Category: Celt

My book cover artist’s process

April 8, 2012 Categories: Altdorf, Celt, Farrier, The Forest Knights

Chris Ryan did an amazing job on the cover for Book 1 of The Forest Knights (Altdorf). If you’re interested in seeing some initial sketches and how he transformed them into a beautiful cover, check it out here. I’ve asked him to do the cover for the second book (Morgarten) and I am psyched that he is going to take it on. If anyone out there needs some custom artwork done, Chris is your man. You can get in touch with him through his website. He also did the covers for my Keepers of Kwellevonne short story series. I’m going to post them here because I can’t stop looking at them! (click them to see a full size version) Healer by J.K. SwiftFarrier by J.K....

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Finder’s Fee for Oetzi “The Iceman”

February 28, 2012 Categories: Alps, Celt

I was reading some cool stuff about the Iceman today. And no, I’m not talking about some hitman for the mob (although…he does have a certain “look” about him). Oetzi was about 159cm tall (5ft 2.5in), 46 years old, arthritic, and infested with whipworm. But he still netted German hikers Erika and Helmut Simon $216,000.  The discovery of Oetzi in 1991 in the Northern Italian Alps is old news, but I had never heard the amount that the people who found him actually received before. Wow. It pays to keep your eyes open when you’re hiking. Read the article here. Here’s the article the picture was taken from: Oetzi the Iceman’s nuclear genome gives new insights I swear I’ve seen that guy...

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ALTDORF, a novel of The Forest Knights now available!

October 14, 2011 Categories: Altdorf, Celt, Switzerland, The Forest Knights

Buy it now at: Amazon US & Canada Amazon UK Amazon DE Amazon FR iBookstore Barnes & Noble Smashwords Go here for free e-reading apps The Forest Knights Official Website is...

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Beheading the goose

September 30, 2011 Categories: Celt, Switzerland

*Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts.* Where do I start with this one? How about with the rules: Hang a dead goose by the neck in the town square Put a big sun mask on a guy with no eye slits so he is blinded Hand him a dull sword Back away quickly Each competitor gets one blind swipe at the goose with the dull blade. Kind of like a macabre “pin the tail on the donkey”. Whoever successfully decapitates the goose is declared the winner and gets to take the mangled goose home. Here’s a quote from swissworld.org just so you don’t think I’m making this stuff up! Gansabhauet, or Beheading the Goose, takes place on St Martin’s Day (November 11th). Alongside the main event are various events for children, including climbing a pole to knock down one of the presents attached to a tree at the top. The Gansabhauet itself involves blindfolded competitors using a blunt sword to attempt to...

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I feel like…smearing soot on young women

September 15, 2011 Categories: Celt, Switzerland

Canton Valais (Wallis) This is the Canton where Pirmin (a character in my Forest Knights novels) is from. If you’ve read the book, you know Pirmin is quite enamored with the opposite sex (and they with him!) so you can imagine how he would thrive in this particular festival which takes place in February: Tschäggätta in the Lötschental in Canton Valais (Wallis) (Lötschental mask© picswiss) Young unmarried men and boys roam the streets of the villages of the valley, wearing demonic masks and tunics made of sheep or goat skins, and ringing bells. The name refers to the black and white colour of these tunics: “tschäggätta” means “piebald” in the local dialect. By tradition the Tschäggätta wear gloves smeared with soot, and take the occasional swipe at anyone they meet (particularly young women). The masks are handcarved, and each one is different. They normally feature crooked teeth and bulging, uneven eyes. It is said that they reflect the untamed nature of the valley. They have also been interpreted as an expression of anarchy and rebellion in a peasant society that was largely dominated by the church. The tradition stems from the time the valley was cut off from the...

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Become the tree 2: Maibär

September 3, 2011 Categories: Celt, Switzerland

*Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts.* Maibär, Bad Ragaz, Canton St Gallen The Swiss really love to dress up as trees. Here is another festival where a guy dons a couple hundred pounds of foliage and waddles through the streets. Thankfully, after a full day of this, his costume gets thrown in the river. The Maibär festival is held on the first Sunday of May. A conical frame, which may be 4.5 m (over 14 feet) high – is covered with freshly picked foliage, and decorated with ribbons and flags. It is carried dancing through the streets of the village by a young man hidden inside it. Since the frame is so heavy – up to 100 kg (220 lb) – several bearers take it in turns. The Maibär is accompanied by youngsters with cowbells, and by a horde of children collecting money. The noise is supposed to drive away any malevolent spirits which might intend to bring back the winter. The...

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Become the tree 1: Pfingstsprützlig

August 30, 2011 Categories: Celt, Switzerland

*Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts.* Ah…the Pfingstsprützlig. I have never appreciated the copy and paste function so much.  Well, if this isn’t an example of Celtic or pagan customs that are still practiced in Switzerland, I will say Pfingstsprützlig ten times after eating a box of crackers: Pfingstsprützlig, Sulz, Aargau On the afternoon of Whit Sunday – seven weeks after Easter – the young men of the Fricktal villages of Sulz and Gansingen take part in the Pfingstsprützlig, or Whitsun Water Sprite, ceremony. The sprite is dressed in leafy branches, crowned with the flags of Switzerland and Canton Aargau, and goes from trough to trough in the village, splashing water out of them. Since the branches are heavy and completely cover the sprite, in Sulz it is guided by two of its friends, who support it with a double ended paddle. When they reach a trough, the guides bend the sprite over it, and use this paddle to splash the water....

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Druid King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle

August 24, 2011 Categories: Celt

I think he’s got a point. And I’m not just saying that because my novel Altdorf has Druids in it! He also has a really cool suit. What do you think? About the point or the suit. King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle Speaking before the hearing, King Arthur Pendragon said: ”Let those we lay to rest, stay in rest” A druid who went to the High Court to try to stop researchers examining ancient human remains found at Stonehenge has failed in his legal bid. King Arthur Pendragon wanted the remains found in 2008 to be reburied immediately. He was fighting a Ministry of Justice decision allowing scientists at Sheffield University to analyse the samples for five more years. His bid was rejected at a High Court hearing in London. Mr Justice Wyn Williams refused to give Mr Pendragon permission to launch a judicial review action, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to show that the Ministry of Justice might have acted unreasonably. See the rest at BBC News – King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle. *Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I...

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Even Swiss demons are tidy

August 21, 2011 Categories: Celt, Switzerland

*Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts.* I don’t know about you, but I really want to rent one of those inflatable Sumo wrestler suits and have a go at these guys. Mind you, they do look a little scarier than I would in a fat-man suit. The straw men, or empaillés, appear on the Sunday before Mardi Gras in the village of Evolène in the Val d’Herens. They wear baggy suits of sacking, stuffed with up to 30 kg of straw. Their faces are hidden under a carved mask, and they carry a broom. ©...

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Why is “CH” the international symbol for Switzerland?

August 3, 2011 Categories: Celt, Switzerland

Wild Maa (green man) and “Leu” (lion)… are two of three heraldic figures who take part in the Vogel Gryff festival in Kleinbasel, the part of Basel on the right bank of the Rhine.  © swissworld.org Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts. A bunch of Celtic Pagans “CH” stands for “Confoederatio Helvetica” which is Latin and the official name for Switzerland. How did this come about? Well, it turns out “Helvetica” is more than just a cool font. It refers to the “Helvetians”, the main tribe of Celts that populated the area now known as Switzerland. When one mentions Celts, people tend to think of Ireland. But there were many, many, many (that’s how I say “I don’t know how many”) tribes of Celts living throughout Europe before the Romans got their mitts on them. The Celts in the British Isles were simply the last ones to be exposed to Roman occupation, so historically we know more about them than the others...

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