The drow or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of elves connected to the subterranean Underdark in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and connected to the evil goddess Lolth. However, later editions of Dungeons & Dragons have moved away from this portrayal and preassigned alignment. More recent publications have explored drow societies unconnected to Lolth.
The Ardhanarishvara, is a form of the Hindu deity Shiva combined with his consort Parvati. Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half-male and half-female, equally split down the middle. The right half is usually the male Shiva, illustrating his traditional attributes.
The Goddess movement includes spiritual beliefs or practices which emerged predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in the 1970s. The movement grew as a reaction to perceptions of predominant organized religion as male-dominated, and makes use of goddess worship and can include a focus on female people, or on one or more understandings of gender or femininity.
Tear Ring Saga: Chronicles of War Hero Yutona is a tactical role-playing game developed by Tirnanog, a development studio started by Shouzou Kaga, the creator of the Fire Emblem series, after he left Nintendo’s Intelligent Systems development team in 1999. The game featured a complicated development and initial release period, with the company receiving legal pressure multiple times from Nintendo, who felt that the game's very similar gameplay and presentation, which also featured the art of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 artist Mayumi Hirota, infringed on their copyrights on their Fire Emblem intellectual property. Direct ties to Fire Emblem were dropped, and its original title, Emblem Saga, was changed to its final title as to not sound so similar to Fire Emblem, and the game was released in Japan on May 24, 2001, by Enterbrain, for Nintendo's competitor, Sony, on their PlayStation console. Three months after release, Nintendo took them to court over the game, and while Enterbrain was ordered to pay a fee, they ultimately retained the right to sell the game.
The 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by American author Eric Flint and published by Baen Books.
The Norse mythology, preserved in such ancient Icelandic texts as the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and other lays and sagas, was little known outside Scandinavia until the 19th century. With the widespread publication of Norse myths and legends at this time, references to the Norse gods and heroes spread into European literary culture, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, and Britain. In the later 20th century, references to Norse mythology became common in science fiction and fantasy literature, role-playing games, and eventually other cultural products such as Japanese animation. Storytelling was an important aspect of Norse mythology and centuries later, with the rediscovery of the myth, Norse mythology once again relies on the impacts of storytelling to spread its agenda.
A magic ring is a mythical, folkloric or fictional piece of jewelry, usually a finger ring, that is purported to have supernatural properties or powers. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. Magic rings are found in the folklore of every country where rings are worn. Some magic rings can endow the wearer with a variety of abilities including invisibility and immortality. Others can grant wishes or spells such as neverending love and happiness. Sometimes, magic rings can be cursed, as in the mythical ring that was recovered by Sigurd from the hoard of the dragon Fafnir in Norse mythology or the fictional ring that features in The Lord of the Rings. More often, however, they are featured as forces for good, or as a neutral tool whose value is dependent upon the wearer.
Eric Van Lustbader is an American writer of thriller and fantasy novels. He has published as Eric Lustbader, Eric V. Lustbader, and Eric Van Lustbader.
The Ninja novel was written in 1980 by Eric Van Lustbader and is a tale of revenge, love and murder. The author blends a number of known themes together: crime, suspense and Japanese martial arts mysticism. The book is divided into five parts, called "rings," as an apparent homage to Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings.
The Sangam period in Tamilakam was characterized by the coexistence of many religions: Shaivism, Vaishnavism and later adopted Buddhism and Jainism alongside the folk religion of the Tamil people. The monarchs of the time practiced religious tolerance and openly encouraged religious discussions and invited teachers of every sect to the public halls to preach their doctrines. Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism were the three major religions that prevailed in the Tamil region predating the Christian era, as early as the Sangam period.
The Scythian religion refers to the mythology, ritual practices and beliefs of the Scythian cultures, a collection of closely related ancient Iranian peoples who inhabited Central Asia and the Pontic–Caspian steppe in Eastern Europe throughout Classical Antiquity, spoke the Scythian language, and which included the Scythians proper, the Cimmerians, the Sarmatians, the Alans, the Sindi, the Massagetae and the Saka.
LGBT themes in mythology occur in mythologies and religious narratives that include stories of romantic affection or sexuality between figures of the same sex or that feature divine actions that result in changes in gender. These myths are considered by some modern queer scholars to be forms of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) expression, and modern conceptions of sexuality and gender have been retroactively applied to them. Many mythologies ascribe homosexuality and gender fluidity in humans to the action of gods or of other supernatural interventions.
Makara Nedunkuzhaikathar Temple is one of the Nava Tirupathi, nine Hindu temples dedicated to Vishnu located Thenthiruperai along Tiruchendur-Tirunelveli route, Tamil Nadu, India in the southern bank of Thamiraparani river. It is located 5 km from Alwar Thirunagari All these 9 temples are classified as Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars. The temple is referred to as Sukra sthalam, a location for the planet deity, Sukra. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Makara Nedunkuzhaikathar and his consort Lakshmi as Thiruperai Nachiyar.
The KundalaKaraneshwarar temple (குண்டலகரணேசுவரர் கோயில்) is a Hindu temple situated in the village of Thirukkurankaval near Vaitheeswaran Koil in Mayiladuthurai taluk of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. The presiding deity is KundalaKaraneswarar, a form of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Bala Tripura Sundari. This place is also referred to as ThiruKurakkukka or Thiru KoranguKukka.
Uchchhishta Ganapati is a Tantric aspect of the Hindu god Ganesha (Ganapati). He is the primary deity of the Uchchhishta Ganapatya sect, one of six major schools of the Ganapatyas. He is worshipped primarily by heterodox vamachara rituals. He is one of the thirty-two forms of Ganesha, frequently mentioned in devotional literature. Herambasuta was one of the exponents of the Uchchhishta Ganapatya sect.
Artimpasa was a complex androgynous Scythian goddess of fertility who possessed power over sovereignty and the priestly force. Artimpasa was the Scythian variant of the Iranian goddess Arti or Aṣ̌i.
