Flo's History

  The story for this week will be a bit different from your usual ”Mythology Fun Fact”. Indeed, instead of covering an official myth, I’ll talk about something less official but deserves to be covered. After all, every myth has its own sense of truth. Even if it is a bit far-fetched or, sometimes, a coincidence. This time we will talk about the most famous snake in Norse mythology, Jörmungandr. In the Norse myths, the Jörmungandr, also known as the Midgard Serpent, is a snake of a titanic size that has been locked in the sea surrounding the realm of the men. What inspired the old Norse to believe such a creature existed is unknown to us. However, we noticed something a while back that strangely resembled the World Serpent.  I am, of course, talking about the great trench that runs across the seafloor. The fact that it stretches around the globe and has somewhat the body of a snake reminds historians and other Norse myths enthusiasts of the great snake from the Norse ...

  In the post-apocalyptic building game Frostpunk, the main “antagonist” is a freezing cold that envelopes the earth, whipping out most of humanity and life on earth, and the goal is to manage a refugee camp. However, such a scenario would never happen in real life. Right? Guys? Well, you’ll be quite surprised about this. The “Great Frost,” as it is called in the game, is actually a real-life event called the Snowball Earth. This is, of course, where the temperature of the planet droops to unbelievable levels, causing thick sheets of ice covering the earth partially or even completely. In other words, the Snowball Earth is like if we had given Hulk steroid during the ice age. More realistically, it is caused by a succession of events that caused the heat of the sun to send to our planet, causing it to freeze, worsening the problem. However, this obviously doesn’t go forever, since today the earth isn't in a Snowball stage. And for such an event to end, we have to tha...

  The Gorilla is seen by many as the largest ape to ever walked on this planet. With a weight that can range from 68 to 181 kilos for a size varying between 1.2 to 1.8 meters, those beasts are with no doubt remarkable. But before you ask: “Wait a minute, where is the history part? This blog is not National Geographic!” Well, I’m getting here, don't worry. So now that everyone is on the same page, let me tell you that the Gorilla is quite small in comparison to the biggest ape that ever lived on earth, the Giagantopithecus.  Giagantopithecus lived in the Pleistocene era, during the late Cenozoic. This creature measured up to 3 meters tall and weighed between 270 and 500 kilos. It dwelled in the region of Southern China, more specifically the forest, where he could find a large amount of food he needed to sustain himself. Giagantopithecus' large body provided him with enormous strength; it was so great that no predators (leopards, tigers or even black bears) dared chal...

  Nuada was the king of the Tuatha De Dannan, the clan of Gods in Irish mythology. They are equivalent to the Aesir/Vanir in Norse mythology.  Although he was the God of hunting and fishing, Nuada proved himself to be a capable leader, as he led his people to greatness. One of his most outstanding achievements was conquering Ireland’s island from the Firbolg, after some failed negotiations. However, this also proved to be his greatest disaster as it temporarily removed him from power. It will also lead him to gain the epithet of Airgetlám, meaning ‘silver hand/harm’ but more on that later. It ended up as a disaster because the war dragged on without a clear winner emerging. Both sides decided to solve the dispute with one last fight between ten of their greatest champions. The night before the final confrontation, Nuada received the visit of the fearsome deity of war/death, Morrigan. The visit left the Tuatha De Dannan in a state of frenzied rage. The next day, he we...

Nicholas the 2nd is the last Tsar of the Russian Empire. He is arguable, one of the worst leaders to ever sit on the throne for many reasons. He is well known for failing miserably in adapting to the modern era (in an 18th to 19th-century perspective) and stubbornly remained stuck in a feudal society. Everything that Nicholas tried to achieve was a failure. The Russo-Japanese war? Big loss. World War I? Russia downsized by half of its industrial lands. Maintaining an autocratic regime? Miserably failed. Nicholas II even failed at easy tasks like distributing free food to a crowd of starving people. On May 27th, 1896, at the Khodynka Field, he organized a (free) food festival. A few thousand people gathered on the said day, but due to a lack of organization, thousands of people were either wounded or killed. This incident stained his already mediocre reputation, but Nicholas' blindness and incompetence aggravated his case. Instead of mourning the victims, he went to France...

  Count Dracula is the most iconic vampire and ruler of Transylvania. He is the one who popularized the famous night dweller bloodsuckers (aka. vampires). What is less common knowledge is his origin. Who is this guy anyway!? The legend of Count Dracula is actually inspired by the cruel ruler of Wallachia (before it was known as Romania), Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler. Nothing to add, his nickname is self-explanatory about what type of guy he was. Let’s set aside this renowned character to focus on a similar one that you may not know about yet. The Irish have their own version of Dracula under the form of the Dearg Due. She was a woman, tortured daily by her father and husband, who eventually committed suicide. She was buried near Strongbow’s Tree in Waterford. When night came around, she rose from her grave and killed her husband and father by sucking their blood. Ever since that day, she rises once a year, at night, to lure unsuspecting men to their death, using...

  When I asked you all to name an iconic battleship from WW2, many answered either Yamato or Bismarck. Today, I chose to talk about Bismarck because they have quite an embarrassing story. While being hunted down by the Royal Navy in the Atlantic, the terror of the Kriegsmarine, the German Navy, was crippled by a squadron of 15 (outdated) biplane swordfishes. The idea that the most advanced ship of the time was put in mortal danger by a group of biplanes seems to be ridiculous at first. To be fair to Bismarck, she was put in an unfavourable situation. Indeed, WW2 saw the rise of naval-air combat, and the German battleship was ill-suited against aircraft. His AA defences consisted of eight twins mounted 10.5cm, eight twins 3.7cm and twelve 2cm flak guns. At first, this seems to be quite a remarkable firepower, but this isn't where the problem was. Bismarck remained vulnerable to air attacks because of its targeting systems and poor German radars. The targeting systems, on top of...

  The ice giants are known to be the main opponents of the Aesir and Vanir in Norse mythology. But where do they come from, were they a mistake created by Odin and his two brothers? The answer is no, they actually predated the first Aesir. Indeed, they arose around the same time as Buri, Odin's grandfather. Buri was born from the divine cow Audhumla leaking the ice trapping him. Don’t ask more about this story, we don’t know! Although, at the time, she also released Ymir, the father of the ice giants. This task must have taken a very long time to complete as Ymir isn’t exactly small since he was big enough that his corp was used by Odin, Vili and Ve to build both Midgard and Jotunheim. Any way once free, Ymir was thinking that the ice desert of Niflheim was too hot for him as he started sweating. Strangely enough, each droplet produced by him created the ice giants. Unfortunately, Ymir was a colossal jerk and his spawns kind of inherited this trait of character although to a lesser...

  Most people know what a banshee is, at least, I think… Don’t you? Anyway, if you don’t, she simply is a high pitch screaming female ghost. But do you know where this mythical creature comes from? And what is her purpose outside of being a master ear-splitting? The Banshee is a creature from the Irish legends. She first appeared in the 8th century. They could appear in many forms, from the most charming woman to the scariest old hag or a half-skeleton woman. But their appearance had a meaning you see, furthermore, they don’t shout at anyone without reason. It served as a warning for the near coming of Death itself. Also, unlike many other creatures in Celtic mythology, banshees didn’t follow a single alignment. Aside from this primary purpose, some appearances were a warning of coming disaster, while others served as agents of vengeance and chaos. So next time you see a fantomatic woman in the middle of the night screaming at you, have no fear from her, but brace yourself for what...

  The Mediterranean sea is known for being the theatre of the rise and fall of dozens of civilizations during the Bronze Age. Many saw their downfall due to a mix of natural disasters, internal revolts and foreign invasions. But the one we will discuss today is that of the Minoan civilization and the volcano of Thera. This culture was one of the many to dominate the islands of the Greek peninsula.  They also reach parts of its mainlands. They met their defeat when the volcano Thera, located in the middle of their territory, violently erupted. This catastrophe caused the destruction of nearby Akrotiri and Santorini settlements. The eruption possibly affected cities of Knossos, Malta and Gournia, but this has been never confirmed. Massive waves of starvation made their way across the entire Minoan civilization due to these eruptions. This catastrophe left them significantly weakened. The Mycenaean (the Minoan’s neighbours) found that quite helpful since they were now a...

  The question of where do humans come from has a variety of interpretations amongst ancient myths. The Greeks and the Norse seem to agree upon a peaceful and nature-focused storyline. In Greek myths, it says that we simply came from the Earth. The Norse say Odin, Vili and Ve created us from tree trunks. On the other side of the spectrum, there is the Christian version that is slightly more graphic. The Bible states that man came from God’s thigh, and that woman came from man’s ribs. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to know how that all went!Another strange creation story is that of the Haida Nation, located in British Columbia. They say that humankind was released from cockle shells by a raven. That looks pretty adventurous, what a way to first encounter the world!

  Everyone knows the legend of Sleepy Hollow, the headless knight, written by Washington Irving. But not many know its origins, which is not the version happening in Tarrytown during the 17th century. I am talking about an old Irish legend, coming from the iron-age. The Dullahan was the precursor of the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow, with a myth just as sinister. To many, the Dullahan was the harbinger of death. This was due to that he only called for the name of his victims, and nobody could stop him. The only way to protect yourself from him was to through precious metal on the ground. This is for this reason that people would leave gold in from of their homes.