Roots & Runes — June
- Lady Shannon Garza
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Between Worlds
Last month, we explored story landscapes.
Places where myth and memory became inseparable. Hills held legends. Rivers carried ancient names. The land itself became part of the story.
This month, we step beyond familiar paths.
Not fully into another world—but toward the threshold.
Toward the places where the boundary between the known and unknown begins to blur.
Throughout folklore, stories often begin with a crossing.
A traveler follows a road farther than intended.
A doorway opens unexpectedly.
A hidden realm waits just beyond sight.
A familiar landscape reveals itself to be something more.
Long before fantasy maps filled the opening pages of novels, there were stories of distant lands beyond the edge of the known world. Places hidden by mist, separated by water, or reached only through courage, fate, or accident.
The idea appears again and again throughout mythology and folklore, eventually becoming one of fantasy's most enduring traditions.
The hidden kingdom.
The portal.
The crossing.
The road that leads somewhere unexpected.
Without stories like these, we likely wouldn't have Narnia's wardrobe, Middle-earth's forgotten paths, the hidden courts of Prythian, or the countless fantasy worlds that begin with a single step beyond the familiar.
Fantasy has always been fascinated by thresholds.
Because the moment a character crosses that boundary, transformation becomes possible.
This Month's Read
Beyond the North Wind
Christopher McIntosh & Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
Read in print:
Listen on audio:
At the heart of this book lies an ancient idea: a mysterious realm beyond the northern horizon. A place that exists somewhere between geography and imagination.
As you read, look for the early echoes of modern fantasy.
Not simply as mythology.
But as part of the foundation beneath the stories we still love today.
The farther we trace these stories backward, the more we discover that fantasy's greatest landscapes often began as folklore's unanswered questions.
What lies beyond the mountain?
What waits beyond the sea?
What happens when we cross the boundary between the ordinary and the extraordinary?
Page to Place
Many folklore traditions imagine a place beyond the known world.
Not necessarily another planet. Not necessarily another dimension.
Simply a place just beyond reach. A place glimpsed rather than mapped. A place that changes those who enter it.
The North has often occupied that space in the imagination—a direction associated with mystery, distance, and possibility.
As you move through this month's reading, pay attention to the boundaries.
The places where worlds touch. The moments where certainty gives way to wonder. The edges of maps, stories, and assumptions.
Folklore reminds us that the most important discoveries often happen not at the destination—but in the crossing.
Sip Along with the Journey
If you'd like to pair a tea with this month's reading, I'm reaching for Lewis Carroll.
Inspired by the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, this blend feels particularly fitting for a month devoted to thresholds, crossings, and worlds that exist just beyond the familiar.
Long before we stepped through wardrobes, crossed into hidden courts, or followed maps into forgotten kingdoms, Alice followed a rabbit and discovered a reality where the ordinary rules no longer applied.
Like so many myths and folktales, Wonderland begins with a crossing. A step beyond the known. A journey into the impossible.
Built on black tea with notes of rose and violet, Lewis Carroll brews a deep amber cup with a floral character that feels both familiar and slightly otherworldly—perfect for a month spent exploring what may lie beyond the horizon.
Enjoy it hot during a quiet morning of reading, or iced on a summer afternoon while watching the world drift by and wondering what might exist just beyond the edge of sight.
Explore Lewis Carroll tea here:
As always, the tea is entirely optional. The story comes first.
A Simple June Reading Ritual
Find a place with a horizon.
A porch. A field. A quiet road. A shoreline.
Bring your book and a cup of tea.
Before reading, spend a few moments looking outward. Notice how far you can see.
Then ask yourself:
What lies beyond the edge of what I know?
A Question to Carry
As you read, consider:
• Which fantasy stories begin with a crossing?
• A hidden doorway.
• A forgotten path.
• A world concealed just beyond ordinary sight.
• A realm waiting beyond the horizon.
Once you begin looking for these patterns, you'll find them everywhere—from folklore and mythology to Tolkien, Lewis, Maas, Yarros, and countless stories beyond.
Because folklore doesn't disappear.
It transforms.
Coming in July...
Next month we explore Pan-Celtic Threads, tracing the myths, heroes, and stories that connect Celtic traditions across centuries and across borders.
Every transformation begins with the courage to turn the page.
Thank you for continuing the journey.
Shannon Garza
Faebles Tomes and Teas
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