Blood or Mead
Encyclopedia
Blood or Mead is a fantasy novel written by Alan Beck.
John Tran and his search for Ve
and Vili, the brothers of Odin
. The book's premise involves the rise of the Abrahamic deity Yahweh
and his intention to bring about the end of days, as foretold in the Book of Revelations. A number of pagan gods, including Lucifer
, Atlas
, and Odin
, form a loose coterie in opposition. Each chapter is book-ended with a brief dialogues in which the pagan gods tell the history of how the Abrahamic religions gained their supremacy on Earth. The novel borrows from the game Nethack
. It includes characters loosely based around the Wizard of Yendor
and the Oracle of Delphi.
Tran, a recently deceased Ásatrú
practitioner, has been deemed unfit to enter Valhalla
because he did not die in battle. He has been offered a place in the warrior's heaven if he can track down Ve
and Vili. Traveling through the alternate dimension in which the brothers reside, he eventually enlists their aid. This leads the novel to its climax
, a final battle between the pagan pantheon and the Abrahamic deity.
Plot Summary
The novel follows protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
John Tran and his search for Ve
VE
VE, Ve or ve may refer to:* Vili and Vé, gods in Norse mythology* Vé , a shrine in Germanic paganism and modern place name element* Ve , a character from the Cyrillic alphabet* Ve , a character of the Arabic alphabet...
and Vili, the brothers of Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
. The book's premise involves the rise of the Abrahamic deity Yahweh
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
and his intention to bring about the end of days, as foretold in the Book of Revelations. A number of pagan gods, including Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
, Atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
, and Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
, form a loose coterie in opposition. Each chapter is book-ended with a brief dialogues in which the pagan gods tell the history of how the Abrahamic religions gained their supremacy on Earth. The novel borrows from the game Nethack
NetHack
NetHack is a single-player roguelike video game originally released in 1987. It is a descendant of an earlier game called Hack , which is a descendant of Rogue...
. It includes characters loosely based around the Wizard of Yendor
Wizard of Yendor
The Wizard of Yendor , commonly known as “Rodney” , is a powerful enemy in the roguelike computer game NetHack. He lives in the valley of Gehennom in his tower and holds the Book of the Dead. He can curse the player's items, cast powerful spells, and has the ability to return from the dead...
and the Oracle of Delphi.
Tran, a recently deceased Ásatrú
Ásatrú
is a form of Germanic neopaganism which developed in the United States from the 1970s....
practitioner, has been deemed unfit to enter Valhalla
Valhalla
In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr...
because he did not die in battle. He has been offered a place in the warrior's heaven if he can track down Ve
VE
VE, Ve or ve may refer to:* Vili and Vé, gods in Norse mythology* Vé , a shrine in Germanic paganism and modern place name element* Ve , a character from the Cyrillic alphabet* Ve , a character of the Arabic alphabet...
and Vili. Traveling through the alternate dimension in which the brothers reside, he eventually enlists their aid. This leads the novel to its climax
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
, a final battle between the pagan pantheon and the Abrahamic deity.
External links
- http://books.google.com/books?id=V_InZnBCYDkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=blood+or+mead&hl=en&ei=8-PRTO3_Dcys8Absr4C7DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
- http://www.sdundisputed.com/newsletters/UND1_newsletter_oct08.pdf
- http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Mead-Alan-Alexander-Beck/dp/1440420815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227549477&sr=1-1