by Linsey Hall
The Vampire of Venice is based on a body discovered on the plague island of Lazzaretto Nuovo, which is located close to Poveglia Island. The skeleton of a woman was dated to the Venetian plague of 1576 and was found with a brick jammed between her jaws. This was a medieval practice meant to prevent vampires from continuing to feed after they’d been put into the ground.
San Zaccaria is a real church in Venice with a flooded crypt. But even more interesting than that —the room of skulls and bones is based on a real place. It is based on the Capuchin Crypt in Rome (though there is a similar one in Paris). The Capuchin crypt is decorated with the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodies that are believed to be the Capuchin friars who served the order between 1528 and 1870.
The first bodies used to decorate the crypt in 1631 came from the friar’s old monastery—they brought 300 wagons full of the bones of deceased friars. The new additions to the crypt were allowed to decompose for roughly 30 years in the soil before being exhumed and placed in the crypt. There are six rooms in the crypt—the Crypt of the Skulls, the Crypt of the Pelvises, the Crpyt of the Leg Bones and Thigh Bones, the Crypt of Three Skeletons, the Crypt of the Resurrection, and the Mass Chapel. This place is meant to be a reminder of our mortality and short time on earth.
The fist fight bridge that Cade and Bree drive under in their boat is based on Ponte dei Pugni, the Bridge of Fists. The tradition of fighting atop the bridge began in the early 17th century, and they were hugely popular. They were held in neighborhoods all over Venice (on more than one bridge) and the fighters were often sponsored by the wealthy elite. Four fighters would stand on the bridge—one in each corner—and fight to throw the others off into the water. The last remaining fighter won. In 1705, the fight devolved into a riot and they were outlawed for good.
As for some of the history in the rest of the book—Arach is Gaelic for dragon. The Bad Water is a real place in Death Valley—an ancient dried out salt lake—but I don’t think there are any salt monsters there. The final scene at the Aztec city is based on Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital (1321-1525 AD). It was once surrounded by a marshy lake, though it now is in the middle of Mexico city. The giant frog, called the Cueyatle, is one of their mythical beasts. And the winged snake that attacks Bree on the pyramid is Quetzacoatle, a god who contributed to the creation of mankind. He was protecting the sacrifice, which hadn’t happened there in a long time.
I mention that Cass, Del, and Nix are treasure hunters who return the artifact to its original resting place. They do this because its morally and legally the right thing to do, and I am an archaeologist as well as a writer, so it is important to me.
Well, I think that’s it for the history and mythology in Undercover Magic. I hope you enjoyed the book and will come back for more of Bree, Ana, and Cade!
Undercover Magic Acknowldgements
Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.
Thank you to Jena O’Connor, Lindsey Loucks, and Donna Rich for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you! Thank you to Eleonora, Crystal, Richard, and Aisha for finding errors and improving the book!
Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art. Thank you to Collette Markwardt for allowing me to borrow the Pugs of Destruction, who are real dogs named Chaos, Havoc, and Ruckus. They were all adopted from rescue agencies.
Academy of Magic Author’s Note
Thanks for reading Academy of Magic! Because the Fae world took up a large part of this book, there were fewer historical elements. However, the biggest one—The Vaults—are one of my favorites.
Edinburgh actually has several underground places, including the Vaults. They are also called the South Bridge Vaults and they are a series of chambers built in 1788 underneath the South Bridge in Edinburgh. Initially, they were used as workshops and taverns, but later they were a hotbed of criminal activity. As the vaults fell into disrepair, Edinburgh’s poorest members of society moved in. By 1860, they were in such terrible shape that they were empty. Mary Kings Close is another one of Edinburgh’s underground districts. It is an alley that was closed off overtime until it was underground (and under buildings). It was occupied between the 16th and 19th centuries and in the 17th century was named for Mary King, the daughter of a wealthy advocate.
The Vaults as they appear in this book are a combination of these two places, set right under the castle in Edinburgh, which is located on a rock outcropping about three hundred meters high. The Grassmarket, the supernatural center of Edinburgh, is a real district in the Old Town (which, you guessed it, is the oldest part of Edinburgh). The Whisky and Warlock is located next to the current White Hart Inn, which is supposed to be the oldest pub in Edinburgh. But the Whisky and Warlock is based on an old Devon pub called the Lydford Inn. It’s bigger, with more little rooms and snugs.
One thing you might have noticed in the book—all of the characters who called Bree by her godly names are species that share powers with that god. The Selkie, a seal who can turn into a human, called her by the name of the Njord, the god of water. The Daughters of Ægir called her Rán, who is a water goddess. And the healer in the Fae town called her Eir. In Bree, they recognized power like their own.
Well, I think that’s it for the history and mythology in Academy of Magic. I hope you enjoyed the book and will come back for more of Bree, Ana, and Cade!
Academy of Magic Acknowldgements
Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.
Thank you to Lindsey Loucks, Adam at Fine Point Publishing, and Donna Rich for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you! Thank you to Eleonora for your help with the Norse mythology. And thank you to Aisha and Richard for your keen error spotting.
Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art. Thank you to Collette Markwardt for allowing me to borrow the Pugs of Destruction, who are real dogs named Chaos, Havoc, and Ruckus. They were all adopted from rescue agencies.
Pursuit of Magic Author’s Note
Thanks for reading Pursuit of Magic! The author’s note is where I normally talk about the history and mythology in the book, and boy, was Pursuit of Magic full of it. I’ve wanted to write a book featuring Viking mythology for ages and this was so much fun. The addition of Phoenician history was icing on the cake, as the excavation of a Phoenician shipwreck was one of my favorite experiences as an archaeologist.
To start—Veronica and Doug are real archaeologists who make 3D models of archaeological sites and artifacts. They use cameras and drones, as well as some fancy software, and were kind enough to agree to appear in Pursuit of Magic. Click here to check out some of their 3D models of artifacts on their Interactive Heritage website. If you check back regularly, there will be more cool stuff to see. The goal of their work is to make history and archaeology more accessible to people all over the world, and I think they do an amazing job.
Next, the Cave of Seers was based on Smoo Cave, which is a sea cave located on the north coast of Scotland. Give it a google and check out the pictures—they are amazing. The cave goes back deep into the cliff and you could take a little boat on the underground river. The most interesting part of the cave, however, is the fact that Vikings really did use it as a stopping point on their journeys to raid and colonize the British Isles. They often repaired their boats in the cave, and Viking tools and ship pieces have been found there.
When the Viking ship built itself using magic, I was a bit vague with the terms. I didn’t want to overload the story with technical stuff that would slow it down. However, I was a nautical archaeologist before I was a writer, and this was one of my favorite parts. Vikings were some of the greatest sea-farers in history. Their ships were open vessels featuring lapstrake construction—meaning that the side planks overlapped each other. They were beautiful, amazing ships—but they were basically giant, open rowboats. There was no interior cabin where a Viking sailor could go to sleep or get out of the weather—and they sailed these boats a
cross the North Atlantic! That blows my mind every time I think about it.
The Norse realm that Bree enters is based on mythology, which for the Vikings was an oral history recorded by poets during the Viking age. The most famous of these was Snorri Sturluson, who I believe I’ve mentioned in other books. He lived in Iceland in the 12th and 13th centuries AD and recorded much of their history. I borrowed a bit from mythology and history and also put my own spin on it.
Yggdrasil is indeed called the World Tree and the nine realms of the Norse gods are held within the tree’s roots and branches. There’s a bit of scholarly disagreement about which of the realms were truly part of the nine. Muspell, the land of the Fire Giants, may or may not have been officially included—but I liked it so much that I made it a realm for Bree to explore. The Valkyrie did not have their own realm—they are most commonly associated with living at Valhalla in Asgard—but I gave them their own realm because I thought they deserved it.
The Valkyrie have an interesting history in how they have been depicted throughout time. Depending upon which source you read, they are fierce warriors or lovely maidens who served mead in Valhalla, waiting upon the deceased warriors who partied the night away as they waited for Ragnarok, the end of the world and the greatest battle of all time. You may have an inkling of what version I prefer— the fierce warrior version! Those dudes can get their own mead.
The Valkyrie’s most famous job was to choose the worthy from the slain and lead them to Valhalla, Odin’s amazing hall where the warriors would drink mead with Odin and wait for Ragnarok. One of the oldest versions of this story was particularly fascinating. It comes from the Darraðarljóð, a poem contained within Njal’s Saga, which was written in Iceland in the 13th century AD. It regards events that occurred between 960 and 1020 AD (most sagas were written in Iceland, a Viking colony).
The saga tells of the Valkyrie taking an active role in choosing those who would die and go to Valhalla. They did not roam the fields after the battle was over, choosing from the already slain. Instead, they selected the most powerful and worthy fighters before the battle ever started. They then used magic and whatever means they had at their disposal to insure that those men died on the battlefield and could be taken to Valhalla, where they would train and celebrate until Ragnarok arrived. Specifically, the Darraðarljóð poem tells of 12 Valkyrie weaving on grisly looms prior to the Battle of Clontarf (Ireland, April 23rd, 1014 AD). The looms used intestines for threads and severed heads for loom weights. Swords and arrows acted as beaters, the part of the loom that pushes the weaving firmly into place. I’m not saying that the Valkyrie in my story did this (it’s a bit too grisly), but they are warriors in their own right. And the men served themselves mead :-).
The three fates who Bree encountered at the world tree are based on the Norns, popular figures from Norse mythology. Their names and the meanings of their names were derived from historical sources. The well that they consulted for Bree is called the Well of Urd and it sits beneath Yggdrasil. In some sources, the Norns are said to live within the well, but I gave them a longhouse, the traditional dwelling of the Vikings.
The Fire Giants and dark elves are part of Norse mythology, as is Ratatoskr, the giant gossipy squirrel. Ratatoskr is one of my favorite mythological figures and was possibly the most fun character I’ve ever written. He is said to carry slanderous gossip between the serpent at the bottom of the tree, named Níðhöggr, and the eagle at the top. The eagle is nameless, but a hawk named Veðrfölnir sits on the eagle’s head, between his eyes. I omitted the hawk for clarity’s sake. Ratatoskr delights in his job of provoking the eagle and the serpent, so you can see why he would be horrified if they suddenly became friends.
Back at the Protectorate castle, Florian used a selection of insults to refer to Potts, the day librarian. They are real historic insults. Initially, I asked my Facebook group, the FireSouls (we’d love you to join!), to vote on their favorite insult. Saddle-goose won, but they were all so good that I had to include them. Since they are fun, here are some definitions. A saddle-goose is someone who is stupid enough to try to saddle a goose, which is a fundamentally useless endeavor since you can’t ride a goose. Though this term was most popular in the 19th century, it could be as old as the 14th. Scobberlotcher means someone who doesn’t work hard, and is likely derived from scopperloit, the old English word for vacation. Lubberwort is a 16th century word for a plant that was thought to cause stupidity or sluggishness, and it was eventually used to refer to people. Finally, a fopdoodle is a foolish person.
Now, onto the Phoenicians and Kart-hadasht. The Phoenicians were a seafaring culture that sailed the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC. They originated in the area that now contains Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Israel, and part of Turkey, but they spread their settlements and culture as far as the western Mediterranean. Carthage, in Tunisia, was their most notable colony. I chose the Phoenicians for a number of reasons, one of which was that I’ve been fond of them since excavating a Phoenician shipwreck near Cartagena, Spain.
Some of the most interesting things that we found on the site (which was 70 feet underwater near the reef that destroyed the ship) were elephant tusks carved with Phoenician writing. I don’t approve of elephant hunting or ivory collecting, but these were thousands of years old and therefore outside of the modern day ivory trade (which is terrible). There were no elephants in Pursuit of Magic, but Bree did encounter some minotaur-like monsters that had tusks carved with writing. They were inspired by the shipwreck, which is called the Bajo de la Campana wreck if you’d like to give it a google and learn more. The photos are amazing.
Kart-hadasht is the original name of Carthage, but in Pursuit of Magic, it is an invented Phoenician city on the coast of Tunisia. Normally, I like to use real archaeological sites in my books, but the Phoenicians did such a fabulous job of choosing sites for their cities that people never left, even after thousands of years. Therefor, the ancient Phoenician ruins at places like Carthage, Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon are in pretty rough shape. Thousands of years will do that to a city.
Eternal flames were an element of Phoenician temples, and Carthage likely contained a Temple of Melqart. Melqart was a Phoenician god associated with the sea (are you noticing a trend here?), colonization, and commercial trade. The Phoenician letters in the mosaic pool that surrounded the eternal flame were taken from real Phoenician letters that mean door and window, and the Phoenicians’ alphabet is the oldest verified alphabet. It was a no-brainer to use this as one of the challenges for Bree.
Finally, the three Rebel Gods who attack Bree and her friends at the Temple of Melquart were based on real gods. The huge man surrounded by flurries of snow was Chernobog, a Slavic deity from the 12th century AD. Not much is known about Chernobog, and I imagine that he would want more power because of this.
The god with golden horns was Cocidius, a Romano-Celtic war god from the area around Hadrian’s wall, which separates England and Scotland. During this period (around 122 AD when the wall was built), the Romans were attempting to conquer Britain, which was full of Celts and Picts. Their religions melded, as they often can, and Cocidius was worshipped by both Romans and Celtic Britons. He was primarily worshipped by warriors and the lower classes, and I imagine he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder because of this.
The Greek looking goddess who dripped blood from her skin was Elis, the Greek goddess of chaos, who loved battles and war. The blood was my addition. She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera, but because of her unpleasant disposition, she was generally snubbed by the other gods and mankind as well. She is an excellent candidate for an angry and vengeful Rebel God.
Last, the city in Tunisia where Bree, Cade, and Ana find Doug and Veronica is based on Tataouine, a real city in Tunisia. It is an amazing place and I tried to describe it as accurately as possible, but it’s so unusual that it might be hard to picture. I highly recommend you google it. I bet you’ll be as impressed as I was. And if the name Tataouine sounds familia
r, that’s because this place inspired Tatooine in the Star Wars films.
Well, I think that’s it for the history and mythology in Pursuit of Magic. This one was extra fun to write because of all the mythology, and I hope you enjoyed it and will come back for more of Bree, Ana, and Cade!
Pursuit of Magic Acknowldgements
Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.
Thank you to Lindsey Loucks and Jena O’Connor for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you! And thank you Eleonora, for your keen eye in spotting errors.
Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art. Thank you to Collette Markwardt for allowing me to borrow the Pugs of Destruction, who are real dogs named Chaos, Havoc, and Ruckus. They were all adopted from rescue agencies.
Attack by Magic Author’s Note
Thanks for reading Attack by Magic! The author’s note is where I normally talk about the history and mythology in the book, and Attack by Magic had plenty of it.
To start, Oya, the mercenary leader in the beginning of the book, is based off an African goddess of the Yoruba people. In Yoruba, her name means “she tore”, and she is a warrior associated with winds, lightning, death, and rebirth.
Cocidius is another Celtic war god, not dissimilar from Belatucadros. The Celtic culture spread all over Europe during the Iron Age, and as a result, there are many different gods from different regions that represent basically the same thing. I had quite a few Celtic war gods to choose from, but I chose Cocidius because he was worshipped in roughly the same place as Belatucadros—around Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England.
