Mabi Lexicon

Language, History, Music, and Mythology influencing Nexon's Mabinogi mmo.

[keena-kapu]

Do you ever hear someone say something about your field of interest that is wrong and you have to stop yourself from physically cringing but you gotta stay strong and cool cause you don’t wanna be ‘That NerdTM’?

[keena-kapu]

there is no deep meaning to this, this is when I see people refering to Excalibur as “The Sword in The Stone”

[whitestarrussian]

Wait I though the sword in the stone is Excalibur. What is it then?

[keena-kapu]

The Sword in the Stone is Caliburn, and was the way be became king. Excalibur was the sword given to him by the Lady of the Lake after he broke Caliburn fighting King Pellinore.

[tragicwolves17]

I have been educated today and I appreciate it

[keena-kapu]

I did not expect everyone else to also like swords this much.

[texanredrose]

1) Thank you, Kap, for clearing up this misconception.

2) I am always down to be That Nerd™

[techtonicactivity]

Please nerd splurge to me at literally any time about anything I love hear hyper specific interests

[elspethsunschampion]

Wait…I thought Caliburn was another name for Excalibur?

I’m aware that Excalibur and the sword in the stone are different, but can someone clarify on this point because I was under the impression the sword in the stone was nameless?

[panatmansam]

The Shapeshifter

by Saṃsāran

In the shamanic tradition, there is the concept that the shapeshifter the human who can change into an animal often a totemic animal. The story of Dracula and the werewolf tap into the Northern European tradition but it exists everywhere. In the native American tradition, the most common theme is the animal which becomes human. In ancient Greece, Zeus becomes a swan. Odin also takes on the shape of the raven and the wolf. Africa, Amazonia, and Australia have these traditions. 

It is universal this idea of man and beast changing forms.

Sometimes the shapeshifter is evil. Sometimes good. Where do these stories come from? Surely human beings cannot physically become beasts. That is against the laws of science. However, what if there is a kind of shared consciousness among creatures of all kinds?

 Why is there a sharp line between human and nonhuman? All mammals share a great deal of our genetic makeup with every other mammal. What if there is no clear line but a blended line as one evolving over time. What if we share a common race memory encoded into our genes?

I may not change into another form but there may be another form of connection. What though if there is an explanation that does not defy science but one where we do not yet understand the mechanism?

[projectpaperhearts]

2 Weeks Remaining!

If you want your valentines included in this year’s package, you have just 2 weeks to get them to us! That’s still plenty of time to make a valentine for a child at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Go here for all the details!

[letsbuildgunpla]

Hey everybody, consider making a paper Valentine for the kids at St.Judes Childrens Hospital! It’s fun and cheap and a great thing to do with kids. Check out the guidelines below and send yours in soon!

http://projectpaperhearts.tumblr.com/participate

[panatmansam]

The Shapeshifter

by Saṃsāran

In the shamanic tradition, there is the concept that the shapeshifter the human who can change into an animal often a totemic animal. The story of Dracula and the werewolf tap into the Northern European tradition but it exists everywhere. In the native American tradition, the most common theme is the animal which becomes human. In ancient Greece, Zeus becomes a swan. Odin also takes on the shape of the raven and the wolf. Africa, Amazonia, and Australia have these traditions. 

It is universal this idea of man and beast changing forms.

Sometimes the shapeshifter is evil. Sometimes good. Where do these stories come from? Surely human beings cannot physically become beasts. That is against the laws of science. However, what if there is a kind of shared consciousness among creatures of all kinds? Why is there a sharp line between human and nonhuman? All mammals share a great deal of our genetic makeup with every other mammal. What if there is no clear line but a blended line as one evolving over time. What if we share a common race memory encoded into our genes?

I may not change into another form but there may be another form of connection. What though if there is an explanation that does not defy science but one where we do not yet understand the mechanism?

[unexplained-events]

Thunderbird

The Thunderbird appears in many Native American legends and is said to be larger than a condor. 

Some said that the Thunderbird accompanied thunderstorms and that lightning flashed from its eyes. It was said to feed on killer whales. Some called it Piasa, or ‘devourer of man’ and believed the bird required sacrifices or it would attack a whole community.

The Ojibway of Lake Superior said that a Thunderbird fought with Mishipishu, a snake like monster of the lake. In more recent time, the Sioux Medicine Man, John (Fire) Lame Deer told of the Thunderbird and said that the he believed that they had gone to the furthest parts of the earth, unhappy with the dirty and impure civilization of the whites. 

Sightings of the thunderbird go back centuries and fossil records have shown that birds with wing spans between 12 and 18 ft existed alongside early man.

SOURCE

[rswinther]

Scandinavian folklore (special focus on Norway) Pictures: Nøkken, Valemon, and Draugen by Theodor Kittelsen Dragon, Huldra, Trolls, Elves, (first picture), by John Bauer Fossegrimen by http://birgitte-gustavsen.deviantart.com/art/Fossegrimen-160045627 Kraken by Bob Eggleton

[likeafieldmouse-deactivated2015]

King Minos’s Labyrinth

"In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (Greek λαβύρινθος labyrinthos) was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at the palace Knossos.

Its function was to hold Minos’s son, Minotaur, a mythical creature that was half man and half bull.

Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely escape it after he built it.

Every nine years, Minos made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus’s creation, the Labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur.

After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in the underworld. The Minoan civilization of Crete has been named after him by the archaeologist Arthur Evans.

In colloquial English, labyrinth is generally synonymous with maze, but many contemporary scholars observe a distinction between the two: maze refers to a complex branching (multicursal) puzzle with choices of path and direction; while a single-path (unicursal) labyrinth has only a single, non-branching path, which leads to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not designed to be difficult to navigate.”

[transylmania-deactivated2017092]

Alan Lee - The Mabinogion

[birdsofrhiannon]

Pwyll, Price of Dyfed by Alan Lee for the Mabinogion

[norsenaturetolkien-deactivated2]

The Welsh Dragon (Y Ddraig Goch) The oldest recorded use of the dragon to symbolise Wales is from the Historia Brittonum, written around 829 AD, but it is popularly supposed to have been the battle standard of King Arthur and other ancient Celtic leaders. In the Mabinogion story Lludd and Llefelys, the red dragon fights with an invading White Dragon . His pained shrieks cause women to miscarry, animals to perish and plants to become barren. Lludd, king of Britain, goes to his wise brother Llefelys in France. Llefelys tells him to dig a pit in the centre of Britain, fill it with mead, and cover it with cloth. Lludd does this, and the dragons drink the mead and fall asleep. Lludd imprisons them, still wrapped in their cloth, in Dinas Emrys, Snowdonia.

[mabilexicon]

The Red Dragon in Mabinogi may not cause women to miscarry in game, but his shriek will cause your summoned pets to vanish. Perhaps the stone dragon statue buried in Gairech, north of Bangor is a beast who met a similar fate as these ancient wyrms?

[mabilexicon]

Hy-Brasail - The Isle of the Blest

The following poem was collected by William Butler Yeats in 1888 for his collection of Irish literature "Fairy and Folk Tales of The Irish Peasantry"

The poem follows the tradition that the paradise realm of Tir Na Nog could be accessed by mortals under special conditions, and is manifest here as the phantom island, Hy-Brasail.

Hy-Brasail - The Isle of the Blest

By Gerald Griffin

 ON the ocean that hollows the rocks where ye dwell

A shadowy land has appeared, as they tell;

Men thought it a region of sunshine and rest,

And they called it Hy-Brasail, the isle of the blest;

From year unto year, on the ocean’s blue rim,

The beautiful spectre showed lovely and dim;

The golden clouds curtained the deep where it lay,

And it looked like an Eden, away, far away! 

   A peasant who heard of the wonderful tale

In the breeze of the Orient loosened his sail;

From Ara, the holy, he turned to the west,

For though Ara was holy, Hy-Brasail was blest.

He heard not the voices that called from the shore,

He heard not the rising wind’s menacing roar;

Home, kindred, and safety he left on that day,

And he sped to Hy-Brasail, away, far away!

   Morn rose on the deep, and that shadowy isle

O’er the faint rim of distance reflected its smile;

Noon burned on the wave, and that shadowy shore

Seemed lovelily distant, and faint as before;

Lone evening came down on the wanderer’s track,

And to Ara again he looked timidly back;

O, far on the verge of the ocean it lay,

Yet the isle of the blest was away, far away!

   Rash dreamer, return! O ye winds of the main,

Bear him back to his own peaceful Ara again.

Rash fool! for a vision of fanciful bliss,

To barter thy calm life of labor and peace.

The warning of reason was spoken in vain;

He never revisited Ara again!

Night fell on the deep, amidst tempest and spray

And he died on the waters, away, far away!

[mabilexicon]

Feghus, King of Ireland

The Irish legend of Chuchulain begins with an account of how Conchubar, son of Ness is placed on the throne of Ulster County by his mother who swindles the crown from from Fergus, son of Rogh. The Royal palace of Ulster is said to be located at a fortress known as Eman Macha.

[samsaranmusing-deactivated20140]

Celtic Music

A few days ago after posting the mournful Celtic ballad “Ailein Duinn" several people asked if I could post links to more Celtic music on my blog. So, as promised:

Dantes Prayer by Loreena McKennitt

Siuil-a-Run by Orla Fallon

Skellig by Loreena-Mckennitt

Hope has a Place by Enya

Exile by Enya

[mabilexicon]

A selection of Authentic Celtic Music from Samsaranmusing.

[samsaranmusing-deactivated20140]

[samsaranmusing-deactivated20140]

Raven was sacred to the Druids, the Celtic Shamans.

  Who Were the Druids?

  In pre-Christian Europe the Druids were a class of priest/healers.  They first make their historical appearance about 4000 BCE, well before the rise of the Celts, they were associated with the Indo-European Aryans who emerged from the misty mountains between the Caspian and Black Sea. Later they were associated with the nature Gods of the Celts.  What we know of the Druids comes primarily from three sources: Roman histories, Irish folk stories and the scant archaeological record.

    The Romans told stories of human sacrifice and cannibalism. They told of the brutal torture and sacrifice of prisoners and dealings with the dark elder gods of humanity.  These tales terrified the legionnaires and gave the Romans a reason to exterminate them at all costs.  Irish folktales and myths portray them as wizards like the “Merlin" of the Arthur legend.  Holding court under sacred oaks, making magic and communing with the spirits of the forest. Counseling Kings, trying law cases, dealing with oath breakers, conducting wedding ceremonies and blessing warriors before battle and joining them in the field.

    Like all descendants of the Aryan invaders the Druids held the virtues of strength of arms, valor, truth in speech and oath keeping as their primary tenets.  The Celts viewed the Romans as effete and untrustworthy. Honor was all important to the Celts.

"We teach that the gods must be honoured, no injustice done and manly behaviour always maintained."

  "Truth in heart, strength in arm, honesty in speech." — The Druidic Warrior’s Oath, inscribed in runes circa 200 B.C.E

  ๑ Samsaran ๑

[samsaranmusing-deactivated20140]

Morgan: The Raven Goddess Morgan Just like a raven Your eyes are brown Like the earth you can withhold Your name is free The like raven within you You escape into the freedom of the sky With the wings of love You are calm and smooth Like the feathers of a raven You are brave and bold Once again you are a raven A symbol of life and peace in an earthy way Morgan you are the raven that protects the soul

jasmine appelhaus (via samsaranmusing)

[samsaranmusing-deactivated20140]

The original “Paladins” (the name comes from “ Palatine Hill” which was one of the seven hills of Rome and was where the emperor had his palace) were twelve knights of the Frankish King Charlemagne. They were called paladins because that name originally referenced high ranking noblemen who served...

~This article continues after the link.

[samsaranmusing-deactivated20140]