
Pithy, evocative imagery in three-legged microcosms of meaning. Having coined the term ‘triologism’ I believe this to be the only collection of these tum-tee-tum phrases in the universe. Updated Tuesdays … triologism day!
Siegfried-haunted Drachenfels
An image from a Caspar David Friedrich painting.
'The country sped downstream at a great pace and the Siebengebirge and...
Bronze-armoured Achaians
The Trojan war was a Bronze Age affair, magnificently evoked in different sea-surrounded places by two books of Adam Nicolson....
Fairy-like fingers
Mr. Rochester falls in love with Jane: her excellent mind and independent spirit, as well as her petite proportions, here...
Flat-boughed cedar
A favourite tree - I remember the first one I consciously noticed, said to be 1,000 years old, some of...
Beware the Idomeneus spear
Famed with good reason - see his bringing another warrior to meet his 'dark-named destiny'. However, the most graphic...
Grey-hued sword
This feels a big and ancient sword that might be swung with both hands, not a slimline rapier or epée....
Wide-cheeked monster
Orlando accompanies his beloved Sasha back to the Muscovite ship, and soon loses her below deck. When searching for her,...
Sun-hot boulder
You can see the lamb snuggling up against the warm stone radiator. And on these sultry days of August, many...
Many-legended island
Are those legends still alive or did they die with the war, or with the people who told them? And...
Pepper-pot turrets
The description of these towers and turrets in the village of Kardamyli, which are a match for the mine's-bigger-than-yours competition...
Tangled tales
The rose garden of Moonacre has an arbour and heart-shaped rose-beds. And if that sounds a little over top, wait...
Pattern-working chaplain
Thoreau isn't a big fan of chaplains and other purveyors of religion and here he takes a swipe at three...
Heron-like paces
I love the idea of a human walk embodying the fastidious strut of the heron's dainty stride.
'He strode to...
Reed-fringed spinney
Many years since I heard the word 'spinney'. I remember it as a secret, hidden spot in the local park...
Hollowed-out pineapples
Having had refreshing cool drinks out of hollowed-out coconuts, I like hearing of the equivalent in pineapples, and of course,...
How to write a paper
Heaney’s introduction to his translation of Beowulf praises Tolkien’s ‘epoch-making paper’, a lecture delivered in 1936 entitled ‘Beowulf: The Monsters...
Pleasure-craving nature
Even in the depths of her despair, when she learns that her handsome squire won't marry her, her focus is...
Hate-honed swords and other battle gear
Everything a battle-scarred Swede could need: fine-forged mesh to protect him from other people's hate-honed swords, and a great-shafted spear...
Tide-swayed fronds
An otter's eye view of the world, with its human connections and its human-free watery paradise.
Maxwell's classic account of...
Ribbons blue
There are many fine details in this lovely book, and the young girl finds signals of invisible hands arranging thoughtful,...
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Interesting! Your triologisms remind me of the two-word kennings in Beowulf.