelia Foxx (Angela Bassett, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, respectively).

The AHS: Coven witches are bad to the bone! And like all naughty witches should be, they are charming and beautiful, thus belying their own wickedness. So far, the Coven witches have shown incredible powers of second sight, telegraphic fire starting, resurrection, death by sex, control over zombies, reverse empathetic pain, and, of course, murder.

During the upcoming blog installments for Witchcraze! A look at modern witches, we will explore these incredible witches and see what makes them tick. 

On the flip side, American Horror Story producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk aren’t the only production company zeroing in on witchcraft. We also have the Lifetime television series Witches of East End, and Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, which has witches that Ichabod Crane must deal with.  CW’s The Originals is full of witches too.

In the land of Hollywood we’ve recently seen witches on the big screen in Beautiful Creatures, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Snow White and the Huntsman, Oz, the Great and Powerful, and Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem. Later this year we can expect to be enchanted by Disney’s upcoming cartoon movie, Frozen.

2014 promises to be just as epically wicked with potential blockbusters such as Maleficent, Seventh Son, The Last Witch Hunter, The Good Witch’s Wonder and Into the Woods.

Is this just a result of the last witchcraft trend, in which the kids that grew up watching Buffy and Charmed are putting their own spin on things? I think it is, and I also think that is a very good thing. When the Harry Potter kids and the kids that are currently learning the ins and outs of witchcraft from today’s shows, grow up, the cycle will repeat and their witches will be even bigger and even more wicked and epic.

In real life, witchcraft is more openly popular than ever before. However, even in today’s time there is still a great degree of discrimination for those who practice. Just mention the word Wicca to a fundamentalist of other religions and you will see exactly what I’m talking about. It seems that some just can’t get past the ‘do not suffer a witch to live’ mentality from religious edicts from thousands of years ago.

Though these aren’t the burning times, I wouldn’t encourage any kid to go to school and claim witchery. While it’s ok to be proud, it invites too much negativity. Who would want to deal with all that in a religion that teaches positivity? Let’s not be like the religions that preach peace and practice war! We are witches damn it! Like good heavy metal music, it’s a helluva lot better when it comes from underground!

Somewhere in the midst of this series, I would like to take a close look at Wicca, what it entails, how it works, and what real coven witches are like. So, if you know some fantastic witch, particularly one that is an author or one that lives in or around Cincinnati, I would love to chat you up and profile you on my blog. Hit me up on facebook or twitter and let’s talk!

In closing I can only add this: Witches: You’ve come a long way baby!

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DRAGONS OF LORE SERIES: Were Dragons mistaken by our ancestors for Dinosaurs, UFO’s or comets?

Humankind has been terribly afflicted with a collective amnesia of its history. We simply cannot remember or accept where we came from, even though clues to our past lay strewn all around us in bits and pieces of antiquated ruins. From prophecies I’ve read, it seems the ancients knew more about us than we do them. I also believe they expected this. This is why they left cave drawings, Nazca Lines, Pyramids, gods and goddesses from the sky and of course, myths.

Today we will conclude our dragon lore series by examining whether they could have really been mistaken for something else. The possibilities include dinosaurs, UFO’s and comets.

It speaks volumes that myths of dragons have survived from olden times until now. It simply cannot just be because of the romanticism of the myth, too many ancient cultures had dragon stories for that to be the case. In fact, all of them did.  

The fact that dragon stories are so widespread begs the next obvious question: Why have no dragon bones ever been discovered?

There are multitudes of dinosaur bones dug up, cataloged, analyzed and displayed across the globe. And there are multitudes more yet to have been dug up. Where on Earth could dragon bones be? Did they all die so deep in cracks and crevices deep inside Mother Earth that they will never be discovered? Were the bones destroyed by angry and fearful early humans? Or are scientists dead wrong about the timeline between the existence of dinosaurs and the evolution of humans?

‘Recent’ evidence has come to light that may prove scientist are wrong. There are many examples of dinosaur tracks and human footprints in rock formations in Texas. There are also ancient pottery from Central and South America that depict humans and dinosaurs co-existing. Now, I find that rather odd because they should not have known the details of what dinosaurs looked like, yet these unlearned ancient craftsman nailed it!

Further, why would they choose to use animals that were supposedly extinct for millions of years rather than creatures that really did walk among them? Did these people remember these events from their ancient ancestors’ past? This would seemingly make humans much older than scientist believe or dinosaurs much younger because humans and dinosaurs supposedly did not exist at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong, or mistake me for a creationist. I am not. I am a firm believer in Ancient Alien Theory.

The question of whether ancient civilizations could have mistaken dragons for UFO’s or comets is also compelling. There are so many crucial questions that need re-examining. If an asteroid or comet wiped out the dinosaurs completely, how did other species survive? Crocodiles, alligators, turtles and many other reptilian creatures have survived more than one mass extinction event. Puzzling right?

Consider the possibility that aliens did in fact come to Earth thousands, if not millions of years ago, genetically mixed their own ‘divine’ dna with that of the ancestors of humans, and then wiped out dinosaurs to give us room to grow? It’s a feasible an answer as any I’ve heard. Imagine, UFO’s zipping around the skies, shooting lasers at dinosaurs while fledging humans looked on, bewildered at the spectacle of it. Maybe other UFO’s even attacked some of the upstart human civilizations in an intergalactic battle against those that created us. Alas: Fire breathing DRAGONS!

Every ancient culture has stories about gods and goddesses that came from the sky in mechanical type flying vehicles. As we read in a past post about Chinese Dragons, these vehicles could in fact be UFO’s. The Chinese claimed that the dragons brought them wisdom and technology. Only an advanced civilization could do such a thing. When the aliens accomplished their goals of enlightening us, they simply boarded their dragon UFO’s and flew away into the sky.

Comets could also have been mistaken by the ancients. They had no knowledge of astronomy. How else could they describe a burning ball of fire, with long tails that spread out like wings that came flying through the sky? Comets have certainly hit the Earth before. Bam! Total destruction. Who gets the blame? Dragons, of course!

The simple fact of the matter is comets are visible quite often. If our ancients saw them and had no idea what they really were, who is to say that this didn’t serve as the genesis of dragon lore?

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Dragons of Lore Series: Chinese Dragons

Chinese Dragons are perhaps the most fascinating mythical creature ever dreamed up by mankind. In most ancient cultures, monstrous beasts where created to warn future generations about a certain danger. Whether the danger came from volcanoes, thunderstorms, asteroids or comets, dragons were usually a creature whose very presence spelled certain impending doom upon those unlucky to cross paths with them. Not true for Chinese dragons. These dragons are considered lucky, perhaps even givers of life. That is not to say that they don’t have a little bite!

China is often referred to as the Dragon. In ancient times they were associated by Emperor’s, or at least so the emperor hoped to be associated with them. The Chinese saw divine personality characteristics that they themselves wished to attain, or see in themselves. Chinese dragons epitomized strength, power, independence, courage, wisdom and above all else, luck!

Chinese dragons are quite different in appearance than western dragons. Chinese dragons lack wings and their bodies are more snake-like or crocodile-like than the lizard looking western fire-breathers. The ancient Chinese believed that certain animals possessed the power to overcome nature, especially when nature was being furiously angry. The dragons they worshipped were created from the parts of these different animals, such as serpents, reptiles and fish, to create a super-supernatural being to protect them.

The emperors who stylized their reigns after these creatures used dragons with five claws as their symbols. The next highest ranking military or political figure would have four and the next lowest three. The dragons were considered to be divine. Thus the dragon dance was born, to appease the gods to dispel droughts and bring life giving rains on which the harvest depended.

 The color of particular dragons is also very symbolic. Green is representative of the gods giving great future harvests, yellow embodied the emperor or his kingdom, gold and silver represent prosperity, red stands for excitement.

 

There are many beautiful dragon temples in China, many of them supported by outlandishly creative dragon pillars. With stunning craftsmanship, the ancients set out to make the dragons’ temples suitable for any god, anywhere in the world. The belief among these people was that the spirits of the dragons who dwelt within the temple would make wishes come true. In return, the wish makers would be compelled to do something to return the favor for the gods. It could be a simple fruit or bread sacrifice for the poor to a magnificent new dragon pillar in the temple for the rich lords.

Chinese dragons come in four types: Celestial, Spiritual, Earth and Underworld. The Celestial Dragon is ruler of all other dragons and protects the heavens. It has five claws. Spiritual Dragons control the wind and rain. Floating in the clouds, it reigned in nature, providing life giving rain when appeased and droughts and natural disasters when angered. Earth dragons controlled the flow of rivers and the path and maintenance of their banks. Every river in China had its own dragon. The Underworld Dragons guard hordes of treasures and precious metals buried deep underground. The guardian of wisdom, each Underworld Dragons possessed a black pearl, representing wisdom, which could multiply whatever it touched. I could use one of those magick black pearls! How about you?

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Dragon of Lore series: Beowulf and the Dragon

“O flower of warriors, beware of that trap. Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part, eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride. For a brief while your strength is in bloom but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow illness or the sword to lay you low, or a sudden fire or surge of water or jabbing blade or javelin from the air or repellent age. Your piercing eye will dim and darken; and death will arrive, dear warrior, to sweep you away.” Beowulf 

The myth of Beowulf fascinates me more than any other. Here is a man who defeated, and when I say defeated I mean killed, a leviathan, a troll, a witch-snake and a dragon! No other hero I can think off has as many skins on the wall as the great Geat. And he wasn’t even a demigod, like say, Hercules!

The story begins with Beowulf sailing away from his homeland, Geatland, to travel to the land of the Danes, to help a friendly neighboring peoples, and to make a name for himself. The King of the Danes, Hroogar, has developed a small problem. To celebrate his countries prowess against its enemies, the king built a great hall for his warriors to drink mead, tell tall tales, sing songs, ravage beautiful dames and all the other things victorious drunken warriors tend to do. The one mistake he made, however, was building his party hall within earshot of a terrible troll named Grendle, who was born deformed: his eardrum grew outside of his ear, not inside. Grendle couldn’t tolerate noise!

So, every time the Danes had a celebration, Grendle would come and play the role of party pooper, by destroying everything in his path, killing a warrior or two and taking their corpses back to his cave to dine on. A terrible pall fell across the land and no one dared stand up to the terrible Grendle. Then Beowulf showed up, full of confidence after slaying a leviathan along the way, bragging to be the greatest warrior in the world and vowing to rid the Danish lands of the cursed troll. To get matters started, Beowulf insisted on throwing a great celebration at the king’s hall, and when Grendle showed up, Beowulf battled him, ripped his arm off at the shoulder, causing the troll to flee back to his cave, fatally wounded.

When the troll dies, its angry mother, an evil witch who can shape shift into a snake, came calling for Beowulf. When she encounters the Geatmen, she attack and kills Beowulf’s best warrior before slinking back home. Outraged, Beowulf follows her to her lair and confronts her. Unable to hurt the sorceress with his weapons, Beowulf grabs an ancient magickal sword forged by a giant, lying amongst her horde and slays her with it. He then decapitates Grendle, gives the head to the king, is handsomely rewarded and then returns home to Geatland, where his new found reputation eventually makes him a great king of his own people.

Fifty years later, a young man in Beowulf’s kingdom comes upon a cave filled with treasure. He takes a golden cup with him for proof, and in the process, wakes a sleeping dragon. The dragon is furious to find one piece of its horde missing and flies from its lair, burning everything in its sight. With his kingdom under threat, old Beowulf summons his youthful courage and gathers his warriors to confront the dragon.

Sensing his own inevitable demise, Beowulf bravely orders his men to stand down and attacks the dragon alone. A great battle ensues and Beowulf finally slays the airborne beast by ripping its heart out with his bare hands. Unfortunately, Beowulf is mortally wounded by the dragon and dies soon after, surrounded by his closest friends and warriors. His people build a massive funeral pyre for their fallen hero and then bury his ashes and the dragon’s great lair together in a huge burial mound.

Two burial mounds that might fit the description have been found in Geatland, in what we today call Scandinavia. One was excavated in the late 19^th century and grand burial setting fit for a great king was found. It is debatable whether or not it was Beowulf. The other one has not been excavated.

I highly recommend reading a translated version of the epic poem Beowulf. There are a couple of really good movies made in the 2000’s that do a great job of telling this great myth as well. Of the two, I prefer the animated version. Odin and Thor would be proud.

“Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.” Beowulf

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