History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Other Tales in Old Legends and New Fables

| August 30, 2022

I’ve talked about the various cultures by which my various stories and poems in Old Legends and New Fables were inspired, but I’ve also included some that aren’t as easily grouped together. I’ve got a few poems inspired by the legends and fables of the Americas, like the “woman in white” said to haunt the roads […]

Celtic Tales in Old Legends and New Fables

| July 28, 2022

Celtic tales worked their way into three of the poems of Old Legends and New Fables, specifically “A Man of the Earth,” “The Cromlech Glen, and “If You See the Black Dog.” I haven’t been able to retrace the details of the legend that inspired “A Man of the Earth,” but it has some bits in […]

Greek and Roman Myths in Old Legends and New Fables

| June 28, 2022

Because Greek and Roman mythology is some of the most commonly taught in the western world, it’s not surprising that a number of my pieces in Old Legends and New Fables reflect this knowledge. Even those pieces that deal with the legends of other cultures often get viewed through a Greek or Roman lens because of […]

Japanese Legends in Old Legends and New Fables

| May 24, 2022

Among the many legends and fables my pieces in Old Legends and New Fables touch upon, I have one small piece related to Japanese legends. “The View from Mount Fuji” is about a meteor or comet, with a brief mention of the oni. And while that’s a very broad group of legendary creatures, they were an […]

Sumerian Mythology in Old Legends and New Fables

| April 28, 2022

Sumerian mythology doesn’t make a lot of appearances in stories or poetry these days, but I have a couple of poems in Old Legends and New Fables featuring bits of Sumerian myths. One of the poems is “Queen of Heaven,” which recounts the story of how Inanna protected the humans within her purview. The other poem, […]

Norse Mythology in Old Legends and New Fables

| February 24, 2022

There’s a good deal of Norse mythology in Old Legends and New Fables because in a lot of ways, Norse feels the closest to my Germanic roots. I’ve felt an affinity for it for probably 20+ years, and two of my multitude of tattoos are Norse runes. In this collection, the poems “The Three Roosters of Ragnarok, […]

“Swift Vengeance” in Old Legends and New Fables

| February 1, 2022

“Swift Vengeance” was a flash piece I wrote as part of a contest, using a prompt to write a story about a hunter. In my case, the story was about a hunter, and then about the hunter of that hunter. I tied it in with the mythology of harpies, and made it also about a […]

“The Sky Rock” in Old Legends and New Fables

| December 21, 2021

Sometimes, you’ve just got to write a silly story with talking birds and poop as the punchline. And that is, in its essence, “The Sky Rock.” It’s a very irreverent look at what Huginn and Muninn, Odin’s ravens, might get up to while they’re surveying the world for their boss. It’s a slightly different tone […]

“Breathe Deep” in Old Legends and New Fables

| October 26, 2021

I’ve loved Greek mythology since I was a kid, and I was fascinated by the idea of the Oracle at Delphi, both in a mythological sense (speaking prophecy from the Gods!) and in a scientific sense that explains the “vapors” present there. But with a nod to the mythological sense, I wrote “Breathe Deep” as […]

“Praxidikai” in Old Legends and New Fables

| September 16, 2021

“Praxidikai” is one of the stories in Old Legends and New Fables that really spans both parts of the collection’s title. It’s a modern story that features a reinterpreted version of an old legend, living in modern times. I can’t say too much about who that is without giving away the ending, unfortunately. But it’s in […]